The Dallas Cowboys are playing exhibition football in London so their social media department decided to tweet about it to keep fans abreast of the trip. The hashtag chosen: CowboysUK.
Which sounds perfect, except when shown in all lowercase. Then Cowboysuk has a whole new meaning. And, in this day and age, a whole new life through retweets and fan commentary about the unfortunate innuendo.
A few of my favorites:
> #cowboysuk so hard it’s like having eleven vacuums on the field
> Looking for a job in Dallas? The Cowboys likely have an opening in the social media department
While it is a humorous anecdote to the non-Cowboys fans, it does provide a good reminder that mistakes are not private anymore. If you slip up, either at work or off the job, it becomes instantaneous fodder for the social media networks. The Cowboys stuck with their hashtag (presumably because it got them more coverage), and just let it all play out in stride. Soon it will be replaced with the next gaffe and the Dallas hashtag will be forgotten.
Do you have a policy or strategy to deal with a social media blunder? It is not a matter of if, rather more likely when, you will need it. You might take a few moments to consider how you will (or won’t) respond if it’s your moniker that suks.
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Thanks to Emily for sharing