Social Media Screw Ups

A few weeks ago we talked about social media during class.  There were a lot of good ideas discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages of social media.  Advantages included the connection social media creates between people who may not be able to find connections elsewhere in the world.  One of the disadvantages brought up was that social media allows for people to communicate so quickly and on such a large scale that a screw up can be magnified.  I have found 3 recent examples of social media screw ups.

1)  Michael Bay’s Supposedly-Adolescent-Not Mutant-Ninja-Like-Aliens-Resembling-Turtles

The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is being remade by Director Michael Bay.  In a March presentation Bay said, “These turtles are from an alien race.”  As you can imagine the internet exploded with negative reaction.  Michael Bay used social media to communicate with the angry fans.  He posted comments on an online forum telling irate fans to “chill”.

This led to a screw up by a voice actor from the previous movies.  The actor stated that how Bay was changing the franchise was akin to “rape.”  Whether you agree with Bay’s interpretation or not I’m sure you will agree that remaking the turtles is nowhere near akin to rape.  The voice actor was clearly not concerned with fostering and maintaining relationships.

Here is the link to the article:  http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/Michael+sodomizing+beloved+Teenage+Mutant+Ninja+Turtles+franchise+Voice+actor/6331893/story.html

2)  Spike Lee’s Re-tweet

On February 26 Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Florida.  Trayvon was walking home when Zimmerman saw him.  Zimmerman thought Trayvon was suspicious and shot and killed the unarmed teen.  Initially it was expected that Zimmerman would not be charged due to Florida’s "Stand Your Ground" Law.  This sparked national protests in the US.   A charge of second degree murder has since been filed by a Florida Prosecutor. 

The issue is emotionally and racially charged as Trayvon is Black and Zimmerman is Hispanic.  There are a lot of people angry about the sequence of events leading up to and after Trayvon’s murder.  In late March the supposed address of Zimmerman was tweeted.  Initially it was not seen by many people but then Spike Lee re-tweeted the address to his nearly quarter of a million followers.  However, this was not the right address.  The address was in fact that of Elaine and David McClain, a couple in their 70’s.  The McClains were forced to leave their home after Spike Lee’s Twitter misadventure.   

The existence of Twitter allowed Spike Lee to instantly spread information to nearly a quarter of a million people.  Because of the reach of Twitter the information spread like wild fire.  When the mistake was discovered Lee issued an apology to the McClains in the form of a tweet.  Lee did not perform an audience analysis as the McClains are not Twitter users.  Lee eventually did phone them to apologize.

Articles: 

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/11/george-zimmerman-charged-with-second-degree-murder-in-trayvon-martin-shooting/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/spike-lee-settles-with-couple-for-retweeting-their-address-believing-it-was-florida-shooters/2012/03/29/gIQA1LVvjS_story.html

3)  Jason Russell’s medical drama

By now we’re all aware of Kony 2012 and its filmmaker Jason Russell.  Russell was taken to the hospital in mid-March after being detained for allegedly being drunk, naked, and disruptive in San Diego. 

Russell used social media effectively to get his message out.  Social media is also responsible for spreading the news of Russell’s naked escapades around the world.  A few short years ago the Kony 2012 video would likely not have been shared around the world.  Now not only does the video have more than 87 million views but there are apparently pictures and video of Russell’s break down.

Regardless of what you think of Invisible Children and the Kony 2012 campaign the incident illustrates a very important point – social media is a powerful tool with both positive and negative attributes.

Article:  http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/world/kony-2012.html

While the power of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have an amazing ability to connect people instantly many people do not perform audience analysis or planning before they release their thoughts into the world.  This creates the possibility of screw ups like the ones listed above.  When using social media it’s important to remember that you are communicating.  Remember to foster and maintain relationships, and that your comments have consequences both intended and unintended.