Though ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner is the limelight star right now, let us not forget a few notable others who committed social media faux pas that handicapped their images and careers. Gilbert Gottfried, Larry Johnson, and Ashley Payne, among others, made mashable.com’s “10 People Who Lost Their Job Over Social Media Mistakes”.
Everyone is familiar with Aflac Insurance’s famous spokesman-the Aflac duck. Gilbert Gottfried was that famous voice until his use of social media put him out of a job. After tweeting a couple of insensitive and poorly-timed jokes about Japan after the tsunami, he was given the opportunity to vacate his position as the Aflac duck.
Remember Larry Johnson, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs? He used social media during the peak of his frustration, after a loss, to insult his head coach; this beginning led him down a slippery slope of exchanges ultimately leading to his release from the team.
While on vacation in Europe, school teacher Ashley Payne did what any travelling adult would do-tasted the local food and drinks of the places she visited, and posted pictures online. Though Payne was well over 21 years old at the time, after seeing the teacher with alcohol in hand, the Barrow County school’s supervisor immediately called her into his office and asked for her resignation.
The lesson to take away from these social media gaffes: stop, think, think again, and then post, or maybe even not. At CommCore, that lesson is one we drill into all our clients regardless of their media platform or communications challenge.
In today’s interactive real-time media world, one ill-advised click of the mouse and you could see your career in your rearview mirror.
What recent social media lessons have you or your clients learned?