Our Blog: where do you stand?

Ashlyn Brewer says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:06:am

Great post, Jessica.  It sounds like the IABC session was great.

I do have to disagree slightly with one of these tips. Deleting tweets and pretending you never said them is definitely a bad idea. However, deleting tweets because you spelled something wrong, or because someone on a co-authored account stepped out of company standards (case in point: http://soshable.com/a-lesson-from-chrysler-tweet-with-ing-care) can be okay, in my opinion.

Jessica says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:16:am

Good call, Ashlyn. We did discuss the Chrysler example, and that situation would have likely been avoided if the individual had followed another tip that was shared: Tweet, wait five seconds, check that you’re tweeting from the account, then post. I agree that there are exceptions, but for the most part, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Chris Reimer says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:26:am

Jessica, thank you for the writeup!

Ashlyn, I hear what you’re saying. If I had erroneously typed “your” in the previous sentence and hit “post,” I might go back and alter my spelling. I don’t have a problem with that. And an F-Bomb tweet from Chrsyler… there’s nothing WRONG with deleting it.

As a company, just be prepared for the backlash that could happen when deleting content. If the inevitable scandalous Mashable blog post on the burying of controversial content can be more easily stomached than the backlash of leaving the content out there, then delete the content.

And disagreeing with me means you’re intelligent.

Ashlyn says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:31:am

That’s a good point. Humor is definitely ideal currency in social media. Still, social media is evolving, and while there are most certainly guidelines for conduct, I’d avoid buying into any absolutes!  I remember when people used to say that you should never tweet the same link twice.  Now, it’s generally accepted and even advised buy strategists.

Ashlyn says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:36:am

Chris - Thanks for visiting our blog!

I think you make a great point.  If you’re high profile enough that you might get high-level backlash for deleting your tweet, it’s likely in your best interest to keep it.  However, if it’s more likely that people will just keep thinking you can’t spell or are prone to cursing rants…deleting it might be the best option.

Dora Smith says:

Thu, April 28, 2011 at 11:55:am

Thx Jessica and Ashlyn. Agree with Chris on the points above.

If it’s just a grammar or spelling issue, I’d still argue for being yourself and just tweeting: sorry for the error on that previous tweet, here’s a new and improved one. Surprised there isn’t a grammar/spell ck on tweets yet .
Dora

Ashlyn Brewer says:

Fri, April 29, 2011 at 1:05:pm

Thanks for reading, Dora. You make a good point! It never hurts to be able to laugh at yourself.

Of course, I use Hootsuite, which does have spell check, so I have no excuse for any tweeted typos!

Marijean says:

Sat, May 07, 2011 at 8:32:am

Great post, Jessica! I especially agree with the advice not to try to balance two different accounts/personalities on Twitter. I think that leads to all kind of identity crisis issues on behalf of the user and leaves those following confused about the person with whom they’re interacting.