To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Last week I talked about twitter, and social networking in general, as a double-edged sword. Where these new technologies are often considered a great tool for marketing, the incident with Kanye West seemed to illustrate that there were some pitfalls high-profile celebrities must also consider when using Social Networking sites. This was extremely evident again this week, this time in the realm of athletics.

Sunday night, after the redskins less-than-stellar (or downright horrible...) preformance against the rams, rookie linebacker Robert Hensen reached out to his twitter account as an outlet for his frustration. Angered by the negative attitude of redskins fans, particularly those in the crowd that Sunday, Hensen twittered “All you fake half hearted Skins fan can . . . I won’t go there but I dislike you very strongly, don’t come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!” As if that wasn't enough, Hensen followed that tweet up with, “The question is who are you to say you know what’s best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds.” As one can expect, this ignited some SERIOUS backlash, sending already frustrated Redskins fans further into a fit of rage. In the wake of the controversy, Hensen apologized, but ultimately ended up deleting his twitter account all together. Hensen reportedly acknowledged he was in the wrong, but admitted he was suprised by the level of backlash he received. In his decision to delete his account, it seems, at least for Hensen, the cons of modern media outweighed the pros.

This also speaks to the questions we raised in class about how social networking sites are changing and evolving. Where SNS were once just a place for people to be themselves and interact with friends, now people are finding they must be much more careful about what they post, and who can see it. Just as a tweet posted out of anger came back to haunt Hensen, so too can a picture from one night of partying hurt a college students when its stumbled upon by a future employer. Thus, as social networking sites evolve, it seems our usership of them must as well.

Twitter Screen Shoots from Mashable.com

#CUAMMP

Tonight I attended a "Modern Media Panel" hosted by CUA's College Republicans. The Panel featured leaders of the Republican Party who maintained active uses of New Media. It was really interesting to hear what people at the fore-front of conservative politics think about New Media and its role in society. All the members of the panel were extremely enthusiastic about New Media devices such as facebook and twitter as essential parts of the political process. This was interesting because I think New Media has long been considered the tool of liberal politicians (particularly in the wake of Barack Obama's election) and many would suggest that conservative politics have lagged behind significantly. I was able to ask the members of the panel about this observation, and most agreed that there has indeed been a gap between conservative and liberal usership in the past, but they all seemed to think that the divide is quickly narrowing. Thus, it was encouraging to see and hear that New Media is becoming a legitimate focus on both sides of the aisle. It will be interesting to see how different the New Media presence of each party is by the next presidential election. 

(Photo from the CUA College Republicans Twitter Account)

The Jerk Heard Around the World

Earlier this week at MTV's Video Music Awards, Kayne West got the crowds attention when he stole the stage from Taylor Swift and declared her award win undeserved. In another era, the story would have ended there; with just an upset crowd or, at most, word of the social faux pas slowly trickling to those most devoted music followers. But in our era, the era of social media and unprecedented connectivity, the story had just begun. 

Within minutes of Kanye's  outburst, new media exploded. Twitters, Facebooks, and Myspaces were all littered with talk of the outburst. From the casual MTV viewers, to high-profile celebrities, to legitimate news reporters, everyone had an opinion. Even President Obama's off the record comment that Kanye West was a "jackass" was leaked to the world by a CNBC reporter the following day on twitter. Wikipedia users were in an all-out editing war, constantly changing his biographical information in the wake of the controversy. One such edit allegedly included, "Kayne West is a loser who's mad at the world he's black." The story was a topic topic on news streams. It seemed every digital media had a stake in the story.

This poses some interesting questions about the role New Media plays in our society. There's been a lot of talk in this Web 2.0 world of new media's capacity for Public Relations and marketing. But this recent new media explosion shows that clearly there's a double-edged sword. Where new media can be an excellent tool for spreading good press, it seems we must also consider what role it plays when the news is more negative. We are left to wonder, particularly in this digital world, is any press really good press?

Photo by the Associated Press.