But I do like to point out miss-steps, if for no other reason than to provide a cautionary tale to those who might find themselves at risk of making the same miss-step.
More details are in the link above, but the Reader's Digest Condensed Version is that Kansas City teen Emma Sullivan got in trouble tweeting a few joking words about Governor Sam Brownback during a statehouse field trip:
- "Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot."
She actually made no such comment and described the tweet as "joking around."
Little did the 18-year-old Sullivan know, but Brownback's office monitors social media for postings containing the governor's name. No problems there - it's an ideal practice. Their response, well . . . not so good.
Brownback's director of communication wasn't amused. "That wasn't respectful . . . in order to really have a constructive dialogue, there has to be mutual respect."
Respectful? No, it probably wasn't. Welcome to the big, bad, sometimes rude world of politics.
But in the scheme of things, until the communications director got her hands on the offending tweet, the #heblowsalot hashtag was destined to disappear like a drop in the ocean.
The only attention this tweet had was the attention the governors office - and his communications staff - brought to it.
Since the offending tweet, things devolved quickly, with the teen being sent to the principal’s office for a scolding that lasted nearly an hour. She was told the “not so nice” comments had embarrassed her school and the district and that damage control with the governor’s office was the next step - the school now forcing her to write an apology to the governor’s office, with the principal even providing talking points to hit.
Damage control? The only damage here is the self-induced social media tsunami the governor's office brought upon itself.
Choose your battles.
Choose wisely.
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