Back in 2011, Gloria Huang was a young social media specialist working with the Red Cross. She also just so happened to be a fan of craft beer. Why does that matter? Well, with the simple push of the "post" button she let over 2 million fans of the Red Cross know of her passion for good beer and her penchant for getting "slizzerd" with her friends. The post was meant for her personal account.
Above is the "rogue" tweet Gloria mistakenly sent out via the American Red Cross' Twitter handle. It wasn't long - about an hour - before someone at the Red Cross realized the mistake and it was deleted. However, in the social media world an hour is plenty long enough for people to take notice. The post was re-tweeted and plenty of American Red Cross fans were left scratching their heads and wondering what #gettngslizzerd had to do with saving lives. What happened next is a great example of how two companies took advantage of the mistake and turned it into something positive.
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| The Red Cross deleted the "rogue" tweet and apologized with the Tweet above |
After deleting the "rogue" tweet, The Red Cross acted quickly and posted a tongue-in-cheek apology. Acknowledging the gaff while also making light of the situation allowed the organization to turn a potential PR nightmare into a story that went viral. The Red Cross received a ton of mentions across the digital landscape and their reputation suffered little to any harm. In fact, they actually benefited from the mistake!
Recognizing the opportunity to chime in on their mention in the post and support The Red Cross and its mission, Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery responded. They reached out to The Red Cross and had them set up a special page where fans could make donations and they encouraged their followers to do so - while also using the hashtag #gttngslizzerd
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| Dogfish Head Brewery took advantage of involvement in the tweet and came to the aid of The Red Cross |
In the end, Gloria didn't lose her job (rightfully so) and she blamed the tweeting error on a lack of HootSuite experience. Putting things in perspective, Wendy Harman of The Red Cross stated, "Listen, we deal with huge, natural disasters all the time… this really isn't that huge." (Wasserman, 2011)
Reviewing the The National Labor Relations Act and Workplace Social Media Policies, this example most likely falls under #9, Employers remain entitled to enforce important workplace policies, even in the context of social media. Granted, this was a post made in error but irregardless the content certainly did not comply with the organization's workplace policies...unless getting slizzerd is okay at The Red Cross (but I doubt it is).
If Gloria Huang's post about getting slizzerd had been sent from her personal Twitter account nobody would have ever batted an eye. Because it went out from the official Twitter handle for The American Red Cross it was quite a different story. When it comes to applying guidelines for employee's own use of social media the following National Labor Relations Act and Workplace Social Media Policies are most important: Opinions are largely protected. and Employers remain entitled to enforce important workplace policies, even in the context of social media. The two guidelines protect both the employee and the company. (Halpem, 2012)
When representing their company or organization, employees should be expected to follow the following guidelines; Employers may prohibit employee “rants.” and Confidentiality clauses should be narrowly tailored. (Halpem) These two guidelines protect the company from defamation as well as preventing competitors from gaining knowledge that could have major consequences.
Sources:
Here's To #gettngslizzered With The Red Cross. (2011, February 16). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/mariah/heres-to-gettngslizzered-with-the-red-cross.htm
Halpem, S. (2012, December 3). When is Your Company's Social Media Policy an Unfair Labor Practice? Recent NLRB Decisions Offer Long-Awaited Guidance for Employers | The National Law Review. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/when-your-company-s-social-media-policy-unfair-labor-practice-recent-nlrb-decisions-
Wasserman, T. (2011, February 16). Red Cross Does PR Disaster Recovery on Rogue Tweet. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-tweet/
Hi, Russ. Great pick of a social media mishap for this week’s discussion. While most stories end in associates losing jobs, this gaff was put into perspective. While it may have been a horrible ending for some organizations, The Red Cross was able to put it in perspective as a minor issue compared to the natural disasters they typically deal with in their work (Wasserman, 2011).
ReplyDeleteThe unique situation with The Red Cross is that they took advantage of the situation when Dogfish Head’s following stepped up to support the organization in their efforts. If Dogfish had not been listening to the online conversation, they may have missed the tweet and not given The Red Cross the opportunity to put social media into action and take advantage of what could have been a bad situation.
The Red Cross acknowledged that the tweet was a mistake and not done maliciously by the employee. They took a very human approach to social media. “Humans have an amazing ability to forgive one another for mistakes, and even forgive companies, too (especially when they’re reminded that compassionate, understanding, and reasonable people are behind the company in question) (Kerpen, 2011, p. 196).
Whether or not The Red Cross had a strong social media policy in place that encompassed the 9 edicts of the National Labor Relations Board (Halpern, 2012), they chose to handle the situation with a human approach. They likely could have chosen to terminate Haug based on rule #9, but they gained more benefit by embracing the situation as a mistake and utilizing it to reach out to audiences they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to reach. By utilizing integrated marketing communications and a human approach, The Red Cross turned a troublesome situation into an opportunity. Nice job Red Cross!
And nice job on finding a unique situation to discuss this week, Russ! Great post!
-Mandy
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Halpern, S. (2012, December 3). When is Your Company's Social Media Policy an Unfair Labor Practice? Recent NLRB Decisions Offer Long-Awaited Guidance for Employers | The National Law Review. Retrieved February 25, 2015 from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/when-your-company-s-social-media-policy-unfair-labor-practice-recent-nlrb-decisions-
Wasserman, T. (2011, February 16). Red Cross Does PR Disaster Recovery on Rogue Tweet. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-tweet/
Hey Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It's nice to see people be understanding and not overreact in a situation like this. Obviously, it is inappropriate for the Red Cross' official Twitter account to be posting anything about "getting slizzerd," but it is also a very understandable mistake. People are human, they have their own personal lives outside of work, and if they involves enjoying some Dogfish Head every now and then, more power to them. Very glad to see how the Red Cross handled it, and did not fire the employee responsible. Although, I wonder if their reaction would have been the same had she been drinking Budweiser - surely that's grounds for termination!
It was also nice to see how Dogfish Head got involved by setting up a page for fans to donate to the Red Cross. This is exactly how you would hope a minor social media gaffe would be handled. The Red Cross apologizes with a lighthearted joke about the incident, and Dogfish Head helps the Red Cross' cause by spreading awareness of the need for blood donation and funds. The ninth edict of the NLRA was good to apply here, as I'm sure the "getting slizzerd" didn't take place during company time, however, since it was posted on the company account, the Red Cross probably had every right to take disciplinary action. In this particular case, I think they made the right choice to laugh it off instead.
Hi Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat example of a social media gaffe. I was relieved to read how the Red Cross handled the incident. As far as inappropriate tweets go, this was very mild and definitely caused no harm to the organization. They did the right thing by addressing the tweet as an accident and taking a lighthearted approach at rectifying it. It was also smart of Dogfish to take advantage of this as a PR opportunity. I'm not sure that it matters here what exactly the Red Cross' social media policy is, since under any circumstance mistaking my tweeting a personal tweet from an organization's account would not be considered acceptable behavior, but I would be interested to see what the Red Cross' policy does say in regards to what type of posted content would get someone terminated from the organization. Perhaps it is just a judgment call.
Great post this week!
Brenna
Hi Russ,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great example of a social media mishap. What I thought was most interesting was how the Red Cross handled the situation. They made light of a potentially bad situation, and I think it speaks volumes about the companies ability to respond in a way that is appropriate given the situation. Also, I feel that they treated the employee well in this situation. It was truly an honest mistake, and as you mentioned, if she had posted this from her personal account, its likely no one would have noticed and the media scrutiny would have been non-existent.
Thanks for a great post!
Allie