Social Media Timing is Everything

Timing is everything.

In social media…well… that’s amplified. 

red sox   Twitter Search

The Boston Red Sox made a splash today with two free agent signings: Hanley Ramirez (last with the LA Dodgers) and Pablo Sandoval (last with the San Francisco Giants). Huge news in the world of Major League Baseball. Red Sox nation was excited, as one would expect. Nothing had been tweeted from the official Red Sox account regarding these signings. Until tonight.

Shortly after the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson would not be charged in the shooting death of Michael Brown tonight in Missouri, the Red Sox tweeted the news out. Many were outraged at the lack of “awareness”. Some understood.

On a night like tonight, timing is everything on social media. Intention doesn’t always come across on social media. Neither does sarcasm. As well intentioned as the Red Sox wanted it to be, their poor timing caused an uproar. Just like

Peter King on Twitter   This is the biggest indictment of all  The Jets  special teams are worse than the offense.

 

Poor timing again. 

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King and the Red Sox weren’t alone.

 

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Derek Johnson on Twitter    KirkHerbstreit  KCChiefs how about the news on mike brown case  just lost a lil respect for u  but I WILL keep playing NCAA football 2014

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Even celebrities weren’t immune. 

 The replies to his tweet show that assumption is the first reaction.  

will.i.am on Twitter   Tonight is probably the best night ever had a very long time.

The replies above bring up a good point. There is a certain expectation when it comes to news today. The expectation to know what’s going on in each other’s world. Not everyone is on Twitter or paying attention to the news on Twitter, 24/7. King was covering a football game. will.i.am didn’t know about it yet. Herbstreit was busy being a dad.

 

Kirk Herbstreit on Twitter    MollyJoRosen No  it s called 4 kids and their homework.Rosen would later apologize.

 

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Yes, Twitter is a great live-event conversation. Twitter is also a terrible live-event conversation. Interpretations of a tweet lead to assumptions. Assumptions lead to misunderstandings like what you see above. Not everyone is consumed with the Twitter conversation on “your” timeline. To assume otherwise is unfair. But, that goes both ways.

When running a social media account for a team or brand like the Red Sox, awareness has to be at the top of the list. Awareness, or rather, listening. Listen not just to what your fans or customers are telling you or saying about you. It also involves listening to what is happening in your community.

Tonight, the community-at-large is talking about Michael Brown, Darren Wilson and Ferguson. 

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Apologies, whether necessary or not, did come:

And…just because you CAN tweet, doesn’t mean you SHOULD:

Adrian Peterson on Twitter   The GRAND JURY DECIDED NOT TO INDICT ME TOO  But that changed a week LATER  MAYBE BUT NOT LIKELY N THIS CASE  PUTyourTrustNGODnotINtheWORLD

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CadChica Sports

Posted by Sunny Cadwallader

CadChica Sports - Because there's more to the story than what's black-and-white