Category

Communications

Twitter Plays a Role in the Ferguson Shooting Grand Jury

By Crisis Communications, Social Media

On September 23, 2014, I published a post called Social Media in a Crisis: How to Help the Search for Hannah Graham. I heard from a lot of people who were in support of my guidance within. I heard from two people who had different opinions.

In my professional capacity with my firm, Jaggers Communications, I advise businesses and the people who represent them, in part, how to use social media and how to conduct themselves online to achieve business goals, to maintain a professional profile, and to establish strong personal brands. I also have more than 18 years’ experience in public relations and advising corporations and public entities in crisis communications strategy. I use my blog as a vehicle to advise people who are interested in these pursuits, and sometimes reach a much broader audience, as was the case with this post.

I am watching news unfold today from the Washington Post about possible misconduct within the Grand Jury in the Ferguson, Missouri criminal case regarding the shooting of Michael Brown.  The news concerns Twitter and its use by members of the jury and their friends who also use Twitter.

Social media use can certainly complicate a criminal trial. It makes it very difficult to appoint a jury of people who have not seen or heard information or opinions about a case with news as widespread as the Ferguson shooting case, or as in the case against Jesse LJ Matthew and the disappearance of Hannah Graham. A compromised jury in a criminal case can sometimes result in a mistrial. Missteps in our criminal justice system can sometimes mean a guilty party goes free. It sometimes mean that an innocent person is charged.

My role, as a communications professional counseling others is to provide guidance about best practices. It’s to help us all be thoughtful about our communications both one-on-one and to a vast audience. I hope, like all members of the community in which I live, that Hannah Graham is found and justice is served.

We can help that cause by sharing sources for news, information relevant to the community (search sites, calls for volunteers, requests of the community made by the police department and other relevant content that needs to reach a larger audience.

 

Social Media in a Crisis: How to Help the Search for Hannah Graham

By Crisis Communications, Social Media

The city of Charlottesville, the surrounding counties, and the University of Virginia community have been dealing with a crisis for the past week. On September 13, Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old second year student at UVa went missing.

Social media really lights up in a crisis, and can be useful for those trying to share a message, such as the tweet below from Charlottesville city government, encouraging witnesses to come forward.

 

People who may not normally pay attention to Twitter or Facebook are tuning into these platforms to try to get the most up-to-the-minute information. These platforms can be helpful for that, and it’s good to see the news organizations live streaming press conferences and sharing news updates as they are available. A couple of ways to stay on top of these are to follow the hashtag #hannahgraham on Twitter and to like the pages of local news organizations reporting on the unfolding story. https://www.facebook.com/NBC29 is one, and https://www.facebook.com/Newsplex is another.

In all crisis communications, one of the main rules is to refrain from speculation. Speculation can hurt a criminal case, it can distract from the mission at hand, and does not assist law enforcement in doing their jobs.

Here are five things you can do to help in the search for Hannah Graham:

  1. Share updates on Facebook from official sources to gather volunteers to search for Hannah, that share the WANTED poster of the person of interest in the case, and the tip line information to help make it accessible to anyone who might have a lead.
  2. Retweet sources announcing press conferences or other news the Charlottesville Police Department wants shared.
  3. Use the hashtag #hannahgraham to become part of the search stream on Twitter.
  4. Steer clear of fueling rumors or speculation about the case by staying out of online conversations about it.
  5. If you have something relevant to share, contact the police department, not the media.

Let’s all try to stay focused on helping the law enforcement professionals in this difficult case.

 

Chronicles of the Vertical Soup Exchange

By Communications

When I was in college (in the early 90s btw — think of me sporting flannel), I was part of a literary group. This group would host a couple of poetry readings each year and one year, one of the goofballs I shared this group with suggested we call the event The Vertical Soup Exchange.

This suggestion was made after the typical round of silly brainstorming, but when he said it, we all said, “Yes. That’s it.” And so it was.

Then, and now, Vertical Soup Exchange means nothing. It’s just a collection of words that sound kind of nice together. But I’ll tell you, it caused MAYHEM.

The administration of the small, private, liberal arts college were convinced (CONVINCED!) that the phrase meant something. They implied that it was possibly dirty. They suggested that it was somehow inappropriate. They made noises about shutting the thing down.

A poetry reading.

What rebels we were.

My point: sometimes there IS NO MEANING. Sometimes, there’s no intent. Be careful when you go looking for hidden meanings; they may all be coming from your head, not the writer’s.

Minding the Boundaries of Social Networking

By Communications, Social Media

It happened again. In a small town, it’s really not that difficult to network, and network appropriately. Heck, in a large town it’s not that difficult. So much depends on showing up, introducing yourself, and not being a creep.

Sometimes people get overly excited. Sometimes they stray into aggressiveness. Often, this is accompanied by a big leap over a boundary. Let’s review the basics:

  1. Dating sites are for dating. Dates are for getting to know one another for a romantic purpose. Dates are not for business connections, marketing help, free business advice, etc.
  2. LinkedIn, and other business social networks and groups are for business networking. Don’t flirt with people on LinkedIn.
  3. Facebook is for friends and could be for business or dating, depending on how you roll. But it’s NOT for strangers. Don’t confuse being a stranger with being someone’s friend. Don’t confuse a friend of a friend with anything other than a stranger, unless you have some other frame of reference for them. Not all people are good people.

Another creepy incidence I’ve encountered, and forgive me, I’m not being sexist but I’ve truly only had men do this: guys complaining about their wives or girlfriends in a business setting.

HEY GUYS: don’t do this. Not only does it make you look bad, but it appears that you’re fishing for some kind of attention from the females in the room. Because you are. Stop it.

 

Two Annoying Things: How to Get Through Your List Painlessly

By Communications

My boyfriend (yes, I have a boyfriend) came up with an ingenious idea. He tries to knock off two annoying things per day. What’s an annoying thing, you may ask? A sample:

  • A call to the cable company
  • Any interaction with your health or other kind of insurance
  • Any legal loose ends
  • Returning something that doesn’t fit or is broken
  • A visit to the DMV
  • Mailing or shipping a physical package at the post office or UPS

Everyone has these tasks to complete and if they build up, it can get pretty overwhelming. Thus the two-a-day rule. I’ve been trying it and you know, it’s really helping. I feel pretty virtuous at the end of the day when I can report into him that I’ve crossed two annoying things off my list.

We decided yesterday that any call to the cable company counts as two, by the way, so if you feel like trying it out, feel free to adopt that caveat!

Try it — tell me what you think. I’m really trying to keep it up — and it seems there’s ALWAYS two things I can find that qualify by the end of every day.