Recently, I recalled a course I took in university about the Wiccan religion. I remembered thinking that it would be fun to learn about witches (and, let’s be honest here, it sounded like an easy A). Somewhere towards the middle of the course, it dawned on me that the class wasn’t as interesting as I had originally expected it to be.
In any case, I knew that mid-course I’d be responsible for writing a lengthy essay about Wiccans. Nearly 85% of the course grade was dependent on that essay. The title of the essay escapes me, but I do remember the name of the book that I chose to read and base my essay on: “Drawing Down the Moon.”
Sounds fascinating, right?
Perhaps the book is interesting, but I didn’t read it. After a few pages of a book that was nothing like Harry Potter, I decided to toss the book aside and use my creative writing abilities to craft an essay that I thought was believable. Weeks went by after handing in my essay and I was sure I had aced it. Then, one day, my professor asked me to join her in her office for a chat.
As you might have guessed, she had read the book inside and out, and she knew very well that I had not. After I had confessed that the book was simply too boring to read, she allowed me to choose another book and re-write the essay.
Social media isn’t unlike confessing that you never actually read that book.
Knowing what’s right from wrong when running a social media campaign is essential. If you make a mistake, go through the terror of negative Facebook comments, or don’t provide clients with something that you promised, you have to confess and fix the problem.
Far too often I see companies try to brush social media blunders under the rug – this is never a good tactic. No matter how large or small a problem is, you have to take a lesson from Spike Lee (and me) and “do the right thing” – or hope that the person who’s running your campaign is.
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