Bronze: Michelle Obama: “Don’t tweet every word.”

The former first lady had an important message for internet users this week.

Speaking at the inaugural summit of the Obama foundation, she pointed out that “most of your initial thoughts aren’t worth the light of day”, highlighting that you should think carefully before you post online, rather than just saying what’s on your mind. She directed the message at young people, but we all know who she was referring to…

 

This lesson is also true for business owners who communicate directly with potential clients online. For example, a local gym owner in the North East came under fire last month for his anti-feminist rant when responding to a customer complaint on the platform.

Although it’s important to show personality in your brand’s online presence, if you don’t feel you can take criticism, or if you really like to speak your mind, it’s perhaps best to outsource your social media channels to avoid any awkward situations!

 

Silver: Twitter releases a timeline of safety updates.

Twitter is making moves to get rid of the ‘bad stuff’ to improve the safety and overall experience of the site for users.

This is great news for the majority of us who like to use Twitter to keep up with current events and communicate with customers. It will hopefully mean more people will find a positive experience using the platform, instead of being put off by negative posts that seem to have built up on the social channel recently.

 

Gold: Increasing the character limit on tweets

In a move that has divided users of the site, Twitter has announced it will be increasing the character limit from 140 characters, up to 280.

Many users aren’t happy with the move, stating that the whole point of Twitter is to convey concise and well thought out messages. Some users have even posted images of longer Tweets edited, to show they could have conveyed the same message in 140 characters or less.

Although this may well be the case, here at Podium we think it could be good for businesses, as it will allow us to include more information in our tweets. However, we have yet to receive the update, so we’ll keep you updated when it reaches broader audiences!

 

Off the Podium: Donald Trump Jr confusing socialism with sharing.

You’ve probably seen this tweet doing the rounds this week: Donald Trump Jr announced he would be taking half of his three-year-old daughter Chloe’s Halloween treats away to ‘teach her about socialism.’

Within hours, the tweet had over 50,000 responses from Twitter users, pointing out that he wasn’t describing socialism at all, he was actually describing sharing, and many stated that her getting the sweets in the first place was in fact, down to socialism.

Cases like this show how important it is to do your research and make sure you really know what you’re talking about before posting online – especially because Twitter users are quick to jump on any mistake and can leave you looking red-faced and unprofessional!

 

Podium is a full-service search marketing company and can help you with all your social media and SEO needs. We’re experts in online message management and provide a professional point of contact for your customers, as well as doing thorough research before posting about any topics!

If you’d like help with your digital marketing, give us a call on 0191 233 6397, or email [email protected] for a no obligation chat with our friendly team.

Back