A single tweet can create serious consequences
We’ve examined many cases of organizations landing themselves in need of crisis management as a result of poorly planned tweets, but the latest Twitter dustup may have larger ramifications than rumblings in the court of public opinion.
This past Wednesday, the @USEmbassyCairo account shared a link to a clip of the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart poking fun at Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi over the arrest of political comedian Bassem Youssef.
Apparently, the Egyptian presidency keep a close eye on Twitter, because shortly after the US Embassy’s post went out, this tweet was fired off from the official @EgyPresidency account:
.@usembassycairo @thedailyshow @drbassemyoussef It’s inappropriate for a diplomatic mission to engage in such negative political propaganda
— Egyptian Presidency (@EgyPresidency) April 2, 2013
It was only minutes after this tweet went out that the cable was pulled on the State Department’s feed for about an hour, after which it returned, minus the controversial post.
What went down behind the scenes? Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reports:
A State Department official told The Cable Wednesday that the decision to take down Embassy Cairo’s Twitter page was made by U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson without the consultation of the State Department in Washington. Foggy Bottom is urging Embassy Cairo to put the page back up, lest it appear that the United States is caving to the online pressure.
“This not a permanent shutdown. Embassy Cairo considers this to be temporary. They want to put new procedures in place,” the official said.
Take this as a reminder of the potential one tweet, one status update, one sentence, published anywhere on the ‘net, holds. Be careful what you post.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/