by By Brooke Halvorsen @bhalvz, Nick Hudson @aussie_duck, Jeff Lockie @Yuddaman
A Recap of the #SOJCssm Twitter Conversation 1/24/17 – 1/25/17
A Final Thought on Online Firestorms
Social media requires a heightened level of social responsibility and awareness. Unfortunately, for too many Twitter users, this lesson has been learned all too late as they find themselves in an “online firestorm”. Think Justine Sacco, Alexandra Wallace or even this man who wanted Mac and Cheese just a little bit too much. Social networks create the perfect environment for group-retaliation on a mass scale for two very distinct reasons:
- Invisible Audiences: When posting on social media, users often have a very specific target audience in mind and forget the much wider reach their networks have. In Justine Sacco’s case, we assume her target audience was “friends with a similarly questionable sense of humor” and not “an editor at Gawker, his 15,000 followers and later, millions of Twitter users around the world”. Twitter is not the place to post thoughts that you wouldn’t be comfortable sharing with everyone!
- The Power of Anonymity: The relative anonymity and perceived sense of separation from others makes humans act in ways on Twitter that they would never imagine themselves doing on a public street. Just look at some of the tweets directed at Justine Sacco or Alexandra Wallace and it doesn’t take long to realize that “trolls” hiding behind the “veil of online anonymity” operate on an entirely different level than they would in face-to-face interactions.
It’s surprising how easily these firestorms can start. Just one look at the #SOJCssm feed on Wednesday will show you that even something as small (or as large) as admitting to never seeing a classic piece of American cinema can get you caught up in a monstrous firestorm of your own.
#SOJCssm Joins the Conversation
Wednesday could not have started off on a better note for the #SOJCssm class, as the dynamic international trio listed above fired off a series of pre-tweets leading up to class full of riveting articles, outside research and, most importantly, memes that would have made Marilyn Manson smile. It was clear from the morning of January 25th that some serious heat was headed#SOJCssm’s way.
Free Speech and its Potential Control Online
Just as I’m sure everyday starts in today’s world, our class too began the day talking “alternative facts”. While yes, deep political opinions were spared, the #SOJCssm tag immediately started class filled with links and information around the recent Badlands National Park global warming controversy. The recent events regarding the deletion of Badlands Tweets created discussion around the limits of free speech. In order to gain an official feel on the matter, @Yuddaman released the following Twitter poll:
It’s About to Get Real (CAUTION: THIS SECTION IS SEMI-SERIOUS)
The class discussion became real when the content online turned towards the dark side of social media. #SOJCssm’s Twitter feed began to heat up with articles, stories, and discussions regarding the negative effects of a highly connected world. Class members Tweeted stories of their own and their opinion on the power of an invisible audience. While much discussion took place, credit must be given to the “Advice of the Day” winner @McKenzieEdgar23 for this Tweet:
This portion of content demonstrated how Twitter has the ability to bring out the worst in society, giving people a wall and keyboard to hide behind. It’s a space with little accountability and no face-to-face interaction, and the stories shared showed this to us all. So as a message to #SOJCssm, be the good you want to see in Twitter for the sake of everyone.
Back to What the People Want
Then….with one simple phrase…the mood in #SOJCssm was flipped back to what the people wanted. In an instance, @kmatthews brought the room back as she described @UrbanOutfitters as doing, “Stupid s#!t all the time”(yes…you read that PG-13 quote correctly). This led to a flood of links leading to a full out kill session on Urban Outfitters and its past decisions (trust me…they earned it). While this discussion on an average day in #SOJCssm would be seen as an immense success, what happened next has the power to transcend a generation.
The Moment We all had Been Waiting For
But, as if you could not have thought the day in #SOJCssm could have gotten any better, @oliviadeterman posted a tweet that led to an online firestorm with enough heat to make the sun feel like an Otter Pop on a cool day. After class discussion dropped reference to the critically acclaimed, world famous, and awe-inspiring film Mrs. Doubtfire, @oliviadeterman posted the Tweet of a lifetime:
What happened next was the creation of the most gorgeous online firestorm #SOJCssm had ever seen. The entire class responded with some of greatest Mrs. Doubtfire memes and quotes directed at @oliviadeterman’s direction.
Whether your personal opinion believed @oliviadeterman deserved it or not, the reaction created #SOJCssm content for the ages. The complete nuclear firestorm even had the heat to trigger an outside member of society to join the barrage:
The Day in Numbers
Our international Twitter Management team served up a win on Wednesday with light hearted conversation that packed a punch. This dynamic trio was made up of three MBA students, from three countries, brought together to achieve greatness through the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center and J580. We crafted and inspired 162 tweets, from 33 outstanding individuals with the #SOJCssm hashtag from January, 24th to January 25th.
Our team’s loyal audience was created by our unique brand voice. When polled as to whether the #SOJCssm feed was “Absolutely FANTASTIC, Average, or Subpar”, the class was unanimous in deciding that our feed was the cream of the crop (15 votes in total). Thanks to Hashtracking.com here is a look into the buzz:
Timeline deliveries clocked in at 98,160 and our reach extended to 18,923. Alas, put your hands together for the following MVPs of our Twitter tenure:
- Most Popular: @oliviadeterman
- Most Tweets: @YuddaMan
- Most Reach: @kmatthews
- Most Retweeted: @Bhalvz
In all seriousness, we enjoyed our day in the Twitter driver seat and it was a pleasure researching and leading the feed on some very important Privacy, Advocacy and Activism issues in the social media world today.
First off, I appreciate the nostalgia of this blog post. I am someone who can undoubtedly say that before this class I was not an active Twitter user, however that is not to say I did not see the value in it. But, this specific twitter feed showed me how powerful Twitter can be. Not only did I have more likes and retweets than ever before in my time as Twitter user but I also gained followers from people who aren’t even in our class.
I’ve always known about how quickly things can catch fire on social media, but I can also say I have never been a part of a firestorm and am glad I was a part of one as lighthearted as, “Doubtfire Firestorm.” I think this is a great small-scale example of how quickly things can get out of hand or turn around, for better or worse. It seems a firestorm can happen in any setting, whether it is because you haven’t seen movie or because you sent an ignorant and harmful tweet. I think people learned first hand about how rapidly things can escalate.
I like how my name is tagged on this post #MakeYourMark