Public relations director fails at public relations.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

She is South African, so maybe there is/was some in-joke here?

42

If there is I’m betting it’s not one that will help her case.

43

I do feel a little sorry for her, since she was on a plane trip for 12 hours and didn’t know what was going on. A lot of people might write an offensive tweet, then people start getting offended, then the offender can delete the tweet and apologize before things get too crazy. Steve Martin wrote a tweet recently that some people were bothered by, but he was able to respond quickly, instead of after 12 hours once things got out of hand.

I agree to some degree. I try to be careful when posting comments, especially sarcastic ones to friends’ facebook pages. Anyone who knew me would be able to tell I was joking, but a stranger seeing a joking comment I made might take it at face value and be bothered.

Sometimes there’s context, and I don’t like it when a mob goes after someone without considering the context. But in this case, it does seem to just be an offensive joke. And someone found some other tweets that I’m assuming she’s regretting now:

This isn’t a case of someone having a brain fart and tweeting one stupid thing. This is a case of someone who has repeatedly tweeted stupid things. She doesn’t deserve to be drawn and quartered for it, but it makes sense to me that she’s lost her job as a PR person.

This is a good summary of what happened. She had just 200 followers, but someone sent her tweet to Sam Biddle, editor of Valleywag, who then posted about it, and a lot of people saw that.

I agree. She said some very stupid things and deserves to be fired in my opinion. But the feeding frenzy does seem disproportionate to her offense.

44

I remember back in our earlier days of innocence, people thought that the Internet, as it was still called back then, would produce a kinder world.

45

Did “people” think that? I certainly never did, and i’m not sure why anyone with any understanding of human history would think so.

The internet has enabled some people to do some great and kind and humane and thoughtful things, but it has also enabled people to act like selfish assholes and tyrants and bigots and cowards. New technology doesn’t really change human nature, and those who believe that it does are naïve or just not very thoughtful.

46

Blah. Didn’t finish my comments. Yes, I remember article in the media talking about it, but no, I didn’t think so. There is a lot of good, a hell of a lot of more convenience, and an opportunity for mob mentality to wild.

47

While she can certainly be trained to stop tweeting every stupid thought that enters her mind, can Justine ever be conditioned to stop thinking such ignorant, hateful things in the first place? Can you even teach empathy at this late stage in her development?

48

What, are you saying I’ve been lied to by every single movie on the Lifetime channel?

49

My job exists almost entirely on the internet, and largely depends on my public image. Am I ever so glad that my old Geocities page found its way into the dustbin of the internet, and that I never used my real name in those days.

I use the same filter as you: "How would this look if it found its way to the front pages? In fact I treat each and every media channel as if it were completely public and open. All my Facebook posts are public. Thinking only your friends see what you post on Social Media may be a recipe for disaster. If I need to communicate something in private to my friends I call them, or email them (I am careful what I put in writing too).

Nothing turns a minor internet celebrity into a big internet celebrity faster than fucking up.

50

Someone whose day job is Public Relations probably ought to be keenly aware of the possibility of just such an outcome.

51

Agreed. She is expected to be an expert in engaging the media and the public.