Over the past few weeks, several celebrities, institutions, and politicians have been getting flak over their social media use. The most recent case was actress Angelica Panginiban who finally decided to close down her Twitter account after she was mobbed by detractors. Negative and below-the-belt comments came pouring down and even her educational background wasn’t spared. This is one of the biggest challenges for public figures with social media – they become vunerable.
One fundamental truth in life is that you can’t please everyone. Even the pope has enemies so you probably will have yours too. That said, social media won’t always be about fun stuff especially if you’re a public figure. Not only will you attract your usual enemies but you can actually make more enemies because of the following:
1. Not everyone will agree with what you Tweet
2. Since you have an open line, anything you do wrong that’s public knowledge can become weapons used against you online
3. If you’re a company, social media won’t be just about marketing, it will be about customer service and support
4. If you’re a politician expect tweets asking for financial assistance and whatnot
With all that said I guess my best advice for celebrities, public figures, and companies who want to go into social media is this: don’t just do it for the sake of doing it.
There should be a strategy in mind when you go into Twitter. Don’t just dot it because it’s the fad or because people are saying that you should do it. Maximize the time and effort you’re putting into this by making sure that you have the fundamentals covered. What will you gain out of doing this? How can you streamline the process? What can go wrong and what can you do to make sure you can handle those situations?
Happy Tweeting! 
