We shouldn’t belittle anymore the importance for social media education for employees. A member of the Communications Team of the Office of the President said something that she shouldn’t have said on Twitter and this caused a firestorm of protests online and in various print publications. In an article published on the ABS-CBN News website, the person posted derogatory comments while with the President in his visit to Vietnam. Click this to go to the original article on ABS-CBN News.
The Presidential Communications Team, led by Secretaries Carandang and Quezon, downplayed the incident saying that they reprimanded the person and also instructed their team to be more careful with what they tweet in the future.
However, this could have easily become an international diplomatic issue IF Vietnam was a dominantly English speaking country.
Whether we like it or not, people who aren’t educated with proper social media etiquette are threats to the companies or organizations that they represent — especially if they talk about topics that are related to their work on their social networks.
Social Media education is no longer a laughing matter. Address the issue now by having training or policies made because eventually an employee’s tweet or Facebook comment will put the company in hot water.
Reference Articles:
Asian Correspondent: Aquino is surrounded by Juveniles
ABS-CBN News: PNoy Speechwriter in Hot Water Over Twitter Posts
Photo from Balita.ph
And she’s calls herself part of the communications team? Jeez! Doesn’t she know the world can see her tweets and others can easily translate her remarks? Man!
We at the Internet business world have been tweeting even before Twitter becomes famous in the Philippines. And we know one short remark can make a wild fire…
Somebody teach her viral marketing in promoting our country!
Wow. I know there are people who make this mistakes, but I didn’t expect it from someone who works for the President. Sheesh.
These people still don’t know how powerful Social Media is after the 2010 elections, the hostage-taking, etc? Tsk tsk. They really have to be trained or reprimanded for making such stupid mistakes.
What was she thinking?
Geez! What was she thinking!
So this stuff got here, too?! DONE! I already have received both “inquiring” and nasty messages from my Vietnamese classmates! How unlucky can I get– first i was given cold shoulders by my Chinese classmates, and this!
Now, I only have my Nepali friend to talk to.
@#$%^&*%$#@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O my here they go again, Carlo, can you please train & share the professional way of social marketing. Hope they could humble down , accept capable professionals. Its our country and Phils Inc. at stake.
Go Carlo to Malacanang, and say the Filipino network sent you.
They’ll probably turn me away since I’ve been very critical of the way they handle their social media.
You don’t build a social media team overnight. P-Noy’s comm team should be schooled over the Internet and learn the tricks of the trade. Furthermore, they should focus on reputation management for obvious reasons.
I heard that Ricky Carandang even replied to the speech writer. Even the boss needs to get the proper training and education.
Is this the quality of people P-Noy hires? She can’t hold her mouth and even tweeted it for everyone to read!
Whatever goodwill made by P-Noy’s visit to Vietnam was wiped out by some stupid and ethnocentric tweets!
Who recommended her, Kris Aquino? They talk alike!
And what did she gets, reprimand? She should have been fired!
I feel bad though for her. She’s getting so much negative press on all the major news networks. She has a hate page on Facebook. Several bloggers are ganging up on her.
She made a mistake. But for people to dig up her personal and private life is too much. :/