If we’re honest we all probably enjoy sharing the odd gloat on social media.
Perhaps it is our football team’s latest victory, a new car we have just bought, or simply wanting to show everyone what a good time we are having.
But most people restrict this boasting to their personal accounts, simply because work accounts need to be more professional, particularly if the nature of the work is sensitive and emotive.
But not everyone seems to have paid attention to that part of their social media training and the consequences are huge.
At the time of writing, at least eight local authorities have cancelled or promised to review their contracts with a law firm which specialises in fighting support claims for children with special educational needs (SEN).
The company in question, Baker Small, reportedly acted for around 20 local authorities until its founder posted a series of ill-judged tweets on Saturday.
Mark Small took to the @Bakersmall account on Saturday to post his delight at a recent ‘win’.
He tweeted: “Crikey, had a great ‘win’ last week which sent some parents into a storm. It’s always a great win when the other side think they won”
And
“Great ABA Trib this week… interesting to see how parents continue to persist with it. Funny thing is parents think they won ;)”
When people responded to the seemingly gloating and mocking tweets, a picture of a supposedly laughing kitten was posted on the account with the text ‘some great tweets received today from people who just see a one sided argument…just shared them with my cat’.
A further picture was posted of a swimming pool and the words ‘shame about the football, but nice to be relaxing on Twitter at the end of a busy week’.
The messages understandably triggered a backlash on Twitter from outraged parents.
Baker Small subsequently deleted the tweets and issued an apology on the social media channel together with a promise of a charity donation.
But as is so often the case, the damaging publicity had already spread from social media to newspapers.
Mr Small later issued a further apology where he appeared to deflect blame for his actions, something which is generally not well received in a crisis media management situation.
He said: “I have apologised unreservedly for the tweets which were sent out from the Baker Small Twitter account. The actions were taken by me in response to some very distasteful emails I received prior to the offensive posting being made.”
It now seems Baker Small has gone into hiding. As I write this blog, the company’s Twitter handle can no longer be found and the website appears to have been taken down.
Managing a crisis, particularly a self-inflicted one, is never easy. As difficult as it may seem you need to be visible, show you understand and regret what has happened, and reassure people that it will not happen again.
Of course all of this could so easily have been avoided with a more professional approach to Twitter and the right social media training.
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