Social media mistakes can go viral and damage companies. The document outlines five social media screw-ups to avoid: 1) Tweeting from the wrong account and causing a PR crisis; 2) Using hashtags inappropriately, such as during a natural disaster; 3) Sharing proprietary company information publicly; 4) Offending users with inappropriate jokes; 5) Attempting to deceive users with inauthentic content that will ultimately be exposed.

1. Social media screw-ups you *must*
avoid
Once viewed as something to dump on the interns, social media is now integral to
corporate marketing, and a mistake can go viral in the click of a mouse. Here are
five screw-ups that illustrate why social media should be taken seriously.
By Jeff Jedras

2. Mind which account you’re
tweeting from
An employee at the company Chrysler – which is proud of its Detroit heritage –
hired to do its social media probably meant to tweet this from his personal
account. Instead, wrong button, and Chrysler has a PR crisis. Keep your personal
and work accounts separate, and tweet carefully.
Image from jalopnik.com

3. Careful when hashtag hijacking
Finding a way to insert your brand and message into a trending hashtag can be
sound social marketing – when done right. But choose your hashtag carefully. The
Gap took heat for encouraging online shopping while Hurricane Sandy took lives
and made thousands homeless on the East Coast. Always think before you hit
send.
Image from adweek.com

4. Am I allowed to say that?
Social media encourages sharing, but not everything should be public. Gene
Morphis lost his job as CFO of clothing company Francesca's for a series of tweets
and Facebook posts, including "Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board."
Some company information needs to be disseminated a bit more delicately.

5. Any joke will offend someone
The thing to remember about humour, is someone is always going to be offended.
You want to keep any jokes simple, tame, and G-rated. Even if you’re a condom
manufacturer. And misogyny should definitely be avoided, as Durex South Africa
learned after this tweet.
Image from carlashore.wordpress.com

6. Hide something and you’ll get
caught
In 2006, “Jim & Laura” opened a blog and began driving an RV across the U.S.,
staying in Wal-Mart parking lots, writing about their adventures and the Wal-Mart
employees they met who all seemed to love their jobs. Only problem – the
“bloggers” were hired by Wal-Mart’s PR firm, Edelman. They were exposed, giving
Wal-Mart a black eye. Social media needs authenticity.
Image from Jared C. Benedict