Tweet With News In MIND!

 So the story below is clear example of why it is really important for your people, especially the people who tweet for you, to pay attention to the news. There are often stories in the news that could impact how, when and why you tweet a particular link, story or comment. Keep those things in mind when you are tweeting to your community.


President's Choice apologizes for 'insensitive' hurricane Sandy tweet
    TORONTO - President's Choice has apologized for an ``insensitive'' tweet about hurricane Sandy that has left many Canadians with a bad taste.
    The private label of Loblaw (TSX:L), posted Tuesday: ``What's scarier? Hurricane #Sandy or a beverage with marshmallow eyeballs?''
    It linked to a recipe for ``marshmallow bloodshot eyeballs,'' which suggests cutting marshmallows in half and putting a grape or blueberry in the middle to make it look like an eyeball.
    The account was flooded with replies criticizing the tweet as ``awful'' and ``tasteless'' for making light of a storm that killed more than 100 people, including a woman in Toronto.
    Millions of people remain without power and transit in the U.S. and in Canada the storm at its height left more than 200,000 customers in the dark.
    President's Choice tweeted again about an hour later to say it was sorry.
    (The Canadian Press)

Sometimes it is just better to wait. Or sometimes it is better just to abandoned the tweet all together.  Make sure you are talking to your team about keeping in tune with current affairs, news and events happening around the world.

What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Hockey or Election Coverage?

October 6th there is a provincial election in Ontario. It is also the opening of the NHL Season and the first game of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A real conundrum for some people. What to do? What to do?

Well, according to an online survey done by the Toronto star a vast majority of Star readers will be watching the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and perennial rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, followed by the Vancouver Canucks playing host to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hockey is king in a hockey town.

It got me thinking. Does this mean people don't care about politics and the election? Or is it just that people don't care about the Election coverage that every single news outlet in Toronto will be airing?  I think a bit of the first and a lot of the second. I think the poll results should really speak volumes to newsrooms everywhere about how they package election results. Do viewers/audiences really want hours and hours of results?

I think the answer is NO! In the day and age where people, many people, turn to the Internet - Twitter, Facebook, Google + , email,  smart phones - to get all the news that affects their lives I think this idea of hours of packaged election results coverage, with numbers, multiple reporters, analysis and multiple news anchors is getting old, fast. I think there is a need to give election results but it needs to be in a prettier package - a package that is more efficient, has a faster delivery, more information and less fluff and filler.