Should brands stop pre-scheduling tweets—forever?
When news about tragic events spreads across Twitter, pre-scheduled tweets can make brands and individuals look foolish. Is it time to stop this common practice?
Most of the people in my Twitter feed were sharing links to news articles about the shooting or their thoughts about the awful incident. But hours after the shooting, there was still a steady stream of automated, obviously pre-scheduled tweets.
I was particularly struck that several of my fellow media trainers—ostensibly the experts in how to communicate publicly—were still sending out automated tweets.
More than five hours after the shooting, one asked (perhaps ironically): “Do you have a spokesperson who has trouble staying on message? I can help!” And six hours after the shooting, another touted her ability to help your message appeal on a more “personal” level.
Sigh.
With so many off-note and off-message tweets, it’s no wonder some PR professionals have concluded that automated tweets should be a thing of the past. As Ontario-based Mach One Communications put it on its blog:
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