Julius Malema wants to shut down Twitter in South Africa, according to the Independent. He has recently come under phweet* attacks, that are sufficiently funny to have drawn the attention of the public. His reaction, unfortunately, has drawn the attention of the international media in the most unflattering way.
I would like to offer my services to Mr Malema, to ensure he avoids such pitfalls in the future.
Below is a step-by-step breakdown of the events, the mistakes made and the alternative that would have resulted is blip on the media screen rather than the sirens he now has screaming:
1. Phweet attack
Social Media Mistake
ANC Youth League issues a statement calling for Twitter to be shut down in South Africa: “We will now approach the relevant authorities to report these hackers and call for the closer of twitter if its administrators are not able to administer reports for violation of basic human rights and integrity.”
Social Media Alternative
Mr Malema could have listened to what his critics were saying – social media is about an honest conversation. If someone is criticising you, listen carefully, be willing to take on board valid criticism and take necessary steps to rectify the problem, and then respond openly. Aggressive response is likely to elicit an even more aggressive answer – so be nice, or at least funny.
Also note, that intimidation and anger fans flames on social media, so perhaps the ANC Youth League should consider rephrasing this: “Those who are… impersonating the ANC YL leadership should immediately stop… the laws of this country will come very hard on them.”
2. Spelling errors
Social Media Mistake
If you are going to respond with an attack such as the statement issued by the ANC Youth League, make sure it’s a flawless attack. Any mistakes will be used against you.
The statement issues by them was unfortunately liberally littered with typos such as calling for “the closer (sic) of twitter” and then the more sexually suggestive error “the laws of this country will come very hard on them”.
Social Media Alternative
Research the best response, draft your response carefully, proof read it and proof read it again.
3. Errors are left uncorrected
Social Media Mistake
This is possibly Mr Malema’s biggest mistake. He has failed to address the problems and errors (both in the criticism levelled at him by the phweet critics and in the errors made on the ANC Youth League’s statments).
At the time of writing this article, the quotable typos in their statement had not yet been corrected meaning that anyone who read about the incident in Independents article or elsewhere, and decided to read the statement themselves are also confronted with the ANC Youth League’s poor spelling.
The tribe on social media can be a forgiving lot, if only you correct your mistakes.
Social Media Alternative
Be prepared to graciously accept when you have made a mistake, and correct it immediately.
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Mr Malema, I believe you have simply been ill-advised by your social media strategist, I would like to offer my services to you! Please feel free to email me at your earliest convenience!
*Phweet – Fake accounts of famous people offering phoney Tweets