It was all over the news the last week of December, but just in case you missed it: Justine Sacco, now ex-communications director for huge parent company InterActive Corp (IAC), made an ill-advised racist tweet directly before her twelve-hour international flight to Africa. Sacco had to turn her phone off for the duration of the flight, so she was blissfully unaware of the social media maelstrom her 140-character message had generated:
“Going to Africa. Hope I don't get Aids. Just kidding. I'm white!”
At first, some thought it was a hoax. How could anyone possibly be so insensitive as to post such an inflammatory commentary on such a public venue? But no, previous derogatory comments on her Twitter and other social media accounts were found by amateur cyberjournalists obsessed with the story, making it extremely unlikely that her account was hacked.
“#HasJustineLandedYet” was a trending topic on Twitter for the duration of her flight, with Twitter users taking photos of her and informally interviewing her family about the tweet as soon as she landed at the airport.
An IAC spokesperson quickly reassured an outraged public that “the offensive comment [Sacco made] does not reflect the views and values of IAC.” The following day, the company “parted ways” with their former PR person. Sacco apologized for the tweet, and so passed her 15 minutes in the Twitter spotlight.
While Sacco would love the tale to die a quick, noiseless death, the story is worth resurrecting for the lessons it teaches us as social media users, both privately and professionally. First and foremost, it’s a great chance to examine the nature of social media. As Jeff Bercovici mentions in his column, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are “shoot from the hip” collections of thoughts and ideas we have throughout the day. Items that gain the most traction—shares, likes, retweets and repins, whatever it may be—will be the most shocking or inflammatory. (Sacco’s own story provides a perfect illustration of this point. What story is more delicious than a public relations professional getting fired for a social media misstep?)
For private-independent schools, social media is the informal partner to your press releases and printed materials, and that’s a good thing for today’s quick-bite audience. That great strength, however, may prevent comments from referencing a broader context. One commenter, for example, brought up that Sacco is South African herself, and she may have felt justified at making a joke at her own people’s expense. While there’s no excuse for the inherent racism illustrated by Sacco’s tweet, perhaps there was a backstory for her lack of judgment, one for which the “trial by social media” failed to account.
Consider, too, that Sacco had fewer than five hundred followers when she published her “tweet heard ‘round the world.” Accounts vary on the exact number, but the fact remains that you can’t count on relative obscurity to gloss over an ill-fated tweet or post. All it takes is one person re-tweeting a thoughtless remark, and you’ve got the makings for your own social media disaster.
Does this mean you should never post or tweet again and cower in fear, refreshing your monitor every thirty seconds in anticipation of a parent’s scornful reply? No, of course not! But should you be deliberate in what you say online and demand the same care from your faculty? Absolutely.
Additional ISM resources
Private School News Vol. 9 No. 2 Managing Your School’s Social Media
Private School News Vol. 9 No. 5 Social Media: Weighing the Risks
Private School News Vol. 10 No. 4 Social Media Disasters: Costs, Dangers, and Quagmires
Private School News Vol. 11 No. 5 Start Off the New School Year With a Killer Social Media Plan
ISM Monthly Update for Division Heads Vol. 10 No. 4 Good Social Media Protects Your School
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members
I&P Vol. 35 No. 1 Faculty and Staff Use of Social Media Sample: Policy
I&P Vol. 36 No. 5 Conducting a Communications Audit
