Careless tweeter

This week saw the sudden sacking of PR firm Redner Group by its biggest client Take Two after Redner tweeted about awful reviews of the new game “Duke Nukem Forever” saying…….

“…too many went too far with their reviews. We r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom.”

Ouch

This was immediately seen to mean that reviews would only be given to those that write nice things in future. And on the face of it, yes it really does read like that. However, when you actually look at some of the rude, badly written and no doubt biased ‘reviews’, it is easy to see what the tweet may have been supposed to mean. Basically, that they wouldn’t be giving review copies out to just anyone who asked; in future they would go to genuine, independent, unbiased reviewers who could write a proper constructive review. A totally different proposition to how it came across.

The trouble with tweets is that it is hard to get more complex thoughts across and therefore they’re sometimes easily misunderstood. It is also all too easy to tweet without really checking or examining the way what you have written could be taken. I am sure if I go through my history of tweeting there are a few tweets that could be taken in many different ways. But as long as they are my views, people are welcome to take them how they want. However, Redner’s tweet sounded like it was speaking for Take Two and therefore – despite the fact that if they meant it in the way I think they did they were perhaps absolutely right to say what they did – Take Two really had no choice but to sack them.

It’s a terrible shame, but an important lesson for those of us in PR. Always check and recheck and think before you post anything in the capacity as a spokesperson for your clients or indeed your own company.

While it takes a second to tweet, it can’t be taken back once it’s out there and your mistakes are likely to spread far faster than your triumphs.