Over the last few days I’ve seen the  ugly side of automated social media.  With Hurricane Sandy barreling its way over 25% of the United States, the majority of the conversation on social media was about the storm.  (Political commentaries were thrown into the mix too, given the upcoming U.S. election.)  The minority of social media talk was about weddings.  (Event tho it was the minority, it was still VERY noticeable.)  It was VERY  bizarre.  And, it was obvious that most of the “random” wedding tweets were automated, scheduled ahead of time.

I’m NOT against scheduling social media updates as long it’s done within reason and as long as you’re there to contribute to conversation.  However, I’m STRONGLY against NOT engaging with the audience.  The whole point of social media is to engage, converse, discuss, talk.  The problem with scheduling social media is that when catastrophic events like Sandy happen (or the Japan quake a couple years ago) the tweets/updates still appear.  And the tweets/updates are totally OUT OF TOUCH with what’s happening in real time.  They can appear shallow or insensitive.

How could you be talking about kelly green ribbon and plum purple accents at a time like this?  If you were here right now, you’d know that this isn’t the time for that.  You’d know that those things are the farthest things from people’s minds.

Think about how that impacts your business, your reputation, your brand.