The Bellyflops of Social Media Mismanagement
I posted this in 2013 on my Medium page.
On the precipice of war, overreaching false cosmopolitanism continues. Plus, parents plan for unsustainable digital abstinence.
Today the Kenneth Cole Twitter account tweeted something thoughtless about “Boots on the ground” or not, don’t forget about sandals and loafers.
Nope.
Boots on the ground mean soldiers going to war possibly to be maimed or killed, and to wreak havoc on the lives of others. The precipice of war is not an opportunity to remind people you make loafers.
Feels like deja vu for Cole. Because it is. The brand flopped just like this in 2011.
In 2011 I made the connection between global mishaps of high profile brands and the false cosmopolitanism we’re all suffering.
There was Groupon’s SuperBowl ad fiasco, when the company attempted to mix consumerism with sensitive political, environmental, cultural, economic and social issues, and the Kenneth Cole Twitter debacle which appeared to make light of unrest in Cairo.
I wrote about earlier instances of the phenomenon of false cosmopolitanism in 2010. See links to that, and my influences below.
Access to the worldwide web makes us imagine we’re global thinkers. But most of us aren’t. Not even close.
In order to truly be global thinkers, we’d have to be xenophiles, actively and constantly bridging cultures, immersed and knowledgeable about multiple worlds.
Most people hang out in “like-minded microcosms” and when we cross a boundary online the new light shed on everyone’s prejudices and assumptions can take us by surprise.
This “xeno-confusion” is happening more often in the virtual realm, with higher and higher stakes.
Today’s other big story of social media mismanagement has been swiftly answered by Alexandra Samuel of Love Your Life Online. It falls into the category of unsustainable digital abstinence to solve problems that may crop up in the future.
“Don’t be scared to Facebook your kids,” she responds to Amy Webb’s piece at Slate “We Post Nothing About Our Daughter Online.”
Samuel writes: “Parenthood is such a central experience that there’s no way to cut it out of your online life without profoundly compromising your own ability to have authentic, meaningful connections online.”
That’s exactly right. Plus, digital abstinence doesn’t prepare you for the world your child will grow up in.
