Commentary
Social Media For Dummies, Congressional Dummies, That Is
- by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 10, 2011
I'm not going to issue moral judgments about Rep. Christopher Lee, who resigned yesterday after Gawker.com published a shirtless photo he sent to a woman (not his wife) he met through Craigslist personals. Nor am I holding my breath for rich and powerful men to change their behavior: politicians are apparently compelled to engage in hanky panky, even though being in the public eye and having numerous opponents means there's a good chance they'll get caught. Like bugs around a bug zapper -- particularly stupid, narcissistic bugs -- they flirt with destruction, circling and circling until POOF they hit the hot, glowing coils of the mass media, then disappear in an acrid wisp of smoke.
But I am here to judge Lee for being a friggin' idiot, and along the way, I'll offer up a couple pieces of advice for all the would-be cheaters in Washington, D.C. the state capitals, and heck, maybe regular folks too. Specifically, the following contains a couple pointers (blindingly obvious pieces of commonsense, really) about how to use social media -- an enormously useful resource for doing naughty things, which however carries with it a couple big pitfalls.
First of all: don't use your real name. Normally I'd advise wayward hearts not to use their regular email addresses, but apparently we've got to back it up for ex-Rep. Lee, who went trolling for extramarital love on the Internet using the cleverly-crafted alias "Christopher Lee" (he also created the Craigslist account with the same email address he used for his Facebook profile).
To his minimal credit he did try to cover up his profession, claiming to be a lobbyist in his Craigslist profile -- but foolishly chose something close enough to politics to arouse suspicion or at least curiosity, especially in combination with the information (also disclosed in the profile) that he resides in Washington, D.C. in the Capitol Hill area. He might as well have printed "gossip-worthy Washington insider" on his forehead.
Which brings us to the next point: don't send shirtless photos where your face is visible to someone you've never met. Ever, ever, ever. Especially if you're married, and especially if you're in Congress. Maybe members of Congress can send semi-nude pics of themselves to someone after they've met the person once or twice and established some basis of trust -- but sending incriminating photo to an online entity known to you only through an email address and a couple sketchy thumbnails is the height of idiocy. Even more bizarrely, Lee also chose to lie about his age, claiming to be 39 even though the photo (with full face) suggested he was probably older -- a move likely to arouse suspicion, perhaps prompting the recipient to wonder what else he was lying about.
In short, Lee told the truth where he didn't need to, and lied where he couldn't get away with it. With instincts like that, he never would have made it in Congress anyway.
Erik Sass is editor of Publishers Daily. You can reach Erik at eriksass@gmail.com.
I don't think "Social Media Marketing" is appropriate for this subject matter.
As the AMA defines, it "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. Marketing is a product or service selling related overall activities.”
Putting out an ad on Craigslist looking for "casual encounters" (i.e., hookups) has nothing to do with marketing.
Eric, you can do better.
I would add to your list: If you're out of high school, don't pose for pictures while flexing your bicep.
Great article. And I feel this is part of Social Media Marketing. It was smart marketing leveraging social media that put Obama in office. And every public activity, whether on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, Craigslist, or personals/dating sites is part of the media.
I see an opportunity to offer a basics class to members of Congress and other government officials, especially since I reside here in DC!
I think there's a larger point to be made here too -- Don't we deserve better? How did this bonehead get elected anyway? Why did he even run for office in the first place? Surely there are ethical, upstanding, more-intelligent people in his district who would better serve.
I completely disagree with the previous comment. We live in the World 2.0 (and who uses the AMA definition of marketing anymore?). If we don’t get too technical, the point is clear: one’s reputation (reputation – brand – “IBP” – marketing, right?) can be destroyed with one click of a mouse! Anybody fluent in social media marketing knows that today you think at least twice before putting ANYTHING on the Web.