Hot Topic:
   Armed (with Social Media) & Dangerous

The last few weeks have provided several stinging examples of one of our mantras: just because you can use social media doesn't mean you should. Remember social media is not a promotional strategy in-and-of-itself. It should be part of a comprehensive communications plan that harnesses its power to engage your audiences. Read on for why you must wait a beat before you tweet:

Not waiting that beat led Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to tweet, "I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims." He then tweeted and invited followers to catch his post-firing squad live streaming press conference. The AG's postings were widely criticized by death penalty advocates and opponents alike as power tripping, disgusting, amoral, vile, etc.

British Petroleum (BP), not scoring many public relations points lately, stumbled in its response to Tony Hayward's weekend attendance at a luxury yacht race. Unfortunately for BP, Hayward chose to respond to the criticism with a quick tweet "assuring" his followers the Gulf oil spill disaster remained his priority. Actions, in this case, spoke louder than tweets.

CNN's senior editor of Mideast affairs, Octavia Nasr, lost her job after tweeting her sadness at the death of Lebanon's Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. In spite of her reputation "as a leader in integrating social media with newsgathering and reporting" and apologies for her Twitter remarks, Nasr could not overcome the damage to her reputation that her "overly simplistic comment" had done. Two decades at CNN done in an instant.

Kirsty Burkhart, Director of Public Policy

   Embracing Diverse Cultures

Pew Research Center found that young Latinos continue to struggle with the feeling that they live in two worlds, despite that nearly two-thirds of them are native-born Americans. Asked how they described themselves, 52% of young Latinos said it was by their family's country of origin. In other words, they say "I'm Mexican" or "Soy Argentina". Only 24% said they called themselves Americans. At the same time, young Latinos also reported that they believed in the value of education, hard work, and career success - often considered quintessential American values. These are the values inherent in today's Latino youth that are far more meaningful than whether kids call themselves Newyorican or Puerto Rican.

As an American citizen, I feel extremely proud of being an American. But I am equally proud of my Argentinean roots because the United States is a nation of immigrants. I feel as comfortable speaking English and Spanish as I do eating hamburgers and asado.

Reebok is the perfect example of a company that understands how to market to Latino youth. Their tagline "I am what I am" seems a perfect fit for the U.S. Hispanic youth market that respects individualism, wants to be part of American culture, but still feels a close tie to their roots.

Maria Fernanda Trochimezuk, Director, Multi-Cultural Outreach