Meg Whitman Campaign Shows How Not To Use Twitter

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Meg Whitman Campaign Shows How Not To Use Twitter

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 20, 2010 @11:36AM from the type-slower dept.

tsamsoniw writes "California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's campaign team attempted to share with her Twitter followers an endorsement from a police association. Unfortunately, the campaign press secretary entered an incorrect or incomplete Bit.ly URL in the Tweet, which took clickers to a YouTube video featuring a bespectacled, long-haired Japanese man in a tutu and leggings rocking out on a bass guitar. And for whatever reason, the Tweet, which went out on the 18th, has remained active through today."

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Wow... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-10-20 11:39 · Score: 4, Funny

Awesome guitaring...
Sorry, what were we discussing?
Re:well, it looks like we just got... by Tackhead · 2010-10-20 11:42 · Score: 5, Funny

Whitrolled

"Whitrolled? That's not a meme!"
"It is now."
It's not "for whatever reason" by tomhudson · 2010-10-20 11:42 · Score: 4, Insightful

> "And for whatever reason, the Tweet, which went out on the 18th, has remained active through today."
It remained active because nobody reads tweets. Just like nobody reads facebook.
All you "internet marketers", forget it - people's eyes glaze over after the 1,000th message - it doesn't even stay in short-term memory.
1. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by blair1q · 2010-10-20 12:09 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The vastness of that opportunity has to be compared in size with the vastness of the negative wave of press this has already gotten her.
  Her staff are incompetent. They proved it not once, but twice. First by posting the link without double-checking it after pasting it, and second by not deleting the tweet and posting the correct link.
  I'm sure they will probably prove that they are incompetent a third time, by taking your advice to use spin instead of action to resolve their failure.
2. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by Dahamma · 2010-10-20 12:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Really?
  A YouTube video of a cross-dressing Japanese man playing the guitar now has over 950,000 views.
  I think people have been reading this one.
3. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by Arthur+Grumbine · 2010-10-20 12:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I know nothing of her campaign team, so I don't know if they would be this smart, but the fact stands that we're now reading a story about Meg Whitman.
  Trust me, if you live in California and spend any time: watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, visiting websites of California news media, or even just going outside, you are already sick of hearing about Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown.
  
  --
  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
4. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by MightyMartian · 2010-10-20 13:34 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Knowing politicians, she'll probably sue the bass player and send out DMCA takedown over it.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
5. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by oursland · 2010-10-20 13:34 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Not really. Since this error has gone through the net I've seen it go from about 85k to your 950k views. No one is paying attention to her, people are paying attention to these news articles.
6. Re:It's not "for whatever reason" by tomhudson · 2010-10-21 11:30 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  We marketers don't just throw stuff out there and hope it works. We test, test, and test again, and the stuff we keep doing is the stuff that brings in eyes / buys / signups for our clients.
  
  I can buy both followers and signups for well under a nickel each.
  Pay per click fraud is alive and well, and anyone who believes otherwise is a total idiot. Social networks have already passed their apogee in terms of effectiveness - like the Catholic church, it just takes time for the rot to become apparent to the average person.
Missing Character by Reason58 · 2010-10-20 11:43 · Score: 4, Informative

This resulted from missing the last character when she was copying. From the reddit article 13 hours ago:

Intended link:

http://bit.ly/bNCAVr

Posted link by the retweeter:

http://bit.ly/bNCAV

What a difference a character can make.
1. Re:Missing Character by amicusNYCL · 2010-10-20 11:52 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  What a difference a character can make.
  While a really talented cross-dressing Japanese 8-string bass player is a pretty good result, it could have been much, much worse.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
2. Re:Missing Character by EdIII · 2010-10-20 12:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  What a difference a character can make.
  While a really talented cross-dressing Japanese 8-string bass player is a pretty good result, it could have been much, much worse.
  Are you kidding? Considering how unbelievably perverted the Japanese can be with what they put online (not trolling, but sincere admiration) the fact they linked to a video from Japan with just cross-dressing involved and no pixelated areas was like winning the lottery.
3. Re:Missing Character by Arthur+Grumbine · 2010-10-20 12:39 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  What a difference a character can make.
  Especially when that character is wearing a tutu!
  
  --
  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
4. Re:Missing Character by snookums · 2010-10-20 12:41 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Most likely the final character was chopped by the 140 character limit. The published message appears to have only 137 characters, but perhaps there were some double spaces or something in the original that were lost. I know of another instance of exactly this happening recently (to a high-profile online media company).
  The collision rate on bit.ly links appears to be quite high. In addition to the truncated URL being valid, running through all 52 possibilities appending a single letter to bNCAV, about two thirds of them are valid too.
  
  --
  Be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.
If I was a Politician by Basehart · 2010-10-20 11:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

I'd rather be endorsed by a bespectacled, long-haired Japanese man in a tutu and leggings rocking out on a bass guitar than a police association any day.
Re:Somebody translate, please... by MrEricSir · 2010-10-20 11:47 · Score: 2, Informative

No, Arnold can't run again. It's basically between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown.

--
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Computer illiterate? by MrEricSir · 2010-10-20 11:50 · Score: 2, Interesting

Could it be that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is computer illiterate?

--
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
1. Re:Computer illiterate? by Nocuous · 2010-10-20 12:27 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Could it be that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is computer illiterate?
  Yes, because she of course typed in the url. And was responsible for QA, and for fixing any problems that show up.
  
  She does all her own technical and scut work. Yesterday, she got her own coffee and collated those new defamatory fliers. Tomorrow she's going to run the cabling under the server room floor in her campaign headquarters.
  
  --
  Don't take it personally, but I'm not going to read your pithy response to my post.
Seems like the best thing that could have happened by h4rr4r · 2010-10-20 11:50 · Score: 4, Interesting

Seems like the best thing that could have happened, if the police support them you know they are scumbags.
Re:well, it looks like we just got... by Pharmboy · 2010-10-20 11:52 · Score: 2, Insightful

Not so much a meme as an AFD.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:If this is the type of crime Meg wants to stop. by amicusNYCL · 2010-10-20 11:53 · Score: 2, Informative

Jerry Brown is too soft on bass players!

--
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Re:Somebody translate, please... by zill · 2010-10-20 11:59 · Score: 2, Insightful

No, Arnold can't run again.
But he's the running man!
Wrong country? by Etrigoth · 2010-10-20 12:03 · Score: 3, Informative

According to his You-tube profile, this guy is from South Korea, not Japan ?

--
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
You think it was an accident? by LoudMusic · 2010-10-20 12:15 · Score: 3, Insightful

You think it was an accident? Shit, they've even got Slashdot putting her name in lights. Looks like a rather well played marketing tactic to me.
And probably picked up thousands of new Twitter followers in the process.

--
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
1. Re:You think it was an accident? by rtb61 · 2010-10-20 14:28 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  No politician want's to be associated with a joke where they are the tutu clad butt of it. The reality is, it is popular because of the negative connotations associated with it and a lot of people want to see her in a bad light. A popularity poll certainly but a negative one.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Prop 19? by krray · 2010-10-20 12:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Looks more like an endorsement for proposition 19.
I want what he's smoking!
Re:well, it looks like we just got... by bill_mcgonigle · 2010-10-20 12:29 · Score: 2, Insightful

To be fair, Megrolled is being used more on the video's comments.
Everybody, please join me in posting a serious headline with this video as the referenced URL to your favorite social media. Now, that's how you start a meme!
And this guy is a really good bassist - getting him a good music gig would just be icing on the memewich.

--
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I'm just going to quote djdavetrouble... by seyyah · 2010-10-20 12:56 · Score: 4, Funny

... word for word:

I want to thank fairy bassist, Meg Whitman and the rest of the whole fucking internet for making my day over 9000 times more awesome. I'd also like to thank Japan for mastering how to take some regular ass shit and make it bizarre. also 8 string bass ftw!
Re:Somebody translate, please... by PopeRatzo · 2010-10-20 14:29 · Score: 2, Funny

I mean, while he's up there, we can't hope for another movie
Is that a Hobson's choice or what? The good news is that he's no longer governor. The bad news is that he'll make another movie.
The only celebrity ex-governor who went out with class was Jesse "the Body" Ventura.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:well, it looks like we just got... by KevinIsOwn · 2010-10-20 19:50 · Score: 2, Interesting

The Wikipedia deletionists are already trying to delete it. Go support this term! KEEP.
Re:well, it looks like we just got... by GameboyRMH · 2010-10-21 06:14 · Score: 2, Insightful

Nascent memes belong on uncyclopedia, not wikipedia. It can go on wikipedia once it's well-established.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel