Yesterday was a great work day. I had a good post with great traffic and lots of props from other bloggers and tweeters.  I attended the PDN virtual trade show.  I went to a great networking event  (real) with a fun speaker. I had a great photography assignment.  All was well online and off, until the end of the day when I decided to spend a little more time on Twitter.

I saw a tweet between two people I know: a very active local social media person and a new person I recently started following.  I noticed a few tweets between them about trying to gain a lot of followers.  So, I thought I would chime in with a little Rosh wisdom.  Oops.

Actually, my tweet didn’t totally fit what they were talking about.  Below is an unedited excerpt of the exchange. The identities of the participants have been changed. (Black is me and Red is the other person)

@PositiveCxxxx @Davexxxxx remember it’s quality over quantity. 2000 robots following you offers no ROI (return on influence)

@newmediaphoto I think you need to take a little deeper look at what I am doing with this promotion 

@PositiveCxxxx Are you looking to take 2000 thousand robots to lunch? I’ll take a closer look….

@PositiveCxxxx I guess I can’t find more info. Clue me in.

@newmediaphoto thanks but no thanks for the unsolicited advice

@PositiveCxxxx As a local person who’s business is based in Birmingham,I’m sadden by your attitude Just sharing thoughts. Good luck to you.

@newmediaphoto I am saddened that as a local business owner you don’t applaud my efforts for PROMOTING a local business

@PositiveCxxxx Who said I’m not for local business. I asked for more information and you told me to go away!?

@newmediaphoto seriously, this is a completely foolish discussion, let alone on twitter.

@newmediaphoto this is a friendly competition bt myself and Dave. 5 people get a meal on me from the xxxx restaurant. Plain and simple.

@PositiveCxxxx Sounds like a great idea. Why didn’t just correct my misunderstanding, instead of treating me like a jerk. Good luck.

@newmediaphoto because you were completely out of line attacking what I was doing. You want to give a helpful hit, send a DM.

@PositiveCxxxx Unfortunately, my DM doesn’t list you. Feel free to DM, may be that will work. At no point did I attack what you are doing.

@newmediaphoto let it go. I really don’t think attacking a person who is promoting the positives of #+Detroit is good for your b’ham biz.

@PositiveCxxxx Amazing.review the tweets. Never attack you. You’ve spend time trying to be offend by someone who would rather support you.

As you can see. I was clueless about what was going on. The other person assumed I was a jerk, that I was attacking his project.

Of course, we both made errors. But, if you are going to promote yourself as a champion of  local business, you can’t be uptight, self-centered and a poor communicator. You especially cannot be that way online in the social media space.

People can’t see body language.  A major portion — some say more than 90 percent — of communication is body language.  So you need to have some latitude and be a little forgiving online.

I did offer numerous openings to be educated, offer reconciliation or end the discussion. But, the person made the issue all about him.  I was saddened by this attitude. This person wondered why I was not applauding his efforts.  At that time, I had no idea what his efforts were. Opportunity lost.

@PositiveCxxxx suggested I go find the answer, to  ”take a deeper look.” Any good public relations person knows you don’t make your prospects work for the information you want them to have.  I’m not suggesting @PositiveCxxxx is a professional.

You never know who you might be talking to online.  I was the person’s target market.  I previously owned a storefront business in the new work-live complex directly behind the little restaurant being promoted. But, it has been more than a year since I visited the area. I still have a business in the community, but on the other side of town.  A good excuse to visit again is always welcome.

A good point to remember: The people you are chatting with online don’t always understand the full context  or environment of  a public conversation. It is important to follow up and repeat key components and information. It would have been very helpful to know the follower challenge was a personal contest to support local business. This was mentioned a few tweets late.

Once I understood the promotion, I instantly remarked on the good idea.  I should have left it there. My bad.

At the end of the  tweets you can see, no matter what I said, this person was still convinced that I was making personal attacks on their efforts and was against his worthy project.

Here is the takeaway …

Lesson 1: If you go into social media public relations, you can’t be easily offended. You need to be an ambassador.

Lesson 2: If you find someone online who is easily offended or aggressive, let it go.  Your followers don’t deserve to witness it.

Although I tried to open the door to a friendly end, it didn’t matter. We both were most concerned about one thing, being right. That was wrong.

What do you think?

Rosh