Twitter accounts are frequently run by "social media managers" -- that is to say, qualified specialists in social media -- and yet, nary a crisis goes by without a distasteful tweet or Facebook post in response.
The latest example comes from Conde Nast-owned food website Epicurious, which used the Boston bombings on Monday to promote two breakfast recipes to its more than 385,000 followers. Brad Phillips, author of Mr. Media Training Blog, captured the tweets:
Those tweets have since been deleted. Epicurious then followed up with a copy-and-paste apology to followers who complained:
Those apologies, too, have been deleted. All that remains on Epicurious's Twitter page is this blanket apology:
Our food tweets this morning were, frankly, insensitive. Our deepest, sincere apologies.— epicurious (@epicurious) April 16, 2013
The person responsible for the tweets is no doubt feeling a mix of regret, guilt and shame. But he or she is in good company: just take a look at tweets from Kenneth Cole on the 2011 protests in Egypt; the National Rifle Association's pro-gun tweet the day of the Aurora, Colo., shooting last July; and a tweet from Gap that used Hurricane Sandy to promote its online store.