After four years aboard this weird red spaceship, I'm heading out to try something different. Aside from co-workers who are more like family, opportunities to attend and cover some amazing events and proximity to the Michigan Avenue Fancy Walgreen's, what am I going to miss about managing RedEye's social meedz? The freedom to get paid to be a doofus on the Internet.
As with many industries, everyone in the media seems to think there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things -- and that they, alone and definitively, know the right way. It's an inherently stupid way of thinking, in general, but especially in social media, and RedEye has always tried to avoid it.So in the spirit of my exit, I remembered a few instances of times I technically, in the eyes of the social media elite, screwed up while driving RedEye's social media bus ... and then everything turned out fine, if not great.
I said "asshole" on the Internet
A lot. While RedEye never made it a point to overdo it and post like a sailor (except during the Stanley Cup Finals, during which I was given a free pass by the boss -- thanks, Tran! -- to use a lot of happy expletives), we did try to be ourselves. And the voice of "ourselves" meant occasional cursing. Almost 100 percent of the time, our readers liked it! The Internet didn't burn us to the ground, and everything turned out OK.
This wasn't a screwup as much as it was absolutely hilarious. Curt Wagner drove the Twitter bus for me when the full Lollapalooza 2014 lineup was announced, and this was the tweet that was spit out:
Some people apparently thought it was intentional (and funny), so, there you go. Don't beat yourself (or your co-workers) up too much over tiny mistakes that could actually be blessings in disguise. (Thanks, Curt!)
And everyone f'ing loved it. A lot of old school editors would have (and did) piss their pants over the thought of putting something cute on the cover just because, but I knew readers would appreciate it and I stuck to my guns. If you know you have a good idea, don't let go of it just because it scares someone else. (Thanks for hearing me out, Mike!)
Because not everyone's opinions deserve to be acknowledged, actually. The idea that you have to respond to everyone who writes you is well-intentioned but missing the point. If you want to be seen as a brand or publication with good engagement, try focusing more on the quality of your interactions than the quantity.
I acknowledged when we did stupid things
Remember when most of the Internet took issue with a story we ran about overnight homicide numbers? I could see the trainwreck coming a mile away, and though it took longer than I would have liked, I pressed to get a genuine and thoughtful response to it out via social media. You can't undo things like that, but you can let people know you've heard their concerns and will consider them going forward. (And we did.)
The best thing about being part of the RedEye team has always been that we've never been afraid to try something new or to go against the grain, to do something otherwise seen as taboo or maybe even unprofessional in the eyes of traditional media. Despite the side-eyes we'd often get from Big Blue (nickname for our parent company), we always stayed focused on our mission to deliver the news in the way that we wanted to get it, ourselves. We made our mark, and it was cool as hell to be part of it.
It's been a fun four years, guys. Thanks for tolerating me, for supporting RedEye and, mostly, for reading. Keep tweeting me, assholes!
Jessica Galliart was RedEye's Social Media Lady.