One thing you can count on is that, no matter the issue or political party, they’re thinking of the children. They always think of the children. Always.
But it’s not every day (or every Tweet, in this case) you get politicians who are both out of touch and act like children.
I’m referring to the Twitter account of the South Dakota House Democrats–all 19 of them.
And I mean it when I say childish. Yes, the seemingly official account of the S.D. House Democrats is full of grammar mistakes, misspellings, name-calling and political hackery.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
Twitter, of course, only allows 140 characters, and this one was exactly 140. The sad part is they could have spelled out “would” had they used the correct “to” instead of “too.”
Again with the “wuld” thing? Well, they must have needed to shorten it to come in at 140 characters then. Nope. They’ve got six characters to spare. Also, what’s “the SD?”
More abbreviations here, too, with 27 unused characters.
Why do it when there’s plenty of room? Maybe they think abbreviations are hip with the kids. I understand the need to shorten words to make things fit (even though I think it should be avoided lest the Tweeter wants to look unprofessional).
Alright, maybe pointing out abbreviations, grammar and spelling is not worthy of a column . But what about name-calling?
Tea Bagger, meaning a supporter of the Tea Party movement. However, Tea Bagging is used in a derogatory way here, referring to the sexual act of inserting one’s scrotum into another person’s mouth. This has been a common insult used by many left and liberal pundits to make fun of the Tea Party. I’m not offended by name-calling in itself. I just am shocked the Democratic members of the House would officially use Twitter to do this.
I’ve found these Tweets quite entertaining until quite recently.
Pierre, Dakota Dunes, and other South Dakota communities faced and are facing a huge crisis. The flooding of the Missouri river. Read any coverage from the state’s news outlets, and you’ll read stories of communities pulling together.
Keloland teased and later posted a story that was about the Dakota Dunes community using the golf course to build a levees to stop the flood waters. The story talks about homes near the edge of the course and how the fairways helped the town’s economic growth.
And now this course that has nurtured the growth of the community, is doing its best to protect it from the rising waters of the Missouri River.
Earth movers nimbly motor through Dakota Dunes like golf carts. But these groundskeepers have to plow up fairways and greens to build a levee for protection against the ultimate water hazard.
“The golf course provided us the best line of defense for this event,” Jeff Dooley of the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District said.
Here’s what @SDHouseDems had to say about the story before they had even read it. They had simply read the teaser:
They wasted no time at all trying to politicize the flooding. Yes, @SDHouseDems jumped to the only logical conclusion they could–that the richie riches cared more about their golf course than trying to save the real Americans!
Trying to play to some sort of class warfare? Is a golf course not considered a legitimate business worth trying to save in the eyes of @SDHouseDems? I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter; the actual story was about using the golf course to save the community.
When the full story was posted, they retracted nothing, only Tweeting this:
R U aware that u have a ful 140 characters 2 use?
Social media, when it comes to an organization, is all about public relations. It’s a direct connection between you and your audience, or in this case, constituency. Social media should be managed as delicately as any other public relations, if not more, which is why I’m so shocked to see the examples above coming from a political party.
This is not a critique on policy or politics; it’s message to the South Dakota House Democrats (or whoever they let Tweet for them).
This Twitter account is not doing your party any favors. In a Red State like South Dakota, you can’t Tweet like you’re Rachel Maddow and expect to get elected.
@SDHouseDems, you’d be wise to take a lesson or two in public relations.
This column originally appeared on Tony Gorder’s blog Cool & Unusual Punishment.
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One small text for man, one giant leap backwards for South Dakota Democrats. Tony Reiss may fire at will.
Name-calling and abbreviations on Twitter?…seriously? I hope they didn’t hurt your feelings. Did you do any fact checking to see who is behind the account? Or did you assume it is a House Dem? This is not news, but it is a good way to lose readers and advertisers. Here’s a bit of advice Tony. Take the summer off from the Collegian and stick to personal blogging.
The South Dakota House of Democrats should be proactive in their own PR. If this is indeed an imposter not affiliated with the SD House of Democrats, the problem should be taken care of already. It boggles my mind that they would let this type of posting continue under their assumed name. It this account is legitimate, then shame on them.
This is a well thought out story. As a social media advocate, it makes me sad when intelligent people make themselves look dumb by not using twitter or other social media outlets properly.
Tony, you used the word come twice. Come is a widely known term for sexual ejaculation. I just am shocked a conservative blogger would officially use The Collegian to use such language.
This wasn’t a politically motivated column, and I’m in no way conservative. This was meant a wake up call for @SDHouseDems and their poor public relations, and it seems to have worked.
Calm down, Corey. Unfortunately, sarcasm isn’t conveyed very well via message board, so I can’t tell if you’re serious or not. Knowing your background as a schoolteacher and debate coach, I would assume it’s the latter but couldn’t you come up with a better sarcastic argument? At least Tony’s argument against the use of the term “Tea Bagger” stems from a legitimate concern, whereas yours simply calls him to task for using a common word in its intended capacity. Why couldn’t the Dems just use the term Tea Party Members or even Tea Partiers? Neither implies any sexual connotation and both are at least representative of the Tea Party movement.
There is no shortage of idiocy on any social media. You want some real idiot jollies, just look at any blog roster and read comments to the posts. You make good points, but when you stress that stupid convention “wuld” and berate the tweeters for not using all their allotted 140 characters, you venture pretty deep into petty land. And I think the term “tea-baggers” has become a convention that identifies a mindset, and does not evoke any scrotal imagery to most people these days.