Careful tweeps, the whole world can hear you

Careful tweeps, the whole world can hear you.

We all know what it means to post regrettable material to social media. But we can count ourselves lucky that none of us have riled one of the world's biggest celebrities, caused a military airstrike or pronounced the Queen dead. Three social media blunders have caused some serious disruption around the world this month; isn't it amazing what a tweet can do?

Radicalist Islamic group ISIS has long been known to use social media to broadcast its victories to its 200,000 followers, but earlier this month, it got a little cocky. An Islamic State militant posted selfies to Twitter in front of a secret headquarters. The US Air Force Intelligence was quick to recognise the location and within 24 hours it had dropped three JDAM bombs on that very building, crushing it to the ground.

Further abroad, last week in the United Kingdom BBC journalist Ahmen Khawaja killed off the Queen in a tweet that read "Queen Elizabeth has died: @BBCWorld". This one really caused a stir. She posted it during a rehearsal for royal deaths (yip, seriously, this is a thing) at a BBC studio, but Khawaja missed the memo telling staff that it was indeed a rehearsal and instructing them not to post about it on social media.

In another unlikely twist, she also tweeted that the Queen was being treated in King Edward VII Hospital and by coincidence, she was actually having a check-up there the same morning.

After realising her mistake, the digital broadcast journalist deleted the tweets and apologised, but the damage was done. The tweets prompted Buckingham Palace to announce the Queen’s routine appointment, assuring the world that the Queen is alive and kicking.

The BBC also released a statement, apologising for the offence: “During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the Royal Family had been taken ill. The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Khawaja hasn't tweeted since the day of the incident and is reportedly facing disciplinary action.

Messing with the Queen is one thing, but messing with Caitlyn Jenner is another. Former star of Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh, Drake Bell, was instantly criticised earlier this month for his tweet after 65-year-old Caitlyn Jenner made her debut as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair with the headline 'Call Me Caitlyn'.

Bell's tweet: "Sorry....still calling you Bruce." didn't sit well in the Twittersphere. The words "transphobic", "uncalled for" and "disgusting" (among others) appeared in the backlash to the post, but it took Bell three days (a an age in Twitter time) to apologise for his mistake. He deleted the tweet and posted: "I sincerely apologize for my thoughtless insensitive remarks. I in no way meant to hurt or demean those going through a similar journey".

"Although my comments were made in innocence, I deeply regret the negative effect they’ve had on so many," he posted in a new tweet.

As with any mistake, whether it's big or small, there is a lesson to learn from all three of these blunders: never underestimate the power of 140 characters. A single tweet can result in international outrage. Be careful about what you tweet, tweeps, because the whole world can hear you.

ENDS

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