PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 36

Does your Post pass the
Elevator Test?
Steve Goldstein
W
e all have our pet peeves that we cherish and use
to define ourselves to ourselves. One of mine is
the way people behave when looking at their
mobile phones while walking or standing in public.
Specifically, people in elevators gazing at their phones.
Perhaps this has happened to you: You're waiting for an
elevator, the doors open, you allow a couple of moments to
pass for people to leave the elevator, no one leaves, so you
step in just as some mobile-phone addict starts to leave. You
nearly collide with that person as he looks up from his phone
and starts to exit, and then you get the dirty look.
Each day, as I deal with this inconsiderate behavior, I feel a
growing urge to take to Twitter and write, “Fellow citizens,
please look up from your phones when elevator doors open
to help avoid collisions.” Except I wouldn't put it so tactfully.
So far I've resisted the urge.
I resist the urge by asking myself, “Would I make this
statement aloud to strangers in a crowded elevator?” Of
course, I wouldn't. At least one person would curse me out
and the rest would write me off as a nut. And that's what
Twitter and all other social channels are—elevators packed
with strangers. Sharing a link to worthwhile content is one
thing. Before expressing a strong opinion about anything, or
making a stand about a controversial issue, remember that
you're communicating with strangers who didn't ask you for
your opinion. Would you disparage an NCAA basketball
team during March Madness in a crowded elevator, to no one
in particular? Maybe you would, but you would have to
prepare for and expect some negative consequences. Imagine
doing the same thing on Twitter.
Individuals and brands should keep this elevator test in mind
before posting anything on social channels. For instance,
while no one asked Starbucks to start a national conversation
about race in the U.S., it launched its daring online and in-
store #RaceTogethercampaign, and things got so out of hand
that one of its senior PR executives shut down his Twitter
account temporarily.
Perhaps if Starbucks had tested this campaign in an elevator
filled with strangers, it might have played out differently.
Follow Steve Goldstein: @SGoldsteinAI
Culled from: http://www.prnewsonline.com
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VOL 1. JULY 2015
1ST EDITION
PR TIMES AFRICA