We’ve said it time and time before: videos and livestreams can be a great way of getting attention on social media. Just as long as it’s the right kind of attention.
The live stream of a press briefing in Pakistan went spectacularly wrong last week, when, with cat filter turned on, a prominent politician demonstrated all too vividly his secretly held view that he was literally the cat’s whiskers.
The video was taken down afterwards, but not before screenshots were shared widely across social media. Although embarrassing, the politician did the right thing, acknowledging the mistake and commenting that it should not be taken so seriously. Yet as anyone who remembers poor George Galloway on Celebrity Big Brother all those years ago will attest, there’s something about feline impersonation and politics that doesn’t work for the average voter.
It goes to show that one of the biggest advantages of going live can also be its biggest downfall: with your audience getting the content instantly, they also get any mistakes… instantly.
When your reputation is at stake, it’s always important to make sure everything is set up correctly for social media. Photos and videos are easy, as you have plenty of time to check over the content and correct anything that might be embarrassing. But there are still things that can be done to make sure your live stream runs smoothly.
For example, in the same way that you’d never do an interview without a media briefing, it’s not wise to start a livestream without testing your setup. Use the settings to make the stream private and have a dummy-run to make sure everything looks right, and all your participants looks professional. If they are sporting whiskers for any reason, tell them to cut it out. They’ll thank you later.
But even with the best of preparation, when the live stream goes public, it’s always safest to have someone behind the camera, ready to deal with the unexpected!
Erith McKean
Social Media Executive
