This week’s lesson in social media is a very peculiar one. Most social media gaffes are accidental. A mis-tweet out of ignorance. But, in the case of GoDaddy’s CEO Bob Parsons, the only ignorance was his own – that his tweet wouldn’t be taken the way it was.
“Just back from hunting problem elephant in Zimbabwe. Here’s my vacation video. Enjoy.” And Parsons linked to a video of himself killing an elephant and victoriously celebrating its death.
I’m serious. Here’s his defense. That wild elephants have been stamping out subsistence farmer’s crops in Africa, and putting them at risk for starvation. So, in his mind, he was being a hero. But how can you expect people to come to that conclusion right on the spot? Perhaps if we were there with him in Africa, saw what he saw, and heard the story from these people’s lips? But even then you have to know animal rights activists are going to hate you anyway? Could Parsons really just be that naive?
Of course, this is GoDaddy. So, perhaps Parsons just loves the online PR?