Here's a social-media lesson for Miami-Dade County: Your Twitter followers actually read your tweets.
That much was evident Tuesday night, when First Lady Michelle Obama delivered her speech to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Sometime around 11:05 p.m., the @MiamiDadeCounty Twitter account tweeted, "Michelle Obama 2016!"
The tweet was conspicuous, coming from a government account that usually tweets public-service announcements such as "Miami-Dade County is no longer under Tropical Storm Warning" and "All Miami-Dade Transit services are operational."
At least three Miami Herald reporters retweeted the county's tweet. Several other followers also picked up on it, suggesting the county had apparently endorsed the first lady.
(Earlier Tuesday, the county account had sent out another unusual tweet, over Colombian drug "queenpin" Griselda Blanco: "Can't believe the final chapter of the Cocaine Cowboys saga was been written." The tweet included a link to this Herald story.)
Wednesday morning, @MiamiDadeCounty tweeted to its more than 6,300 followers: "Due to tech error,a personal tweet was posted on our account.Post was removed & issue corrected." It also copied the tweet directly to the users who had retweeted the county on Tuesday night.
County spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said Wednesday that one of the administrators of the @MiamiDadeCounty account "erroneously linked their personal and County accounts."
"The accounts were unlinked and the personal posts were removed from the County's account," Trutie said in a statement provided to the Herald. Staff has reviewed all administrators' account preferences to ensure this error does not occur again. The employee has been disciplined." (But not fired.)
The account is managed by the county's department of Community Information and Outreach.
Both the Michelle Obama and Cocaine Cowboys tweets have been deleted.
Seriously, who believes the post was due to a "tech" error? How STUPID must you believe the public is to swallow that excuse?
Posted by: Garl | September 05, 2012 at 02:27 PM
Obviously some1 that runs that account thought they were logged in with their personal account.
Not even news worthy.
Posted by: dave | September 05, 2012 at 03:36 PM
Proof positive that the ranks of government employment are filled with those who support those who support more government employment. The County should (1) publicly identify the actual individual who "mistakenly" posted the tweet; and (2) suspend him or her without pay until the election.
Posted by: Paco Mermela | September 05, 2012 at 03:45 PM
Should be fired!
Posted by: Periquito Perez | September 05, 2012 at 04:08 PM
The county has an administrative order that prohibits county government employees from using their position for political activity. The employee should be fired for violating a strict rule.
Why didn't the reporter Mazzei publish the employee's name? Is it because Mazzei is also a liberal Democrat who doesn't want to get a fellow traveler in trouble?
P.S. This left-wing employee is the type of person that is in Gimenez's inner circle. I always suspected Gimenez was a Crist Republican. This confirms it.
Posted by: Ken | September 05, 2012 at 04:30 PM
Will you people get over yourselves? You are all so eager to hate on County employees; maybe you should spend more time not voting for the GOP or Tea Party crooks in Tallahassee who help your places of employment (for those of you who have jobs) to not provide you with a decent wage or healthcare. And no I am not a County employee, nor am I a Democrat, so no need to blow hot air about my biases.
Posted by: Henri | September 05, 2012 at 05:13 PM
It was clearly a mistake. Consider the other erroneous tweet. We've all made mistakes on the job. Thank your lucky stars that your mistake wasn't for the whole world to see. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
Posted by: Melissa | September 05, 2012 at 05:36 PM
@Garl @E @Out with the cronies @Paco Mermela @Ken
To all of you, who really cares what some county employee is posting on twitter? Do you care if everybody in this country has healthcare and a job? Do you care if the rich pay their fair share of our taxes? Do you care if we have a decent school system to educate our young people for the future?
Get a @reallife @Garl @E @Out with the cronies @Paco Mermela @Ken
Bigfoot
Posted by: William E. Foote | September 05, 2012 at 05:40 PM
No surprise. This is just more incompetence from overpaid county employees. The more incompetent the employees are, the more Mayor Gimenez loves them. I also have no doubt the guilty party is one of the apologists on this thread. Why is the employee's name being hidden? We should have the name. Government employees should be held accountable.
Posted by: Maria | September 05, 2012 at 06:08 PM
Not newsworthy. Obviously an error. Get over it--and your thirst for human blood.
Posted by: Lilian | September 05, 2012 at 06:34 PM
How did you know I was a vampire?
Posted by: Anonymous | September 06, 2012 at 07:57 AM