The Teen, The Tweet, And The Governor: Social Media Lessons From The Emma Sullivan Fiasco

What happens when a teenager tells a governor he “#blowsalot” on Twitter? Here are four lessons on teens, social media, and politics from the Emma Sullivan affair.

The whole thing blew up pretty quickly; it blew over just as fast. Last week, Emma Sullivan, a Kansas teenager, wrote a nasty tweet about her governor, from the back of a crowd of students that had gathered to meet him. "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot," she tweeted. As political commentary goes, it wasn’t the most elevated (it also wasn’t true: she hadn’t criticized him to his face). But both the governor’s office and Sullivan’s school reacted quickly, with the latter demanding she write a letter of apology. On Monday, Sullivan held her ground, refusing to write the letter and citing her right to free speech. By the time the afternoon rolled around, the governor himself apologized--via Facebook: "My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

This story may have turned out to be a minor tiff, rather than the epic showdown between teen and governor some had hoped for. Even so, there are a number of lessons to be drawn from the funny Kansan encounter between 18-year-old Emma Sullivan and Governor Sam Brownback, and about the emerging ways a generation weaned on social media is participating in politics.

1. Teens are using social media to engage politically.

"I do think that social media has helped Millennials become more politically aware, and some more politically active," Melanie Shreffler, editor-in-chief of Ypulse, a "guide to youth" for marketers, tells Fast Company. She thinks that Sullivan’s casual criticism of the governor is mirrored, in a somewhat more serious manner, in the various ways teens have become involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Shreffler visited Zuccotti Park last month to interview youths who were assembling there. Many of the young people had learn...

[Source: Fast Company]