Tory councillor arrested over stoning tweet

Tory councillor Gareth Compton has been arrested over a stoning tweet in which he allegedly called on a female writer to be stoned to death. In case you missed it, the BBC has the full details.

It was only six weeks ago that I blogged about Tattoos, hooligans and the gem of all bad quotes.

As a communications agency, we are constantly amazed at how people in the public eye or in senior corporate positions seem to forget that their every word is captured, analysed and disseminated almost instantly.

As we say in our beginner's guide to social media, if you've sinned on social media, chances are people will have the video, photos or screen grab to prove it.

If you don't have the time to download our free guide, remember our top five tips:

1. Be clear what tone of voice is appropriate for your brand, especially if you have a range of people representing you online.

2. Wherever possible, use social media to engage people in ways that will interest them, rather than trying to use it purely as a PR mechanism

3. If actively using social media, expect to put a significant amount of time into it; posting once a month won't cut the mustard

4. Posts are like weddings - once you've committed, it's for better or worse (and hopefully richer rather than poorer) - so deleting a few weeks later rarely works.

5. If you get negative comments from third parties, don't get involved in a 'flame war'; stay positive and get your tactics sorted. Mashable's guide on how to deal with negative feedback in social media provides some useful tips to handle this.

JB