by: Michael Fleizach                                                                                                                   

10 days after the horrific events in Aurora, Colorado…                                                 

• There is a thorough account of the attack on Wikipedia.

• Hans Zimmer, composer for The Dark Knight Rises, has recorded an original piece entitled “Aurora” and released it on iTunes.  100% of the proceeds will benefit the victims.

• The director and cast of The Dark Knight Rises have released heartfelt statements.  Christian Bale even paid a visit to Aurora and the memorial site.

• The perpetrator has been psychoanalyzed and formally charged.

• The NRA hasn’t said anything.

10 days.  That’s an eternity in our 24-hour news cycle.  People have turned twitter trends in to book deals in that time.  The NRA hasn’t made a peep.  Wait, that’s not true.  Let me be fair.  This tweet went out via Hootsuite the morning after the shootings:

Smooth move, NRA.  Try for a moment to ignore the fact that it got 104 retweets and 10 favorites.  My intention here isn’t to discuss gun legislation, people who love guns etc.  I only want to address the social media missteps made by the NRA.

The offensive tweet and the account that sent it (@NRA_Rifleman) were eventually deleted.  I found 4 other NRA Twitter handles (@NRA, @NRAnews, @NRABlog, @FriendsofNRA) that haven’t been updated since July 19^th.  They’ve gone dark.  The NRA hasn’t responded to interview requests and their Facebook hasn’t mentioned the shootings at all.  Seems they are doing very little to eschew the notion that they are a myopic organization, even in a time of national tragedy that is closely tied to their organization.  You don’t have to get in to the matter of gun control at all.  Just be human.  Be compassionate.  Be likeable.

This wasn’t a time to bury your head in the sand. The NRA proved itself maladroit in the social space and incapable of expressing basic human emotions for the victims.  No one forced the NRA as a brand to sign up for Twitter- they decided, of their own free will, to join a global discussion.  Now, if you are an average Joe/Jane, it’s up to you to participate whenever you please.  But if you’re an organization (.org), you have an obligation to show up and participate in related events that affect national discourse.

How do you think the NRA should have responded after the buffered tweet went out? Share your thoughts in the comments below!