US presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 campaign yesterday, but his decision to do it on Twitter backfired after it was plagued with technical difficulties.
The Florida governor chose to officially announce his campaign on Twitter rather than mainstream media outlets, with which he has a strained relationship. This is largely due to their coverage of his handling of COVID-19, with Florida adopting more relaxed lockdown measures than most other US states.
However, the launch – much like Twitter owner Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket launch last month – didn’t go entirely to plan. Constant crashing caused a 20-minute delay to DeSantis’ announcement, which Musk blamed on bandwidth issues as the server struggled to cope with the launch’s six-figure audience.
DeSantis put a positive spin on the mishap by crediting his supporters with “breaking the internet”, but according to the BBC, many of them gave up on the broadcast due to the glitches. Fewer than 300,000 listeners were still tuned in by the end of the announcement, which was less than half of its peak audience.
What’s more, many Americans will be waking up to the news that Twitter engineering chief Foad Dabiri has stepped down from his role, although he has not confirmed whether the botched campaign announcement had anything to do with his decision. In a tweet that can be inferred in a number of ways, Dabiri said:
Working with @elonmusk has been highly educational, and it was enlightening to see how his principles and vision are shaping the future of this company.
— Foad Dabiri (@foaddabiri) May 25, 2023
Goings-on at Twitter since Musk took the reins have certainly been eventful and often criticised, but Musk is not without his fans. Among them is DeSantis himself, who credits the entrepreneur with taking a different approach to other social media company owners rather than “enforcing an orthodoxy” by colluding with the US government.
Despite the shambles of this particular announcement, Twitter and other social media remains a great way to make live broadcasts and announcements for small businesses, most of whom won’t expect to get hundreds of thousands of listeners. To discover what social media can do for you and your business, why not sign up for our next Social Media & Content Masterclass?
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