With draft day come and gone, the NFL has been all over the headlines the last couple of days. Taking advantage of all this media attention, the NFL has made a huge push into leveraging social media. If you watched the draft, you may have noticed how on Thursday night, all the potential draftees were ushered in front of an iPad to have their picture taken, which was then sent straight on out Twitter so fans could see what everyone was wearing in what the NFL was calling the #DraftRedCarpet. The NFL also tried to make the behind-the-scenes action much more visible for fans by tweeting all the action.

With over 12 million follower (Twitter - 4.5M, Facebook - 7.1M) the NFL has quite a substantial fan base. With such a huge following, you would probably assume the NFL has a large team managing their social accounts -- but you would be wrong. Duane Munn is the one-man show responsible for managing all the NFL social accounts. Managing account for such a huge entity with so many followers is a titanic undertaking for one man. Duane was quoted saying:

"I tell my Mom that I never wanted to be a doctor, but with the amount of time I spend on my job, I imagine this is what it is like to be one,"

Not only is Duane the sole manager of these accounts, but he tends to stay away from things like scheduling tweets, opting to engage followers on a real-time basis. This allows Duane to stay on top of trending topics and make each post get optimal engagement. Using platfoms like Adobe Social, Duane is able to track online trends and buzz words so he can make relevant posts that really impact his followers. Also, since Duane is posting this content real-time, he is able to coordinate effectively with news and articles the NFL is releasing throughout the day, creating a streamlined and influential presence on social media. Without scheduling tweets, Duane is also able to avoid backlash by limiting the amount of inappropriate posts that go out during times of breaking news. Many large companies were criticized for this in lieu of recent events, like the Boston Marathon bombing.

It seems like the NFL really hit a home run by finding a person who can effectively manage all their social accounts solo. Although community management is not always a 1 man team, it certainly does help cut down on communication errors, while streamlining the whole process exponentially.

- Mike

#prayforboston As a woman who was born and raised in the great city of Boston, there are no words that can accurately summarize my emotions after hearing and seeing yesterday's bombings at the Boston Marathon. The images and first person accounts that were shared will forever remain in my heart – a horrific incident that hit way too close to home.

But, it's tragic events like these that I find interesting within my own social space. Personally, I saw friends tweeting #prayforboston within the first few minutes after the story broke and as expected, my Facebook wall was slammed with posts expressing extreme sadness and anger toward those responsible. But professionally speaking, how does an event like 9/11, the Newtown shooting or the Boston bombings effect larger brands on social platforms?

For once, they make brands go silent.

Although there is some debate around what a major brand should do on social during/after a large tragedy, a brand’s reasoning for going quiet is done with both good intentions and a bit of selfishness. On one side, we recognize the loss and sadness associated with the life-changing event. Our content simply wouldn’t make sense to share, nor would it resonate with fans, especially during a time when the nation is grieving. On the other hand, some brands believe in posting consistency with a main goal of beating Facebook’s EdgeRank and showing up higher than competitors within newsfeeds -- but, no one really wants to be the one brand actively posting in a newsfeed filled with content surrounding a tragedy. For those brands that saw this as an opportunity – or accidentally had posts pre-scheduled to go live during this time frame – many were met with a negative backlash from fans and non-fans alike for being insensitive.

From a community manager of a few large brands, it’s often the safest decision to cease all social engagement until a 24 hour period of bereavement has been allowed. Unless you have a meaningful and direct connection to the tragedy, this means no posting, no tweeting, no Instagraming and more. Yes, a brand’s messaging will be not top of mind for fans for a day or two, but this overall respect for the emotions of fans will resonate louder than a product-centric post.

Although you may not see every brand following this recommendation, see if you notice those that do. Then, respect them a bit more for giving fans their space during this terrible time.

What do you think is the appropriate move for brands after a national tragedy?

xx Samantha