Shelby

[𝔱𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔞 💓 @xoanait]

if setting boundaries for the sake of my own mental health makes me the bad guy then so be it babe <3

[Shelby @5helby18]

“You’re not going to get millennial women to turn on Sansa Stark.”

[Lulu Cheng Meservey @lulumeservey]

Even if you’re not into celebrity gossip, you should pay close attention to the Joe Jonas / Sophie Turner divorce as a case study in botched PR.

Joe’s PR operation is backfiring badly, and his whole gambit is creating serious risk of damaging his reputation and even alienating his fans.

Some background: celebrity divorces always follow the same PR playbook, maybe because so many celebrities use the same handful of publicists.

Phase 1 — nothing to see here, the spouses are posting pics showing wedding bands or taking paparazzi “candids” doing “normal” things like getting coffee and walking the dog.

Phase 2 — it’s over, pics get deleted or wedding bands disappear. Divorce is announced with a bland, amiable joint statement from the couple. It’ll say they’ve agreed to move on, they’ll always have affection and respect for each other, and please respect their privacy for the sake of the kids.

Phase 3 — immediate jockeying for the narrative as each person deploys friends and publicists to tell their side of the story, with one on offense and one on defense. If you want to see real combat comms, watch celebrity divorces.

There will be a winner, and that’s whoever garners the most public sympathy and is able to preserve if not burnish their reputation. Basically, the winner will be the person who’s perceived to be wronged.

So what happened here: since Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s divorce news became public a couple days ago, you can tell that Joe has been going on offense to control the narrative. Obviously he’s the one who filed for divorce, but on top of that, Today got an exclusive of the filing — look at the first screenshot.

What it means is that the filing was leaked to them specifically with a promise not to share with other outlets until Today got to report (ie, shape) the story first. In that story, the key narrative points first emerge: Joe initiated the divorce and has been taking care of the kids.

Within a day, more tea starts being spilled, from “sources” clearly on Team Joe: Sophie might be a neglectful mom, Sophie might party too much, Sophie did something shady. It’s obvious that Team Joe is trying to show him as the aggrieved party, the good guy.

Three problems with the approach here.

1) Usually it’s good comms strategy to go on offense and get your narrative out first. But it’s much more dicey when your antagonist is the mother of your children, especially when she’s not fighting back!

The new “revelations” about Sophie were too transparent (they could’ve only come from Team Joe), became too frequent (several in only two days), went too far (implying she’s a bad mom), and overall started to make Joe look like the aggressor.

Attacking someone too much almost always backfires (ask anyone who saw the recent racist caricature of @garrytan which he brilliantly parlayed into a surge of support for his cause).

2) Joe Jonas’s fans are young women. One of the few things they like more than the Jonas Brothers? Sophie Turner. Young women identify with Sophie; they watched her marry an older guy when she was only 23, watched her become a young mother, and pretty much fell in love with her over the past few years.

You’re not going to get millennial women to turn on Sansa Stark.

3) The line of attack is out of touch with the prevailing mood among the women that make up the Jonas fanbase.

That demographic is all about respecting women’s personal choices, appreciating the challenges of motherhood, being conscious of power dynamics in relationships, and supporting women in their careers. We’re coming off the summer of Barbie.
A young woman trying to balance motherhood with work and life is going to draw more sympathy than criticism. Read the room, Joe.

This PR campaign to win the divorce is going off the rails. For now it’s mostly snark and gossip, but it’s going to become really damaging if he doesn’t manage to course correct quickly.

[𝔱𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔞 💓 @xoanait]

i loved seeing this on tiktok! especially the barber explaining the authority dynamics to dad. as a therapist, this is a constant struggle with parents. we love involvement and carry over, but we gotta respect the boundaries all in the kid’s benefit. 💙

[𝔱𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔞 💓 @xoanait]

i work in the medical field with disabled children. insurances do everything in their power to deny services, or provide the bare minimum. they literally FIGHT to not give the kids the services they deserve and need.

[𝔱𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔞 💓 @xoanait]

it’s monday and i’m exhausted

[Barstool UGA @ugabarstool]

Absolutely insane

[President Biden Archived @POTUS46Archive]

Congratulations @GeorgiaFootball on your national championship! Your skill, grit, and determination show us what is possible – and how to win your school’s first title in 41 years. I’m proud of you, Bulldogs.

[Awkward in Scrubs @LoveTheScrubs]

Being in healthcare right now feels like when Harry Potter was trying to tell everyone that Voldemort was back in the Goblet of Fire & no one believed him until the 7th book

[Ashish K. Jha @ashishkjha]

Today, the 5 most vaccinated states (14M people) had

580 people in hospital, 12 deaths

In the 5 least vaccinated states (16M people)?

6,600 hospitalized, 104 deaths

Per capita , least vaccinated states have

10X hospitalizations and 7X deaths

So yeah, vaccines are working

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

I know masks have become a partisan issue — but it’s a patriotic act. Experts say wearing a mask from now until April will save more than 50,000 lives.

[THE SWAG 🥶 @returnofswagnft]

I swear we are fighting two pandemics Covid19 and Stupidity

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

I won't be president until January 20th, but my message today to everyone is this: wear a mask.

[Shelby @5helby18]

Vote.

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

On Thursday, President Trump said we're "rounding the turn" when it comes to COVID-19.

On Friday, we set a new record for daily cases.

We're paying the price for his failures every single day.

[Josh Gad @joshgad]

Honest question. Who looks at 2020 and says, “I want to vote for four more years of whatever this is”

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

It might be Labor Day weekend, but let’s all remember that we're still in the middle of a pandemic. Wear a mask, practice social distancing, and follow the experts. It’ll save lives.

[Shelby @5helby18]

@kehh0410 RT x 1000

[Allie Goertz @AllieGoertz]

Is this how idiots acted when seatbelts were invented? They protested over their right to die in a crash? My god. WEAR THE MASK.

[Jerome Adams @JeromeAdamsMD]

Some feel face coverings infringe on their freedom of choice- but if more wear them, we’ll have MORE freedom to go out.

Face coverings ➡️ less asymptomatic viral spread ➡️ more places open, and sooner!

Exercise and promote your freedom by choosing to wear a face covering!

[Shelby @5helby18]

Nancy Pelosi: Implement a Federal Paid Parental Leave Policy - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/WkJRegCTmu via @Change

[Shelby @5helby18]

@GeorgiaFootball, @DancingABC, and @ChallengeMTV all returning soon...so Twitter, I’m back!