Poorly-timed BC Hydro tweet leads to hilarious responses during power outage
British Columbians sent out nearly 24,000 tweets using the hashag #BCStorm
With its website down, BC Hydro used social media as its primary means of keeping customers informed of the power outages and when their lights would come back on.
But the Crown corporation got some social media backlash for an ill-timed promotional tweet, which was sent out shortly after the storm advisory was put out.
Discover our visitor centres this weekend. Snap a photo <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DiscoverBCHydro?src=hash">#DiscoverBCHydro</a> + enter to win weekly <a href="http://t.co/EyWGoSz8VR">http://t.co/EyWGoSz8VR</a> <a href="http://t.co/ex3LxZRBC3">pic.twitter.com/ex3LxZRBC3</a>
—@bchydroThe online campaign invites people to visit hydro recreational sites and visitor centres and then take an Instagram or Twitter photo with the hashtag #DiscoverBCHydro.
Some took the social media campaign in stride and others had a bit of fun with it.
<a href="https://twitter.com/majomo">@majomo</a> on Instagram: “<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/discoverbchydro?src=hash">#discoverbchydro</a> Can I win the competition? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcstorm?src=hash">#bcstorm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vancouver?src=hash">#vancouver</a>” <a href="http://t.co/Ztkb9T7TF1">http://t.co/Ztkb9T7TF1</a> <a href="http://t.co/J6cQEwgmZp">pic.twitter.com/J6cQEwgmZp</a>
—@VancouverBCRRWhat was BC Hydro thinking? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DiscoverBCHydro?src=hash">#DiscoverBCHydro</a> photo contest launched after bad weather advisory. <a href="https://t.co/z2xgge3soT">https://t.co/z2xgge3soT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCstorm?src=hash">#BCstorm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcpoli?src=hash">#bcpoli</a>
—@bobmackin<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/discoverbchydro?src=hash">#discoverbchydro</a> with my wife in Burnaby 10 hours into the blackout. Hope the zombies don't get us! <a href="https://twitter.com/bchydro">@bchydro</a> <a href="http://t.co/VBhetGyEfD">pic.twitter.com/VBhetGyEfD</a>
—@crgdevTweeting up a storm
British Columbians tweeted up a storm over the windy weekend, punching out more than 24,000 tweets with the hashtag #BCStorm.
Click on the large circles to pull up the five most popular individual retweets of the weekend.
This graphic shows the lack of activity and once the storm hits on Saturday morning, the tweets climb to an average of 30 tweets per minute at its peak. The social media activity continues through Sunday and Monday as the conversation turns towards clean up and recovery after the storm.
BC Hydro President and CEO Jessica McDonald says the Crown corporation is looking into why the website failed over the weekend of the windstorm, leaving customers further in the dark.