Lincoln SU have apologised for their social media activity aimed at local MP Karl McCartney.
After repeated criticism from McCartney over accusations of bias in the SU election, Lincoln SU used their official Twitter account to say “Zzzzzzzzzz!”.
The tweet was criticised widely by students and was later deleted, though it is still embedded in their social media feed on LincolnSU.com.
https://twitter.com/PhilWSK/status/702402427593564165
https://twitter.com/ThomasHerbert11/status/702272746668040193
@ElliotKingNCFC @unilincoln @lincolnSU I informed them that they're running a campaign about being professional on social media…
— Vez (@ivezsaur) February 24, 2016
Now though Lincoln SU have made an official statement on their website apologising for the tweet towards Karl McCartney.
The message, written by ULSU President Hayley Jayne Wilkinson and VP for Academic Affairs Nyasha Takawira, said: “Regarding the use of the official LincolnSU Twitter account. We are aware that a number of students are concerned about a recent post from the account in response to a Tweet from our local MP.”
“The tone of the Tweet, with hindsight, and taken out of the context of an ongoing dialogue with our MP about a number of issues (not the current SU elections), does not appear appropriate.”
“We believe that the language of the response was in keeping with the language the MP has used towards our official account on an ongoing basis.”
“We have discussed this with our staff team who operate the account, and in future our tweets will be more carefully considered to ensure that they are relevant to the wider audience.”
“We are happy that our Chief Executive Officer has taken the appropriate action to ensure that this cannot happen in future.”
UPDATE: Karl McCartney has responded to the apology on Twitter, saying it does not qualify as one.
https://twitter.com/karlmccartney/status/702520489114279936