Look, I get it. Temperatures are rising, leaders are getting dumber, and it seems like an apocalypse is nigh. We're all freaked -- including at least one member of the social media team at Charleston, S.C.'s paper, The Post and Courier.
How do I know? Just look at this tweet posted on Friday, linking to a story about Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.'s Charleston location closing.
Tweet may have been deleted
I called the paper on Saturday, both to see if there was any follow-up comment and to check in on the author of the tweet, make sure they're OK. Mostly the latter. And great news, folks: he's OK.
The tweet's author is one Matt Clough, engagement editor at The Post and Courier. I first spoke with one of his colleagues on the paper's digital team and asked how Matt is doing.
The response: "He's OK. He just gets a little nihilistic sometimes."
A few minutes later, Matt himself gave me a call back. We both had a good laugh about the tweet, which is undeniably funny in its own grim sort of way. Then Matt confirmed that yes, he's fine.
"I'm doing great, man. I'm having a lot of fun. It's that Friday feeling, man. Sometimes it gets to you," he said.
Matt didn't have anything to add to the tweet; "Quite honestly, it speaks for itself," he said. But he didn't post it just to be a killjoy. (Losing a local source of cooked shrimp is devastating enough, right?)
Really, the tweet is just Matt doing his job, which is to communicate with the paper's audience -- or to engage, as his title says outright. He said he's always looking for "fun, weird ways" to communicate with readers, and he's noticed that nihilistic messages tend to resonate.
"I guess everybody's feeling a little dark right now," he said.
Amen, brother.
