Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2010

From tinyurl to bitly, Twitter has spawned a myriad of url-shortening services. But when you’re copy-pasting those shortened links, it pays to remember that just one little error can make an enormous difference. Case in point: Meg Whitman, the businesswoman-turned-politician who is currently running for governor of California. Like many politicos, Whitman is taking advantage of social media to spread her message—but a recent flub caused some confusion about exactly what that message is. Whitman spokesperson Sarah Pompei tweeted what was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill takedown of a political rival. Unfortunately, Pompei left off a crucial “r” from the url, and people who clicked through were instead directed to a Youtube video of a Japanese man wearing a pink tutu and playing bass along to a song from the anime series K-On! It seems that the Whitman campaign has decided any publicity is better than none, because as we go to press nearly a week after the gaffe, the tweet is still posted. Check the video out here: http://bit.ly/bNCAV. (And yes, we triple-checked that URL.)