How Social Media Toppled the Beauty Queen



Contributing Writer
Photo Courtesy :Ben Wood


On paper, Rachel Berry looked to be the ultimate Miss America contestant. A Chapman University Graduate in journalism, the talented and smart Miss Berry seemed to have it all.

Last week, Miss Oregon Rachel Berry was outed as a fraud.  She was found to have lied about her Oregon residency on her paperwork.  This is not news…Miss America contestants have been trying to skirt the rules for decades.  What makes this newsworthy is that Berry, (Miss Oregon 2012 for a scant 2 weeks) was caught up in a web of controversy that she and her family weaved via social media.

While Rachel Berry claimed to have been living in Aloha, Oregon since October of 2011, her Facebook page told a much different story.  Her LinkedIn account showed that she worked for a local news agency in Orange County, and her YouTube account proved that she was working in California while she claimed to be living and working in Oregon.  There were Facebook updates of Rachel from Disney World and other Orange County California locations,  as well as tweets from her sister, who was obviously her roommate in California.  Her social media footprint proved that Rachel was lying when she filled out her Miss Oregon Paperwork.  Blogger Jack Bogdanski broke the story last week.  By the time it hit the mainstream, Rachel Berry had resigned as Miss Oregon.  You can read a detailed timeline with her tweets and Facebook updates here.

The real story here  isn’t about a girl from California who tried to change her luck and better her chances by competing in a neighbor state.  This is about how social media is changing the way we communicate, and how accountability has to be consistent across all channels.  There have already been instances where Facebook photos have been used by insurance companies to bolster fraud disputes. And many jobs have been won or lost by the tweet.   This is just the latest indicator that social media is here to stay, is relevant, and is being used as a tool for many to create a more complete portrait of an individual. It’s not enough to look good “on paper” anymore.

Our mothers were right.  We ARE what we tweet.

Beth McShane

Beth McShane

Boss Lady at McShane Media

I’m a Pacific Northwest puddle whisperer with a passion for all things social.

Beth McShane

@BethMcShane

I flit. I float. I flitly flee, I fly… https://www.vizify.com/beth-mcshane find me on rebelmouse http://www.rebelmouse.com/BethMcShane

Love and you shall be loved. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson #QuoteLit – 2 hours ago

Beth McShane

Beth McShane

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  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Beth, great post! I love how her story shows how accountable we are to the information that is collected through our social media presence. It seems that people take a lot of privacy issues for granted, and in reality there isn’t a lot of privacy in these networks.

  • http://www.mononewsblog.wordpress.com Robin

    Great post! A cautionary tale for our times. Every generation must learn it’s wrong to lie, but the upcoming generation is learning via some very hard lessons.

  • http://www.biculturalmama.com Bicultural Mama

    Busted by social media. She wasn’t to smart, should have updated all of her sites!

  • Pingback: How Social Media Toppled the Beauty Queen | UpSearchSEO

  • http://philgerbyshak.com Phil Gerbyshak

    Don’t lie – it’s never been easier to find out you are lieing.

    Really great example! Thanks for writing it!

  • http://www.mcshanemedia.com Beth McShane

    Thanks, Jim! I really appreciated the opportunity to contribute to your community of great contributors.

  • http://www.mcshanemedia.com Beth McShane

    Thanks Robin. I agree! Footprints in the sand wash away with the tides, but media footprints are forever….

  • http://www.mcshanemedia.com Beth McShane

    I’m not sure if it is that she wasn’t smart ,because I think she is; or if she was given some bad advice along the way. I’ve seen the local contract, and it is very clear on the stipulations for residency, but I could see how a little voice whispering “nobody checks, sign it anyway” might have been the case.

    There really are no winners in this case. One Miss Oregon steps down, the first runner-up takes over unceremoniously, and the entire organization is still reeling and will no doubt feel the effects as they approach sponsors in months and years to come.

    I do find it fascinating how easy it was for Jack Bogdanski to find all of this information, and yet the state and national pageants didn’t do enough sluething to discover the truth before all of this became such a public issue. A good example of why larger corporations (even non-profits) should pay attention to social media.

  • http://www.mcshanemedia.com Beth McShane

    Thanks, Phil. It gave me no joy to write, as I’ve judged many a Miss America preliminary. As a judge, the first thing I do is check out their Facebook pages. On more than one occasion I have been shocked by what these young ladies will post or allow themselves to be tagged in….

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