June 30th marks Social Media Day — the date established by Mashable in 2010 to officially recognize the impacts of social media and modern technology on global communication.
As new digital platforms have emerged and evolved over the past ten years, daily social media use has become second-nature for billions of people around the world.
The ability to instantaneously connect people and organizations with their friends and followers has proven social media to be a dynamic resource for sharing information and bringing people together.
With so much going on in the world in 2020, now is a better time than ever to reflect on social media use — both professional and personal — and become more conscientious in the ways we use it to communicate with one another.
BE INTENTIONAL
Because social media is so readily accessible, it can be easy for users to sort of mindlessly post content without really thinking about the purpose and effects of posting.
Before your next post — whether on business channels or a personal account — consider some of the following questions:
What message am I trying to send? Why should it be shared?
Who is my audience? How will I reach them most effectively?
What is the desired outcome? What actions do I hope to inspire?
What type of content do I react to in a positive way? How can I elicit similar positive reactions through my own content?
What type of content do I react to in a negative way? Why do I react negatively to this content and what can I do differently in my own content to minimize those reactions?
Whichever questions are relevant to you, taking the time to go through a quick mental checklist can help to drive more intentional social media conversations.
TONE IS KEY
In the current social and political climate, platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are primary forums for discussing opinions surrounding current events. Many people have taken to social media to explain their beliefs, share resources that their followers might find interesting or useful, and garner support for causes they are passionate about. These are all great examples of people utilizing social networks to communicate and collaborate with others.
Given the nature of politically driven discussions, however, it is all too easy for these forums of open conversation and civil discussion to turn into ones of argument and aggression between users with differing perspectives. As a result, an increasing level of hostility and intolerance has emerged across social networks, dividing people instead of bringing them together the way social media is intended to.
The protection of being “behind a screen” often enables people to feel much more comfortable arguing with others than they likely would face-to-face — an ongoing concern that has remained pertinent since the earliest days of social media. It’s normal to disagree with people and to want them to understand your way of thinking — so remembering online etiquette is crucial to disagreeing respectfully, so that the sharing of opinions can lead to productive conversations instead of hostile arguments.
If you truly want others to consider your point of view, they’ll be far more receptive if you present your message with an engaging tone that invites people to have a conversation and learn more about the topic. In other words: remember to talk to people, not at them.
WHEN IN DOUBT, TAKE A BREAK
It’s okay to log off and take some time to regroup.
The ever-increasing scope of content shared across social media channels can be overwhelming — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when the majority of people’s social interactions over a several-month period have been virtual.
Even though social media and digital technology have been prevalent in daily life all throughout the past decade, we are now communicating through screens a little more than we would probably like to under normal circumstances.
This Social Media Day — in a year when digital communication has become the primary method of interaction with one another — remember that social media is a powerful tool, and an even better one when used responsibly and thoughtfully.
Happy Social Media Day 2020!