How are you using social media today?

May 6, 2020

How are you using social media today?

When ‘The’ Facebook platform started it was following the footsteps of then-popular MySpace, but it was specifically for college kids and pretty basic and private. Over the years Facebook evolved into the virtual place we spent a lot of our time, even grandma got on board and we were all focused on sharing our stories and connecting with friends and family around the globe. Unfortunately, we began to see the book as a place to sell our services, they offered paid advertising and before long the platform became stale as Instagram emerged into our lives. The visual platform became the place to go, all photos, fewer ads, and then the very fun and popular evolution of stories we stole from Snapchat. I’ve lived in stories on the gram for the past year.

Suddenly, Covid19 reared its ugly head into our lives and we were ordered to stay home and we made a shift back to Facebook. Longing for human connection more than ever, we reentered the book because of the way the platform connects us because we could comment and share with ease, create support groups and check in on our loved ones. Sadly, many of us are still ‘doing it wrong,’ and I am mortified by many of the ‘funny’ posts I am seeing. The worst post to date that I’ve seen says “At the end of the quarantine, if you decide you can’t stand the people you live with, just remember I am a realtor” WHOA!!!!

Let’s talk about feelings here, you have them, right? How are you holding up in lockdown if you’re considered non-essential? Are you single? Married? Kids, no kids? I am single, no kids and mentally about to lose it, I would give anything for a hug right now. I know people who are losing it with their spouses and children, who maybe are considering divorce after this, how do you think those people feel about that realtor post? I saw a dating app advertisement that said find someone you can quarantine with, really? Not the right time to be putting that in a single person’s face, it didn’t make me feel good and it didn’t make me want to sign up to ‘meet’ people I wouldn’t be able to meet for a while. What we need to remember is that long after the dust settles, people are going to remember how you made them feel. Is the humor you are posting the right kind of humor? Does your message carry empathy? Do you stop and think before you post something about the audience and how they might feel? One of my favorite marketing minds, Justin Tucker stated early on during the virus that our messages need to be a focus on empathy, education, and entertainment. I’ve been using those three words as a guideline for how I teach social media today. It’s truly how we always use social media long after the dust settles.

So, I ask you this again, how are you using social media today?

Here are a few simple things you can do right now on Facebook:

– Create a support group or home hobby group, book club, etc.
– Build out your Facebook friends lists to focus on the people most important
– Spend time in your friends’ lists and engage, like, comment, share, private message, and pick up the phone.
– Join other groups and really engage with people in them, make some new friends.