What is Social Media
Few things are as confusing to me than how to find a productive way to engage on social media.
Figuring this out, like most hard topics, starts with the attempt to find the most accurate frame for thinking this topic through.
Is social media primarily:
A place for self-expression
A place for networking
A place for meaningful conversation
A place of connection
A place to learn
One can use social media for any of these things but discovering it’s PRIMARY frame is the best pathway to guide engagement.
So here’s my thesis for what I think social media primary is: An announcement platform + a few reactions.
Imperfect analogies for announcement platforms kind of like this include:
Standing in a busy location of a city or at a party and shouting something into a megaphone so that many can hear and a few can respond.
Putting up a billboard with a message that invites people to share their reactions on a public platform.
Bumper stickers that friends who see it can comment on.
The reason why choosing a primary frame is so important is you can ask yourself, if I could shout something or construct a billboard for free where a mixed audience of friends and acquaintances could hear and react, what would I say? How would I use it? Would I use it?
And keep in mind I’m not asking what I’d LIKE social media to be but what it actually IS.
Just because social media creates the possibility for multi-way conversations doesn’t mean that is its primary nature. Most posts facilitate little to no conversation and when they do the quality of those conversations tends to be far more emotionally charged and far less productive than a face-to-face or group conversation because both sides are aware that they’re on a stage being watched by an anonymous audience and everything they write is kept in a permanent, public record.
So I’m trying to decide what kind of things I’d shout or announce to this kind of mixed audience and here are some examples of posts that seem potentially appropriate for this kind of medium:
Posts that provoke more thought and less emotion.
Questions I’d like to survey a mixed audience about.
Announcements for things I’m starting that I’d like lots of people to be aware of.
Honoring people who many in my mixed audience would also know.
Announcements about major events in my life I’d like lots of people to know about.
Here are some examples of posts that seem less appropriate to shout into a social media megaphone:
Personal opinions I know would create a strong emotional reaction, especially a negative reaction from those I’m trying to move closer to relationally in the real world.
Fun experiences in my day-to-day life or peak moments I’m experiencing unless paired with a thought that could serve those who might engage.
Any kind of emotional venting.
Sending tribal signals (usually by dunking on the opposition).
Saying anything negative about particular people or institutions.
Here’s the principle: If you wouldn't put it on a billboard don’t post it.
