Unrelatable Content
Our use and understanding of social media has completely changed in the past month. It has gone from a way to escape the reality of a global pandemic to a uniting and dividing force in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Feeds once filled with summer vacations, promotional materials, and #ootd posts are now filled with informative content, calls to action, and violent images and videos.
If you haven’t had a complicated relationship with social media, I applaud you. I have found myself addicted to, resentful of, and overwhelmed by it on a daily occurrence. Especially now with the extraordinary amount of content and information being shared every second, I find my consumption less genuine and focused.
So how do we use social media to inspire action without overwhelming our following?
Here are the five tips I’ve taken away from my research this week.
Post images that everyone can digest. People need to be aware of the violence occurring to black people and protestors. However, the media heightens traumatic images because they know it will sell. Not because it will inspire growth. Reposting violent images can be harmful to your audience. Give trigger warnings on the more graphic content you post, and focus on images that will promote change and share information.
Know where your content is coming from. We must account for where we are getting our information. There are companies who are trying to exploit the #BlackLivesMatter following and redirect the movement for momentary gain. Be a conscious content curator. Check who created the post/trend/hashtag before blindly sharing it. Focus on supporting and promoting the individuals and organizations who are bringing about social change and give them credit for their work.
Curate your posts. Overwhelming amounts of content do not allow people to fully digest the information. Too-long Instagram stories, massive amounts of posts on different platforms, and blind sharing will result in people either skimming over or passing through what you are trying to say. When you find a post that ignites you, explore, research, and share on it. Let your post be oriented, understanding, and focused. Your posts are one of many that an individual will interact with today, so raising your voice in a clear and informed way is crucial in this fight.
Check the actual news. Twitter may be full of breaking news updates and direct comments from politicians and company leader. However, it is still a social media platform. Step away. Check out reliable sources like NYTimes, The Washington Post, and the BBC. Do your own research rather than letting your feed dictate what you are made aware of today.
Take a break. Maybe it’s an hour. Maybe it’s a day. Maybe it’s a week. If you are feeling overwhelmed, disheartened, or depressed after opening your social media feed, allow yourself to take a break. Sacrificing your mental health to absorb content is not going to help you promote the causes you believe in.
Social media is a tricky device that we are all learning to navigate more and more each day. I hope you take the time to find how to make it work for you. This is going to be a long fight, but we will continue to combat social injustice together.
Stay strong.