COMM428E:
Lesson 2: Your Social Media
Lesson 2 Overview
Introduction
It’s been more than a decade since Facebook surpassed MySpace as the dominant social network to now sit at 2.3 billion monthly active users. Currently, 69% of Americans use some kind of social media platform, and for the 18- to 29-year-old demographic, that rate is 88%, according to the Pew Research Center. Social media is firmly a part of our everyday modern life, however research suggests that the impact is mixed.
- A survey found that 57% of Americans who use social media posted or texted something that they regretted.
- A report found that just 9% of Americans believe they have “a lot of control” over how much information is collected about them.
- A report found that Facebook users are more trusting, have more close relationships, get more social support and are more politically engaged.
- A study of ninth grade biology students found that those who took part in a program to learn scientific argumentation through social media out-performed their peers when it came to asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, and engaging an argument from evidence.
The body of research on social media’s impact on our lives will continue to grow, and in this lesson, you’re encouraged to take a clear-eyed look at your own social media with the objectivity of a researcher. By looking at the personal, you’ll grow in your understanding of some key principles in the professional use of social media.
We will also look at how social media can be an effective tool for communications professionals to work on behalf of their brands through their own channels. Also, we’ll explore how social media influencers and advocates can advance a brand through personal channels with directives, guidance and, sometimes incentives, coming from the brand.
Objectives
Here are the objectives for this lesson:
- Define your social media philosophy and write a concise professional summary to enhance your personal brand.
- Recognize how PR professionals, influencers and advocates can help distribute key messaging for a brand through their personal channels.
- Assess the time you spend on social media platforms or your phone and evaluate if a change in habits would be beneficial to your wellbeing.
Lesson Readings and Activities
By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 2 Course Schedule.
Please direct technical questions to the IT Service Desk.
Know Thy (Social) Self
As we prepare to go deeper into the strategies and tactics that make up an effective social media plan for a brand, let’s first look inward and explore your own social media use. Throughout the course, you’ll learn best practices that apply to both brand accounts as well as the plans you could use to build a personal brand. Here are steps you should take at this moment to add a professional sheen to your social media:
- Create a LinkedIn account, using the platform’s checklist for students, or improve the account you already have, making it a dynamic and informative profile of your professional attributes. LinkedIn also offers more resources to students for improving their profiles and landing jobs.
- Make sure you have a suitable profile image that makes you easily identifiable. You should be dressed appropriately, be the only person in the photo and the background should be uncluttered.
- Could a banner image further enhance your profile? A picture from your campus, a beautiful landscape photo or a snapshot of you presenting to a group can convey optimism, professionalism or other impressions you’re hoping to get across.
- Your account profiles should be optimized, listing any appropriate affiliations (school, organizations, professional groups, etc.) and URLs to sites such as an e-portfolio or personal blog.
- Past posts should be free of profanity, embarrassing party photos, excessive complaining and attacks on other accounts. Discussing politics, especially in an uncivil manner, is also risky. Remember, it’s likely that a potential employer will scan your social media to determine professionalism and how you’d fit into the workplace culture.
It’s likely that your social media presence includes a mix of the personal and the professional; vacation photos are interspersed with photos from a conference, Twitter musings on your favorite TV show share a feed with your contributions to a Twitter chat focused on your field. It’s also likely that you’ve given thought to types of content you will and will not post and have been put off by something you saw on someone else’s account. To put your best foot forward on social media, you can benefit from some strategies. At the least, a mission statement could guide you and potentially prevent you from being one of the aforementioned 57% with social media regrets.
Gaining Attention and Influence
Chapter 5 (Contemporary Media Relations) of our text outlines how journalists, bloggers and influencers can help elevate a brand’s message. Luttrell (2022) writes, “To penetrate news outlets and reach our audiences, we must build relationships with traditional journalists as well as bloggers, online reporters, administrators, citizen journalists, and new influencers” (p. 69).
The current dynamic has certainly gotten more complex than the days of getting press by sending a news release and calling a press conference. Social networks have provided means to warm the relationship with reporters and grab earned message distribution. Public relations professionals can use a platform such as Twitter to share a news release, keep up with a journalist’s work, stay on a reporter’s radar if a relationship already exists and make pitches.
A social media strategy should acknowledge how a brand’s platforms and staff can facilitate media coverage and influencer recommendations, the type of exposure that’s often more impactful to the public than material released directly from a brand. Tapping into influencers and content creators is increasingly becoming a means to deliver a message that the public is more likely to receive than if it came from a brand directly, such as in an advertisement.
One survey found that 30% of consumers are more likely to buy a product endorsed by a non-celebrity blogger than a celebrity, and among 18- to 34-year-olds, 70% marked peer endorsement as their preference when it comes to making a purchasing decision.
When it comes to people paid to promote a brand or product through social media, one’s likely first thought would be Kim Kardashian, who can make $500,000 for an Instagram campaign. However, brands are also using those with far smaller followings than a Kardashian, but still with engaged social fan bases, as well as built-in advocates such as employees and alumni who are not compensated monetarily but may receive other incentives to share key messaging.
Digital services such as BuzzSumo are emerging to help brands find influencers, and companies such as SocialToaster are creating platforms that give employees and supporters streamlined means to share content to earn social cred and even prizes. Brand messages are re-shared 24 times more when distributed by employees versus branded accounts and content shared by employees receives eight times more engagement compared to brand posts, according to SocialToaster.
A social media strategy document should include mention of potential amplifiers.
- Who could be enlisted to gain greater exposure for key social media messages?
- Would they be paid or given free merchandise?
- Would enlisting employees and supporters to share messages on their personal platforms be advantageous?
Answers to these questions will help make up the foundation to a brand’s influencer plan.
References
Luttrell, R. (2022). Social Media: How to Engage, Share, and Connect (4th ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.
Turning Off a Noisey World 2
Throughout this course, you’ll be periodically encouraged to explore your own connection to technology, including your dependence on your device as well as your emotional response to your own social media. Those responsible for managing a brand’s social media often find themselves in a work cycle unrecognizable from the usual 9 to 5. Breaks are crucial for stress relief as well as creative thought.
Tech companies are recognizing the potential toll of being too connected and have launched features focused on what Google calls digital wellbeing, measures that open a user’s eyes to how much of their time is being spent.
As Pesce (2018) reported, Facebook explained when announcing tools to help users better manage their time:
"We want the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram to be intentional, positive and inspiring. Our hope is that these tools give people more control over the time they spend on our platforms and also foster conversations between parents and teens about the online habits that are right for them."
Over the next two weeks, track your social media use on at least one platform or time spent on your phone or mobile device. Measure what you think would give you the most insight into your habits. For instructions:
References
Pesce, N. L. (2018, August 28). YouTube is helping us spend less time on YouTube. MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/youtube-is-helping-us-spend-less-time-on-youtube-2018-08-28
Lesson 2 Wrap Up and Looking Ahead
Summary
By focusing on your personal social media aspirations, this lesson should have deepened your understanding of social media’s potential, including in the professional realm. You received some recommendations for improving your personal brand in social media and were prompted to think about a philosophy and mission statement to guide your approach. Further, you were introduced to how communications professionals can use their personal accounts to assist in reaching a brands’ objectives and how brands tap into the power of influencers. You’re also continuing to reflect on your digital habits and the potential implications on your wellbeing.
Check and Double Check
By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 2 course schedule.
Looking Ahead
In the next lesson, you will look further into how the foundational ethos that drive a brand can influence social media content and will be introduced to the concept of a social media audit, a useful tool in strategizing and evaluating performance.