As we delve deeper and deeper into the information age, social media has ultimately become the be-all and end-all of interpersonal communications. This is not just on a personal level, with the ability to send memes to your friends, or go through an old school friends wedding photos and laugh, but also delivered an interesting method of communication to businesses and organisations as well.
Real-time, direct communication ability with patrons, customers, and clients, offers a whole new level of user experience, where once someone may have had to call a phone number with a complaint or compliment, a post or two on an Instagram page, Facebook page, or even Reddit thread, suddenly all eyes are on the business.
In my opinion, this definitely has mixed consequence. Whilst it is supremely beneficial for organisations, such as libraries, museums, galleries, etc., as well as other businesses and organisations to have a direct channel of communication for their customers and patrons, it also increases the amount of accountability that these organisations have (Pelletier, 2021). This is also relevant on a personal level.
I personally feel that social media has the underlying consequence of causing an incredible amount of subconscious pressure, and as technology gets more and more complex, and people and organisations are more and more transparent in an online space, there is the expectation and overall precedent of “No one can make a mistake ever, or else”.
The Social Media Microscope
As technology improves and evolves, so does the capacity for any individual or organisation to communicate with others, and this comes with a very large bag of benefits, but, those benefits aren’t without consequence as well (Thenuan, 2016). There is a higher level of accountability, and it would be remiss to not reflect on the fact that there is a population of the internet that perhaps spends more time worrying about everything that everyone else is doing, and perhaps has the potential to make mountains out of molehills. Sure, accountability matters, but shouldn’t that include a proportionate level of reaction to any given action?
Organisations in particular, professional bodies, of any kind, may not have had to worry about the minutiae of public image before, such as, individual workers and what they’re posting, but nowadays that is very different. A good example might be, a library worker may post a relatively controversial political opinion on their own personal social media, but because of how social media works, the entire organisation is called into the fold and held accountable for this. I think a fascinating reflection, is that all that pressure to watch every single word, communication, and action, actually detracts from the potential work that an organisation can do, instead, more energy and time and resources are spent on worrying about how it’ll be done over when it’ll be done and it getting done.
References:
Centre for Digital Wellbeing. (2021). The Impacts of Social Media in Australia. Centre for Digital Wellbeing. https://digitalwellbeing.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Research-Brief-Impacts-of-Social-Media-in-Australia.pdf
eSafety Commissioner. (n. d.) Working with Social Media. Australian Government. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/consultation-cooperation/working-with-social-media
Pelletier, K., Brown, M., Brooks, C. D., McCormack, M., Reeves, J., & Arbino, N. (2021). 2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report, Teaching and Learning Edition. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE. https://www.educause.edu/horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-2021
Thenuan, P., Joshi, S., & Subramaniyam, S. (2016). Impact of Social media on Business and Organizational Behaviour. SIBM B Annual Research Conference. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299559605_Impact_of_Social_Media_on_Business_and_Organizational_Behavior
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Yes, you’re right, that pressure is definitely rising! Making a mistake, even though it’s editable, can be screenshot before you’ve made updates – they can last forever even when the poster thought it was an off-handed comment of no consequence.
For sure, and cancel culture is such a big thing these days! I’m anticipating that things will only get worse.
Also coming from someone who worked with clients in retail, social media reviews or Google reviews were such a stress factor. Especially if there are incentives involved with good reviews.