Social Media and Positive Change

Aug 16

There are over 3.78 billion social media users worldwide spread across numerous social media platforms. From Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and now even Tik-Tok. Social media has its place, and many associates it with community, staying in touch with friends and family from a distance. Staying in touch has proved vital during this pandemic, where lockdowns were widespread across the nation and the world. Social media is just what it says, a way to be social across various digital media devices. We all need social interaction, and if we can't have in-person meetups, then digital will have to do. Who wouldn't love to be on for hours catching up with family and watching videos of kids, grandkids, and sons and daughters?

Over the years, social media platforms associate themselves with fake news and negativity. Users are tired of seeing post after post of negativity and disagreements from strangers, family, and friends. From a social network where you go and share photos of fun trips and family life, you now have a network that wastes people's time, causes division, and spreads false narratives. It ends up looking like companies like Facebook and Twitter are the "evil empire" and trying to push an agenda.

After watching the Social Dilemma documentary, it is easy to see why those who love social media continue to love it, and those who hate it continue to hate it. Every Feed is unique to each user. It shows you the types of content you interact with and share the most. If you follow and interact with a particularly political person, you will see that type of person and content.

How do you solve a problem like negativity on Facebook? You stop watching and liking people's posts with who you disagree. It might take time, but eventually, Facebook will stop showing that type of content. Once you stop, start finding and creating content that builds up, teaches a skill, and makes someone laugh. You might have the urge to watch and comment on a video you disagree with, but remember that if you do, Facebook will assume you like that type of video, so double down and consume and engage with something positive as well.

The Four Types of Content on Instagram

On Instagram, you have four major content choices when it comes to creating content that matters. The four types of content are:

The Feed (photo-sharing).
Stories (short-form video).
IG Live (IG stories-based content for live viewing).
Reels (short-form video).

The Feed

It starts with your Feed. Use the Feed to educate and inspire someone. The Feed is the original content piece of Instagram; it is what IG formed as initially. The Feed is the place to share photos of your day's events or family trips. It is more than a photo-sharing feed, though. The Feed also allows you to post up to ten slides per post. This style is called a carousel post, and it is the perfect place to educate. Start with a question. Make sure it sparks intrigue and have every slide build as you swipe through it. In the end, make sure you show a solution and a call to action at the end. Many people have mastered the art of the carousel, and Chris Do of The Futur is one of the leading pioneers of this type of content.

IG Stories

The next piece of content is Stories. Stories are short-form videos that last for 24 hours. These are to be organic and raw. Show behind the scenes or a day in the life of your typical day. For the next 24 hours, they build on each other to tell your story. In the age of fake news and curated content, people like to see and interact with real people non-scripted.

IG Live

Staying with Stories leads to the next piece of content, IG Live. Live videos show up in stories but allow you to talk directly to people watching and answer their questions in the moment. You can even bring people into your video and have a video interview of sorts in front of a live audience. Live videos are the perfect place to have dialogue that's not just impersonal comments in your Feed but an honest conversation with real people. Once your video is over, you can save it as a long-form video to your Feed to be watched and shared later by anyone.

IG Reels

Lastly, we have Instagram's newest feature, Reels. Reels are IG's answer to Tik-Tok, and similar to stories, it's a great way to be organic and raw and inspire and educate your followers. These can be entertaining and meant to make people laugh—no need to be negative here either. Just be yourself and create content that builds someone up.

It's What You Make It

The moral of the story is, social media is what you make of it. Create a community, share content that inspires and educates, and be authentic. We can turn the most connected generation into a relational one by utilizing different content and platforms. Noting beats in person, but it is possible to build a community solely online and be successful. Just ask Nik Goodner of the CRTV Church Facebook group. He has created a community of thousands of creatives, designers, videographers, and marketers that encourage and share stories. They even have live Zoom hangouts from time to time during COVID, and pre-COVID even met yearly in person at various events across the country. You can enact positive change on social media, but you have to put in the effort.