Turns out disinformation isn’t just a problem online. If you’re a digital practitioner, or trainer like me, I’m willing to bet you’ve had a conversation like this recently: “Hey, someone last week told me that we shouldn’t do X on Y platform, but that makes no sense to me — is it true?” Reply: “You’re right. It doesn’t make any sense, and it couldn’t be further from the truth….”
Turns out that just like everything else in our world today, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about what should be basic best practices for social media. Often, I hear from former students who are now working for an advocacy group or even a campaign, and they’re being told to do something that isn’t just ineffective, it actually goes against all best practices.
I’m not talking about the recent targeting changes and people having trouble keeping up with new developments that happen faster than I can type this sentence. I mean long standing, basic best practices for managing social media for an organization. How bad could it be? Well, one former student of mine was recently told not to use hashtags on Twitter.
In an effort to help you to help others, I’d like to share with you some great resources you can bookmark to go back to you when you run into situations like the above. These are the primary source materials that staffers and even seasoned practitioners can use to reference check, or brush up on a new skill.
Go To The Socials’ Websites
It might seem counterintuitive in 2021, but the platform companies’ websites are actually a great resource.
Facebook’s Newsroom blog has useful links to articles about best practices as well as regularly posted updates to all things Facebook. In fact, all of the platforms offer similar resources. Check out: Twitter Blog, Instagram Newsroom, Snapchat Newsroom, YouTube Creator Updates and TikTok Updates.
Look To Twitter
You may have seen me tweeting about this stuff. Well, there are other practitioners out there also trying to help the un-hashtagging masses. Here’s I’ve curated a Twitter list of folks who are trusted sources of information about both best practices and updates.
Sign Up For Newsletters
Many of the same folks on Twitter, myself included, also have newsletters that offer advice for navigating the intersection of social media and political organizing. Here are some good ones to check out:
Beth Becker is the founder of Becker Digital Strategies, a boutique political digital consulting firm specializing in top-level digital strategy, social media strategy, and digital training. Well known for developing and leading week-long digital boot camp trainings and mentoring the next generation of digital campaigners, Beth and her team work with organizations of all sizes across the globe to maximize their impact on digital in order for them to be successful in their on and offline campaigns.
