Social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get in touch with your current and potential supporters. But many people are concerned about possible backlash, if they announce their personal views on certain topics on social media - everyone is scared to trigger a so-called ‘shitstorm’.
Do you want to build your online presence, post your opinion and reach people on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram? However, you can’t shake the feeling that you have zero control over the public’s reaction to your posts? Unfortunately, it really is not predictable how the social media world will react - at least not accurately. But there are ways to prevent negative backlash to the best of your abilities.
But first, it is important to clarify the most important question:
Is every negative comment a shitstorm? The answer is a definite no! So what exactly is a shitstorm?
According to Merriam-Webster a shitstorm is defined as follows: ‘A wildly chaotic and unmanageable situation, controversy, or sequence of events’
This obviously sounds like a scenario that should be avoided at all costs. Therefore we have put together three tips for you on how to post your opinion online, without triggering a shitstorm. Let’s dive in!
Do your research and consider the bigger picture, before posting about a topic
As you have probably already noticed, there are topics that spread like wildfires on social media. Even when it appears to be a no-brainer how to position yourself on a trending topic , it is extremely important for you to gather all the facts and research background information, instead of blindly jumping on it and taking a stand publicly.
It is considered a public figure’s responsibility not to post any ill-thought-out statement, since they are role models to many. Speaking out on relevant and trending topics is a great way to draw attention to your channels, but social media is particularly fast-paced and unforgiving, therefore you must always think about the possible short-term reactions, before you go public with your opinion. It may sound too obvious to even be part of this guide, but especially in 2021 it is essential to run fact checks before posting, in order to not fall into a fake news trap.
Also, always ponder carefully whether the topic will only draw short-term attention or whether it will fit into your overall vision in the long term.
Phrase your opinion as clear as possible and leave little to no room for interpretation
Social media are a platform for a wide variety of people virtually meeting and exchanging ideas and opinions. Of course, this also means that not everyone has the same way of thinking, understands the same phrasings and shares the same perspectives. So it is essential for your posts to not to be created under time pressure or in the hectic of the day, but rather are well-considered decisions.
It starts with small mistakes, like misspellings and grammatical errors, that get you unwanted attention. But that doesn’t even come close to the shitstorm you have to expect when failing to properly think through your posts and allowing people to twist your words. Therefore do not leave anything to chance and make sure that posts in your name do not leave any room for interpretation. The clearer your opinion is, the less vulnerable you make yourself to potential critics.
Here’s a short checklist when creating your posts:
- Double check your spelling and grammar.
- Make sure to clearly position yourself on the topic.
- Use your own words, don’t copy and paste preexisting wordings.
CamBuildr’s social media feature allows you to create your social media posts based on templates. You can choose between already existing themes for Facebook and Instagram or create a completely new one, containing your corporate identity and tone of voice. By using those templates you are automatically confronted with the questions of how to phrase and to present your opinion in a way that matches your social media presence.
Be specific with targeting in order to reach the right people
Boosting content online is inevitable nowadays, as organic reach is being suppressed by most big social media platforms. Of course you want to reach people who can benefit from your content, share your opinion and who ideally want to support you. By just setting up wide spread ad campaigns, you achieve delivering your posts to many many people, but you also open up opportunities to people opposing your cause to flood the comments with negative messages - the beginning of a potential shittstorm. In order to boost content but at the same time only reach the audience it is relevant to, it is important to narrow the targeting audience to users with specific interests or characteristics that are compatible with your content.
By using CamBuildr’s Facebook Ad Manager interface, you can easily create your target groups based on interests, location or personal information, such as gender or age. This enables you to create content, upload it to your social media platform of choice and to promote it to the right audience, all within one tool and with just a few clicks.
If you want to get more tips on how to interact with your supporters online, we recommend our: Social Media Guide: How to do Community Management..
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