In January of 2019, a viral 1-minute video began to emerge of a group of American teenagers from the Covington Catholis High School wearing the MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat surrounding an elderly Native American man while he was playing a ceremonial drum. To say that the teenagers came off looking bad in that video would be a gross understatement and the majority of the American public was quick to condemn the teenagers. Less than 24 hours later however, as more details began to emerge from the confrontation, it turns out that things are a bit more complicated.

Most mainstream publications issued an update on the story to reveal the complicated nature of this particular stand-off and one publication actually apologized for passing judgment all too quickly. I understand the sentiment of wanting to be the one with the freshest take but this particular controversy has showed us that when it comes to chiming in on a breaking story through social media, especially a tragedy, the measured approach might be preferable.

Not everything is about you

Social media is very much an in-the-moment thing. Thanks to the use of hashtags and trending topics, it’s very easy for anyone to see what people are currently talking about and figure out a way to insert themselves into the conversation. On one hand, this could be a great opportunity for businesses that are able to think quickly on their feet. On the other hand, as can be seen from the example above, it can be a double-edged sword if your hot take turns out to be premature or could be considered disrespectful.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to try to take part in the conversation, I remember pretty much everyone trying to bask in the World Cup goodness from last year for example but you also need to understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you and that sometimes, you have to take a step back. Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘dancing on someone’s grave’? It means to take pleasure or profit out of someone else’s tragedy and what you can take from that phrase is that you shouldn’t use everything as a marketing opportunity.

Paying respect to a recently departed public figure is all well and good but there’s a thin line between being respectful and opportunistic and that line can get a little blurry sometimes. One other issue I’d like to raise is that sometimes, you are required to form a hot take of some sorts and in an increasingly politicized world, it’s a good chance you’re going to offend someone over on social media. As such, before you pull the trigger on your posts, you might want to consider asking yourself the following questions first.

Why are you inserting yourself to the conversation?

As a general rule, I categorize news into three types; tragedies, celebrations and general news items. Tragedies are deaths of notable individuals, natural disasters and other similar heartbreaking stories. Celebrations include national holidays, sporting events, awards shows and other typical feel-good stories. General news items are for news that don’t necessarily belong in the former two camps but are notable enough to make headlines. Even from the description, you could tell that each type of news should be handled differently.

To begin with, you should never use tragedies as a marketing opportunity. If a notable figure from your industry has recently passed away, it’s okay to post a tribute as long as it’s free of any kind of branding from your company whatsoever. For disasters on a massive scale, posting a simple message of prayer, free from any branding, would also be enough. This is what I mean about ‘dancing on someone’s grave’, some things are just simply inappropriate to be used as a marketing opportunity.

With celebrations, like the World Cup or the Ashes or even something from halfway across the world like the Royal Wedding, taking part in the conversation is fair game. In fact, you could use this type of events as part of a themed promotion for your products and/or services. Partaking in the celebrations is also a good way of telling your customers that you know how to have fun every once in a while. As for general news items, we’re going to deal with that in a separate section.

Is it okay for you to be political?

It’s a sad era we live in that almost everything around us can get too politicized. In the Covington story I mentioned at the beginning of the piece, you could pretty much guess where the initial backlash and the ensuing controversy came from based on their political leanings. At the beginning, when context was scarce, it’s the left-leaning crowd that was quick to pass judgment on the kids wearing the MAGA (Donald Trump’s campaign slogan during the 2016 Presidential election. As a fuller picture began to emerge, it’s the right-leaning crowd that was quick to pounce on the left-leaning media for reporting on the news before they can see the whole picture.

Every single time you think about saying something on current affairs, you have to be prepared when your statement is politicized, even if you actually meant to stay on the sidelines. Staying on the high ground is practically an impossibility and before you even think about making a statement on something that’s politically relevant, it’s possible that what you said will be taken out of context and used against you. It’s simply the kind of world we live in right now, which is why unless you make it a point to firmly be in one side of the argument, it’s best to stay out of it entirely.

Is this professional, or personal?

For the most part, a business’ social media account is handled by a dedicated manager and/or team with little to no supervision by the management. This is the way it works from all of the company I’ve worked for and I’m willing bet this is the case for any business of moderate size. This is a good thing as social media is something that businesses should take seriously but given human nature, it’s hard for a single person to perfectly separate what’s professional and what’s personal every now and then, they tend to blend in together.

Let’s say your social media manager just came across a piece of news that is personally relevant to them but only tangentially or even not at all related to your business. As the lines are blurred, your social media manager decided to chime in anyway through your company’s social media account even though this was something that should be handled personally. I understand that social media has always been a somewhat casual platform but that doesn’t mean you should drop all semblance of professionalism.