In today’s social media driven age, what took months to years of developing your social media brand and/or profile may all be for naught with just one single faulty post. This is why you should practice extra caution when posting online, especially here in the UAE where online laws are strict.
Social Media Manager and 2018 TFT Advertising Professional of the Year Nichollo Jallores suggests the following tips that he shared during the recently held Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition in a panel moderated by The Filipino Times General Manager Vince Ang.
Be an authority: Fact check and research to produce quality content
Topping the list is the importance of fact checking and doing research to ensure that what you are about to post is based only on facts, and not just mere opinions and hearsay. “Do you really believe that you are an authority on this subject? Are you qualified for the content you are about to put out? Pinagisipan mo ba ito ng mahaba, nakapag research at fact check ka ba – that’s number 1. You have to be sure of the quality of content that you’re about to put out that is not just spur of the moment. We all need to take our time about the content we’re putting out,” said Jallores.
Engage your audience in a conversation
Jallores furthers that with the way social media works, posts should engage conversation between the original poster and the people who follow and/or see the post: “Meron bang mag-s-share ng post na to or meron ba akong makakausap or is it designed to encourage conversation to push the narrative forward?”
The social media manager laments that a considerable amount of posts these days ‘kill’ conversations by posting what he refers to as ‘mic drop’ posts. “The problem right now with social media I think is authentic conversations are starting to become a dying trend because people are always trying to look for a mic drop. They want to end the conversation, they don’t want to push it forward when the whole point of social media is pushing that conversation forward,” shares Jallores.
Moving beyond social media
After the first two considerations, the last point of view that netizens have to keep in mind is the effect of the post beyond social media, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships. “Trust me, hindi lang LinkedIn o CV ang tinitignan if you’re looking for a job. Marami na ring situations na nag-away-away sa social media tapos damay damay ang pamilya, merong mga situation na meron pang mga death threats. Ano yung magiging implications nito sa iyo offline pag nag log out ka ba ng Facebook, makakatulog ka ng mahimbing sa gabi? Those are the things you have to think about.
Jallores advises netizens to keep their cool and not pick fights on social media so that it wouldn’t affect them later on. “We have to be responsible social media users especially because like I said, Filipinos are really one of the social media savvy communities in the world,” said Jallores.
