The longer I work in social media, the more convinced I become that human beings are designed to ruin anything good and that, good people are exceptions to the rule.
I am VERY selective when it comes to what clients I will work with. My gut awareness is finely tuned and ethical integrity is an essential feature rather than a “nice-to-have.”
It is for this reason that I am constantly surprised at how shitty the average human being can be to these clients.
Screw Your Best Intentions…You’re Bad!
Several times, this year alone, a client of mine has spent good money to promote something objectively important. Sometimes it is advocating for the industry they serve, sometimes it is engaging their fans, and other times going out of their way to be supportive, encouraging, and inspiring.
In each of these cases, people can’t seem to help themselves than to be terrible.
Create a piece of media advocating for an entire industry?
What are you wearing?
What’s up with your face?
Nice try but next time don’t bother.
Didn’t react fast enough to breaking news?
You’re tone deaf!
You’re asleep at the wheel!
You’re doing it wrong!
I signed up for your email with a double opt-in?
Why are you spamming me!
Stop sending me email!
It’s these damn brand accounts, right?
Yeah…not really. People aren’t just terrible in response to brand posts, people seem to be terrible everywhere.
Just look at the comments on any Twitter moment, popular Instagram, or Reddit comment thread and you will see a complete lack of civility.
Would you prefer to be apathetic or angry?
We scroll our feeds mindlessly, and now when we stop, more often than not, we are angered or depressed. At first, I thought it was just the content, that the news of the day was impacting my emotional state…but I think it’s more than that. It’s the incivility and unnecessary negativity that really gets to me. I can’t for the life of me understand why everyone is so quick to be offended over things that don’t actually matter.