To Tweet or not to Tweet?
There are a lot of questions.
Social media has spent almost the last decade-and-a-half coming of age and evolving on what feels like a daily basis before our eyes. In a constant race to keep users engaged for longer periods of time, the social media channels that have been crucial to sharing messaging about museums and nonprofits are constantly changing the way they “do business.” You’ve been frustrated. We've been frustrated.
Enter, Elon Musk.
Prior to fall 2022, the biggest debate was if an organization should make the committment to TikTok. Prior to that, Snapchat. At some point, Vine had it’s moment in the sun. Google even took a run at social network. Social media managers have always needed to understand the next big thing and how it would impact their audience.
Arguably, the past four to five years have made social media management more complicated. No matter the message, fans and followers have been running to keyboards to share their viewpoints. Social listening has become emotionally draining. We all dread emails after a week off, but the dread that a social media manager feels on a daily basis is something for leadership to note. You literally don’t know how people are going to react.
Twitter has long been an site known for divisive opinions on everything from pizza to baseball to history to race. “Keyboard cowboys” have long hidden behind their handles, tweeting anything on their mind. News and media outlets have used the site to share breaking news. Nonprofits have raised funds and shared their mission. Museums have used the platforms to share collections and archives and notify people about events. There has been something for everybody.
In January, we polled our followers to see how their organizations were using Twitter - or not. In this non-scientific study, we see that there is a mixed response.
Every social media channel should be used with a distinct voice of your organization, but what is that voice supposed to sound like on today’s Twitter? We wanted to share a few resources that will hopefully help you to navigate to social media world we’re in today:
Museums and Heritage asks, ‘should museums boycott twitter’ and offers a list of other ways to get your followers involved with your work.
Matt Navarra’s Geekout Newsletter covers every trend happening in the social media world and has been actively reporting on everything Twitter.
Here’s a timeline of what’s gone down since October.
Does Elon support nonprofits? You be the judge…
An oldie but goodie from Selfish Giving talking about taking your focus to email marketing and not on Twitter
Last but not least, this article from Charity Digital is almost a flow chart for the “should I stay or should I go” question
If you’re struggling with what to do, we’ll ask you this last question: where are your followers engaging with you? If they’re on Twitter and actively engaging, consider staying (for now). You can always take a Twitter pause. Or, you can make the bold choice to leave altogether.
Do you need some help? Our founder has years of nonprofit social media experience and we pride ourselves on affordable advisory options. Send us a message!