Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Snapchat. YouTube.
We live in the age of social media. In her book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, Sherry Turkle outlines some of the ways that social media has affected the public square.
As presenters, we are concerned with the public square because it’s the place where we do our business. When we speak publicly, we are adding our ideas and our voices to the communal conversation. So we need to be aware of these 5 ways that social media, and online activity more generally, is changing communication.
1. It Makes Action Seem Easy
Social media can help to raise awareness at speeds previously impossible. And it has great power to highlight important issues. But clicking like or changing a profile picture filter isn’t the same as taking sacrificial action to help create social change. When we present today, we have to remember that when we make a call to action for our audience, we may need to spend a little more time defining what action is and explaining what it looks like.
2. It Tailors Content
We live in a world of data mining and diminishing privacy. Marketers pay big bucks to find out what we are searching and shopping for online. When they “know” us, they can advertise to us with more accuracy. The only problem is, we’ve come to a place where our online experiences are becoming so tailored that we don’t see as much diversity in information. Turkle quotes philosopher Allan Bloom who said, “The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity, but the one that removes awareness of other possibilities.” This could mean that we are presenting to audience members who are increasingly more entrenched in their beliefs due to the narrow, tailored information presented to them online.
3. It Elevates Connection above Change
Turkle traces our modern pattern saying, “we learn about something, get anxious, and connect online.” Connection is an important part of the human experience, and it is vital to communication. Our messages as speakers would fall flat without it. However, social media can tempt us to forget or substitute the second part of the problem/solution relationship. We see a problem, and instead of connecting to form a solution together, we simply connect to talk about the problem. As speakers, we need to remember the importance of connection that leads toward solutions and positive change.
4. It Draws on “Weak Ties”
Social media, while trying to establish relational language like Facebook’s “friends” or Instagram’s “likes,” isn’t really that deep of a social well. Strong ties are the kinds we experience with close friends and family, or with ideas that we have researched well or about which we are passionate. Weak ties are casual relational links, or our thoughts about topics we have only surface information about or interest in. In fact, Turkle says one of the biggest problems is that social media allows us to exchange concern for curiosity. When we stand to present, we have to help our audience members create strong ties with both ourselves and with our ideas. The kind of ties that move past curiosity to the kind of concern that leads to continued communication and change.
5. It Promotes a Catastrophe Mindset
One of Turkle’s most interesting observations is that social media allows us to categorize nearly every human problem as catastrophic. That categorization then places it out of our control and beyond our responsibility. She says, “When you name something a catastrophe, there is nothing much to say. If you confront a situation that you see as shaped by human actions, there is plenty to say.” We’ve seen this displayed powerfully in recent days by climate change activist Greta Thunberg. True to modern day trends of the catastrophe mindset, she has illuminated the problem of global warming. But she has done so with pointed speech connecting it to human action. She reminds us of our responsibility. This continues the conversation. As speakers, we must continue to point out problems. But we must also answer, and help our audience answer, the question: Now what can we do about it?
Don’t get me wrong, I love social media. It has opened up exciting new opportunities and has shaped human communication in some truly powerful ways. But as with most technological advances, there are two sides to the coin.
As we write and deliver presentations in the age of social media, we must be aware of the ways social media is shaping our communication. We need evolving knowledge of how the persuasion and communication in the public square is constantly changing. That way, we can adapt our presentations to meet the needs of today’s audience and to help affect true social change.
At Ethos3, we can help you create presentations that resonate with the audience of today. Ready to see how we can help you master the modern art of presenting?
