Published December 19, 2022, 10:35 AM
I have been saying this for quite awhile already, and now is a perfect time to repeat it. I never thought that I’d be saying this, but it is time to re-think your social media presence, specially if you use Twitter. For companies and organization, you need to re-think your social media strategy.
For the longest time, I have been advocating that you setup your own website or blog, and if you can afford it, get your own domain. I am not saying that you self-host your web page and/or blogging software, but if you can, it is way better! Anyway, publish your content on your own site, get the link and promote it on your social media accounts. This way, whatever happens to your social media accounts, all your content are intact, safe within your control!
I have heard the “it is where the students/readers are” reason far too often. What I advocate does not really prevent them from posting to social media if they are promoting their content, but it surely provides greater coverage for their content. Readers can bookmark your website or blog and directly access your content without the distractions of the algorithm-driven social media timeline.
If you have it exclusively on social media, then you are limiting its reach to those who have accounts (this is true for Facebook), and believe me, not everyone is on these closed social media sites. Doesn’t that defeat your main reason for reaching your readers or students if it is only available on the site? The other social media site that is more open compared to Facebook, Twitter, is now a site where rules are made depending on the whims of its owner. If you have been living under a rock (or are ignoring what is happening on the site), then think about these: Twitter banning journalists, banning accounts that post publicly available information, and banning anyone who posts links to other social media sites, all under the cover of “free speech.”
Whilst there is nothing wrong with having rules, but I urge you to look how these are being formulated and enforced, in some cases, couldn’t even be defended when challenged. Would you risk having your account suspended or blocked and not knowing why, nor having a way to appeal? Having your own site obviously means you control what is on it and you own it!
Nobody can censor it. Nobody can easily block it (unless, of course, it contains unlawful content). Best of all, if there is another social media site that becomes popular, you can post links to your content and promote your site! If your site has RSS support, then it is even better! RSS readers can pull your content and allow readers to know when there is new content available. So what are you waiting for? Time to move and own your content. The coming year is a perfect time to start. Do it before it is too late.
