Guest post by Matt Baier, owner of Matt Baier Organizing, team clutter relief.
As a professional organizer, a big part of what I help people with is being more effective in their home offices, but when it comes to being more effective with my social media, I rely on the expertise of Social Media Architect, Brian Bish. I don’t know what’s effective with social media, but I know what’s NOT effective.
What’s not effective is when people get overly presumptuous.
I get so turned off by the serial political posts. You can’t presume that everybody is agreeing with your extremist nonsense, just because only a few people ever challenge you. People generally try to avoid a fight, especially when they’re your friends! It’s presumptuous to confuse silence with agreement. AND it’s not effective. You’re not changing anyone’s minds. In fact, you may be gradually losing friends.
There is, however, no greater example of presumption on Facebook than the “99% don’t care” post. You know the one. It always goes something like this:
SHARE if you will say a prayer for angels to protect bunny’s with cancer. Probably only 1% of will share this and the other 99% of you won’t. Share if you care.
At the heart of these offerings is always something you do actually care about. Sure, I think bunnies are cute and I hate to think of any living thing suffering with cancer.
Then they have to gussy it up with some other presumptions, like only religious people are capable of caring.
Finally, there’s the pathetic plea for sympathy, like a passive aggressive child. “Most people don’t care and won’t like me, I mean, won’t like bunnies with cancer.”
They presume that if you don’t SHARE their full silly package, they have the right to dismiss you as uncaring.
Here’s how I see the actual breakdown of the responses.
1% clicked SHARE, because they actually accepted the whole premise and didn’t want to appear uncaring
33% love bunnies, but had doubts that sharing on Facebook will help summon angels.
33% love bunnies, but think that sad little efforts like this will make things WORSE for the bunnies-with-cancer cause.
33% love bunnies, but disregard posts with 99% in it, out of hand
Perhaps I’M being presumptuous, but I don’t believe you will see 100% involvement with the “99% don’t care” post until Facebook invents a DISLIKE button.
Am I wrong? Have you ever seen a good cause advanced with the “99%-don’t-care” approach?
photo credit: Pippin 2010 via photopin (license)
