You didn’t go crazy. You were just a social media manager in 2020

Goodbye to the most stressful year of my career in social media

On the morning of June 1, 2020, I woke up and felt as though someone had taken a two-by-four to the back of my head. I had spent the entire weekend on a rollercoaster of emotions and deep introspection. I watched hours of TV coverage showing some of my favorite cities literally light up in flames. I scrolled through post after post on Instagram witnessing one white privilege awakening unfold after another.

It was an exhausting weekend, in what was already an exhausting year.

So what then? On Monday morning, I’m supposed to just…go back to work?

And not just any work.

I’m supposed to go to my corporate social media job and make a critical call on a message that will likely be read and judged by millions of people, including a good portion of whom work for us.

I’ll admit, that particular Monday I almost forgot what I did for a living. I was so consumed with my personal feelings, I had to remind myself I was in charge of the social media for a massive company. My job that morning was to put my brand hat on and decide, for what felt like the 100th time in three months, how my company was going to respond to this thing that was happening in our world.

Do we post a black square?

Do we say something from our channel in every country or just in the US?

Do our executives post something on their personal channels?

Do we do both?

Do we use a hashtag?

Does that seem opportunistic?

Do we say nothing at all?

And then the most important question… “If we say something, what do we say?”

One of the hardest things about being in this career is balancing the notion of ensuring your brand is “human” without letting your actual human bias influence your decision making. Social media managers will pontificate for hours if you let them (believe me I have!) on how the key to “winning” on social is to stop posting like a brand and start posting like a human being.

But when I channeled my “humanness” that day, it came back foggy. I know what I would have posted on social media, but that doesn’t necessarily mean my company should follow suit.

I felt similarly on March 16th, when massive city shutdowns went into effect.

And again on May 27th, when the US COVID-19 death toll surpassed 100,000 lives.

On August 4th, when the accidental detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate killed 190 people in Beruit.

On September 18th, when Supreme Court Justice and personal hero of mine, Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away leaving a critical seat open on the bench.

And shortly after on September 23rd, when the grand jury announced their disappointing ruling on the murder of Breonna Taylor.

I felt it on November 7th, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected President and Vice President of the United States.

And this last month when the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts began.

This whole year has been one crisis communications scenario after another. While I always knew this was a part of my job, I’m the first to admit I wasn’t prepared for what this year threw across my desk. The sheer volume of news and events in 2020, coupled with the polarization and politicizing of almost everything, made it nearly impossible to feel secure about the external communications decisions we were making.

So I’m left feeling consistently and constantly insecure.

Some decisions I’m proud of.

Some I wish I could do over again.

But that’s a part of the process. It’s part of my learning and growing this year. Whether I was forced into it or not.

One thing I can say with certainty is this: This year in my career has made me a better marketer, and most importantly, a more empathetic human. It also made me acutely aware of the responsibility my profession has in the complex machine that is brand marketing in a post-2020 world.

Now more than ever, people care what brands have to say. Brands that don’t take a stand run the risk of sinking into oblivion or losing out on potential customers. Others who say something prematurely or without clarity could be the next victim to “cancel culture”.

The pressure to navigate this fear on a daily basis while also maintaining the integrity and authenticity of your brand is the true challenge as a social media manager.

And you’re not going to hit it out of the park every time. You’re going to make mistakes. Ultimately since your fingers are on the proverbial “post” trigger, this means your company will do and say the right thing sometimes, and sometimes they won’t.

The ironic part is…

Is there anything more human than that?

Goodbye, 2020.