You've Heard How Social Media Can Impact An Election, But How Does An Election Impact Social Media?
/We’ve heard a lot of talk about how social media could impact the election, but what about how the election will impact your social media results?
After the Russian-related misinformation scandal of 2016, the social media platforms are going to great lengths to ensure the American people that the election will not be influenced by rogue sources on their platforms. Some of the steps taken have included:
Facebook and Instagram will prohibit new political ads in the week leading up to Nov. 3. They will also attach a warning to posts intended to ‘stir the pot’ in terms of the election outcome. So far the two platforms have removed over 110,000 posts which violated their policies against voter suppression by spreading inaccurate information.
Twitter revised their “Civic Integrity Policy” in September to warn users of the actions that will be taken against those that claim election victory before the results, or posts that are intended to “prevent a peaceful transfer of power.”
TikTok, which is already under fire based on their Chinese roots and questionable privacy practices, has agreed to work closely with Homeland Security in order to prevent foreign actors to influence the election.
These actions will surely be beneficial, and anyone who spends entire days on social media as your Social Kitchen team does, can clearly see that there is far less false information circulating as compared to 2016. However, these policies aren’t necessarily aimed at everyday people like you and I, and more importantly, aren’t aimed at “Uncle Bob” who believes it’s his civic duty to post as many political memes as possible between now and November 3rd. All of the Uncle Bob’s of the country become a major factor in terms of how the election impacts social media use.
Outside of the world of politic discontent and misinformation, small businesses are getting hit by the “election-effect.” Because it’s the best bang for their buck and the fastest way to reach the most people, small businesses are leaning now more than ever on social media platforms to communicate their continually changing business hours, updated Covid policies, and marketing efforts surrounding their survival strategies. But many are finding that lately it’s getting tougher to cut through the noise of the election.
Our advice, hang in there - presuming election results are clear, everything will change on November 4th. We’ve now been through three presidential election cycles as a social media agency (social media marketing didn’t exist four-cycles ago) and while much has changed in the world of social media and politics during that time, patterns of social media users remain the same. Every 4 years, we’ve seen social media engagement and impressions drop, regardless of the category of the business, as we get close to Election Day. The reason is obvious each time you log in— Uncle Bob’s incessant posting about his political leanings as he attempts to sway just one vote in the direction of his chosen candidate, simply make you want to log off—and every American has a good ol’ Uncle Bob.
One week to go, hang in there small business owners, you’ve got this!