Life in the slow lane

Amid controversies, quitting social media may sound nice, but is it realistic?

Sometimes I feel like I’m driving my 2008 Subaru Forester in the slow vehicle lane and the rest of the world is zooming by me in a sports car. This is especially true when managing the deadlines and required lead-time of a bimonthly print magazine in a world where news is instantaneous.

Case in point: the June–July 2018 issue—the one you are holding in your hands or reading online right now. Earlier this year, Facebook announced changes to its algorithm that led marketers to fear their content wouldn’t reach their followers’ news feeds. We turned to the experts at Oshkosh, Wis.-based marketing agency Blue Door Consulting, who could explain what the changes mean for tent and event businesses that use Facebook as a marketing tool. You can read about what’s changing and how it may affect your social media strategy.

Of course, between then and now, Facebook has found itself in hot water over entirely different issues. As news about data privacy mismanagement and election manipulation has spread, so has the hashtag #DeleteFacebook. Will there be anyone left on Facebook to market to?

Personally, I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere. I also believe that the more we understand about how Facebook and all of our social media channels work, the better equipped we are to use them effectively and responsibly (as corporate citizens) and safely (as private citizens).

As individuals we can choose to disengage from social media. Businesses don’t have that luxury—if your customers are on Facebook, or Instagram or Twitter, that’s where you need to be. Whether I like it or not, it’s time to get out of the slow lane.