Facebook, Trump and Free Speech: Who’s Winning?

Remember the early days of social media when we were all trying to figure out what this new medium was all about, and how it was relevant to our lives? Flash forward 16 years and social is documenting our moves and moods, helping drive change. And now, in the midst of a pandemic, a nationwide civil uprising and the reelection campaign of the most unpopular president anyone can remember, users are calling on their social media sites to do even more. They want them to monitor and sanction hate speech.

Big brands are now boycotting Facebook and taking their advertising dollars elsewhere

These are the guys with big advertising budgets—Unilever, Hershey’s, Eddie Bauer, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, Microsoft and more. Facebook insists they’re already spending billions on deleting posts that could be perceived as hateful. 

But there’s something insidious going on here

CEO Mark Zuckerberg suited up, prepped and spent two days being grilled by Congress a few years ago. This was after the 2016 election when Facebook was being interrogated over data privacy issues. As the largest social media platform with $2.6B monthly active users, it’s first in line for scrutiny. Facebook was fined $5B for data breaches and the company has no interest in any more fines, oversight or regulation. 

It’s not your imagination

Zuckerberg has been seen looking pretty chummy with the President. For the majority of Americans who oppose Trump, this is alarming. A reason to boycott the platform.

The Zuckerbergs recently had a private dinner at the White House with the Trump family. Trump and Zuckerberg both like people who can be useful to them. According to Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor and now a fierce critic, “Mark’s deal with Trump is highly utilitarian. It’s basically about getting free rein and protection from regulation. Trump needs Facebook’s thumb on the scale to win this election.” So Facebook refuses to monitor Trump’s hate speech, and Trump stops dragging Zuckerberg in front of Congress to testify. 

Zuckerberg falls back on the right of free speech

Zuckerberg has skillfully ridden the high-stakes rollercoaster ride that is the politics of Donald Trump. “I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy,” he said in the address at Georgetown University on Oct. 17. “We don’t do this to help politicians, but because we think people should be able to see for themselves what politicians are saying.” His strategy seems to be working. Trump has been notably softer on Facebook than on his social media brethren.

Something to watch for

If Biden wins, Facebook is out of step with Democratic ideals. Jesse Lehrich, the co-founder of Accountable Tech, a nonprofit group pushing Facebook to tighten controls on its platform, describes their relationship as a tacit nonaggression pact. “Trump can rage at Big Tech and Mark can say he’s disgusted by Trump’s posts, but the status quo serves both of their interests,” Mr. Lehrich said. It’s the kind of relationship we all want.

Top of Mind Marketing: Staying on top of social and marketing issues. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing specialists.

LinkedIn has published a new marketing guide for what they’re calling “times of uncertainty”. This “new normal” conversation is getting tiresome, but a few stats caught my attention: 

• Last year, 54% of B2B businesses planned on hosting more events. 
• We’re now six months into this disaster of a year; 78% of these businesses now are expecting budget increases for online content. 
• For 52% of marketers, shifting priorities has been their biggest challenge. They’ve switched from those expensive and difficult-to-quantify events and are investing their marketing dollars in content marketing. 

Shifting strategies; being nimble is key

While many of us have continued working through the lockdown, others have been furloughed, idle, bored, spending even more time online. 

Let’s stop whining about COVID and get to work

This disease is going to be part of our lives for a while, so make sure you and your family are doing everything you can to stay safe, and let’s get to work. 

A strong content marketing strategy is a long-term plan to drive business growth

Content marketing involves publishing relevant content in a variety of forms on the channels where your audience spends the most time. 

• You don’t need to be pushing out huge volumes of text every week. 
• Instead, think strategically. Create a single theme—a product or service. It could be your team—a highly trained and informed group of people who can’t wait to solve thorny problems.
• Use this message in different ways to add value. It can be turned into a case study, a video, an animated explainer video, a blog, a white paper, an ebook. It can drive your newsletters. 
• It may be time to embrace online advertising/pay-per-click (PPC). Carefully managed and monitored, this can be an important lead-generation strategy. PPC works if you work it. 

What’s good messaging?

I always like this description: A good blog, article or post isn’t about you. It should be something that helps people do their jobs. A tip, a workaround, a new application that’s a productivity enhancer. If you can find ways to help your audience recover, you’re in a stronger position to attract, engage and convert new customers in the process. Customer service has never been more important. Going the extra mile for your clients is a very good investment and never goes out of style. 

We kicked off the year with high expectations

None of us could have imagined that 2020 would turn into a year of such stunning challenges. An election year, a pandemic, a tanking economy and a global uprising over racial injustice. It’s a consequence of the economic disparity that is fundamental to so many of our social problems. People are losing family members and their jobs with diminished opportunities on the horizon. 

Now is the time to feature humanity, generosity and humor in your messaging. Try to reach people on an emotional level, demonstrating compassion.

Get back in the game

If you need help developing or implementing your content marketing program, contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.