Social media has been an effective vehicle for customer communication for many contractors. It has helped build relationships and generated new business.
But is it starting to fracture?
A provision of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 was Section 230. It stated, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
In contrast, publishers like broadcast media and print publications are responsible for their content and can be sued for defamation. This makes them more careful about what they allow and say
It is no secret that Silicon Valley is overwhelmingly liberal and “woke.” In the insane year of 2020, the tech oligarchs may have jumped the shark with their politics. A foreshadowing came when the CEO of Expensify, an expense management software platform, sent an unsolicited email to 10 million customers railing against Donald Trump in an unhinged manner. It was a stupid move. Since then, the company has experienced cancelations left and right. Well, mostly right.
Social media platforms Twitter and Facebook have not been as unhinged, but they have embarked on the censorship of politics they do not like, scientific and medical reports that run counter to their preferred narratives, and more under the guise of “fact checkers” who appear to check partisan views more than facts. In so doing, they may have moved from platforms to publishers. If the courts or Congress remove their Section 230 protections, then the leadership of these organizations will have done grave damage to their shareholders.
If the courts or Congress remove Section 230 protections, then the leadership of social media organizations will have done grave damage to their shareholders. If they manage to maintain their Section 230 protection, their politics have damaged their brands.
Even if they manage to maintain their Section 230 protection, their politics have damaged their brands. It appears to be leading to a Balkinization of new media. Witness the sudden and staggering growth of Parler and MeWe, alternative platforms to Twitter and Facebook that both promise to support free speech. They have zoomed past Zoom and TikTok for mobile downloads.
According to Market.us, in the third quarter of 2020 Facebook suffered its first user decline among the U.S. and Canada in the last 10 quarters. The number of daily active users fell even more. Is this a harbinger of what is to come? Time will tell.
It is not healthy for the nation to divide into ideological silos that become echo chambers. It is also not healthy for small business. Social media advertising and promotion was tough enough, but if the country splits into separate camps, the job will get more complex.
What should contractors do? Stay away from politics, no matter which side you are on. Half the country is on one side of the aisle and half is on the other. One side thought they were cheated in the last election. The other side is certain they have been cheated in the current one. Both sides are increasingly strident in their views, which can only be expected when social media completely shuts down one side, essentially ended any hope of debate and dialogue. Politics was always dangerous for companies. It’s now a third rail. Avoid it.
Open personal accounts on Parler and MeWe. Begin exploring these sites, which seem poised to grow exponentially. Get a jump on your competitors. Think how you can use them to help your business.
Monopolies are difficult to maintain for long. At one point, IBM held a near monopoly in computers. This was followed my Microsoft’s monopoly on operating systems and search. Google now seems like an unbeatable beheamout
In the long run, competition between the Twitter and Parler and between Facebook and MeWe will be a good thing. Competition will require everyone to up their game. It will cause social to focus on what builds the business instead of what supports the egocentric views of their CEOs. Ultimately, it will lead to better pricing for advertisers.
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