socialconsciousmedia-1

Photo by Anggie

Social media is a game changer. On this platform, individuals and companies of various scales have the opportunity to play on the same field. Your brand, which includes your social cause interests, is no different. You can gain support for the causes you care about and go in front of important influencers you otherwise wouldn’t meet. So how do you use social media as an added tool for your digital reputation?

Here are three ways to make your social media presence is more socially conscious:

1 |  Build A Reputation Of Being A Socially Conscious Information Source
When there’s a cause that you care about, you can virtually share news on any social media site, but each has it’s own strength. Facebook is by far the most used social media site for users with 30 percent of users getting their news from that site. On there, you can easily share news and info with friends. However, it’s not an easy platform to reach users that you don’t personally know. Twitter is great for discussion but has a 140-character limit. Instagram appeals to users visual senses with pictures and video but does not support clickable links inside captions.

LinkedIn is an often overlooked resource, though. Publishing a post on LinkedIn is an awesome way to share information without a character or link limit. View these posts the same as you would a blog post. You can format it the exact same way and include images, links, or video.

At the end of your post, always add a call-to-action, which is a line that persuades the reader to do something: engage in conversation, visit a website, or anything else that continues the content of the post. Link back to any relevant nonprofit websites, fundraising pages, or other social media accounts.

2 | Post Only What You Know And Only What Can Be Confirmed As True
The point of disseminating information on social media is to be seen as a trusted choice. Just as a newspaper is expected to share only factual information, your followers assume that what you share is always true. If it isn’t, you lose credibility as an information source and often times, people may unfollow.

Only share information from trusted sources. If there is an interesting article on a website that you’ve never read, give the entire site a glance before hitting the share button. If you’re still not sure, just do a quick confirmation on other sites you do trust just to be sure. It is a great way to share new articles from new, interesting publications while ensuring that you aren’t sharing falsities. It’s sometimes okay to share satire news, but only when you are transparent about it being a joke. Focusing on accuracy and transparency is key.

3 | Find Like-Minded People And Make It Easier For People To Find You
When looking for other people that are interested in the same causes, Twitter is a good connection source. Its advanced search feature is amazing, and you can even localize your search to those near you — especially beneficial if your interest lies in a local cause such as homelessness in Chicago or human trafficking in Atlanta.

Similarly, Twitter is designed to help others find you. Utilize this function by adding clear hashtags within your actual profile, in addition to your posts. These keywords show up in searches and can significantly increase the number of followers that find you, but be careful not to use words that are too general. You don’t want to be a huge target for spam.

Although Instagram does not currently have an advanced search, hashtags for posts work here, too. Periodically scan popular hashtags and look for users that like to discuss issues. See if they reply to other users and what that conversation is like. Look for engagement and two-way conversations.

TIP! Looking for a hashtags to find people in the social good space, simply use #socialgood and #socent

FROM THE EDITOR
At Conscious, we are inspired by remarkable people and organizations, and so we set out to tell stories that highlight global initiatives, innovation, community development, and social impact. You can read more stories like this when you subscribe.