Tag Archive for: Social Media

Twitter Needs To Change As Jack Steps Down As CEO

/in
Twitter Needs To Change As Jack Steps Down As CEO

By fiifi DZANSI

Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal takes over as CEO as Jack Dorsey steps down from the position.

Jack Dorsey has been criticised for running the social media platform halfheartedly. When Donald Trump’s account got suspended on Twitter, Jack was reportedly chilling on a private island somewhere.

In recent years, Twitter has fallen behind some of its peers, such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Despite the tremendous power Twitter holds – the sort that helped toppled governments – some reports say they also struggle to make a profit.

I joined Twitter over 9 years ago and witnessed the lows and highs of the platform.

Twitter Was My Second Home

Firstly, Twitter was my hideout, where I mostly learned about design and got links to some of the most gripping articles ever written. I fell in love with the minimal design and the power of hashtags. Quickly, I talked my friends into joining. 

Secondly, Twitter wasn’t a platform for sharing trivial matters like the texture of your hair or how it feels to have a big backside. Such stuff and nonsense belong to Facebook or elsewhere. Twitter was all about the news, what’s currently happening.

Lastly, Twitter instantly connected me to professionals I admired.

Twitter is losing it now.

They bought the micro-video sharing site Vine and soon exterminated it in 2019. The same happened to Periscope. In their attempt to stay hip, they counterfeited ‘Status’ and named it Fleets. That idea, though, couldn’t fly high enough. 

Unhesitatingly, they cast it to the dogs. Next comes Spaces, a live audio conversation feature where users can host events and discuss matters. 

I love this for its clearness and audio-only feature. It’s easy on our internet data. My hope is that it stays longer than its predecessor, Fleets.

Two things must change on the platform immediately.

Twitter Has Become A Haven For Trolls

Annoying and surprising as it may sound, the platform allows hate and dehumanising speech, insults, and bullying to roam with impunity.

Yes, there’s freedom of speech to protect in the 21st century. But that freedom has a limit and comes with responsibility. 

Management is obviously finding it almost impossible to tackle these issues. Some celebrities have chosen to stay off it.

Non-celebrities, especially in Ghana, have found a more convenient way of receiving the coveted blue badge on Twitter. 

It’s that simple. 

Start trolling celebrities or famous people. Say the most disgusting and hilarious things about them. Annoy them so much they feel uncomfortable and reply. People love to stand by and watch such tweets as entertainment. 

In time, you’ll rack up an astronomical amount of

followers and become an influencer. At this point, Twitter considers you a public figure and verifies you when you ask them to. Lastly, stop trolling and keep your account clean.

Twitter needs to tackle this problem head-on by severely punishing or banishing these good-for-nothings from their space. I know the owners feel they’re doing their best in this regard. But their best is far from what we expect.

Twitter must verify accounts that have a positive impact on humanity. Not just those with massive followers.

But why can’t they verify people who decide to register with their passports and sign to adhere to their rules?

Twitter Trends Are Annoying

Do you wrinkle your brow before checking the trends?

For me, yes. I hesitate to tap on trends because I don’t know the sort of worms I’d be exposed

to. 

Some names, when they trend, it’s all about nudity,

scandals, sex or porn. You dare not touch them if you want to avoid any nightmare.

When many people talk about a particular subject or word, it takes up a seat among the trends. It’s faulty thinking, however, that because a majority care about a topic, then I will too.

Often I don’t. Because it regularly contains hate speech, tweets that incite anger and divide people.

I should be able to choose topics that trend on my TL. I’m interested in tech, design and sustainability. Those are the stuff I want to see. Not insults of the president or mockery of football players trying to get over a loss. 

Put that power in my hands and make the algorithm robust enough to sweep away the hatefulness quickly.

Dignify Others In Your Photos

/in
Dignify Others In Your Photos

By fiifi DZANSI

You must dignify others in your photos.

Anyone with a smartphone has automatically become a photographer.
We are constantly documenting everything around us to most significantly share on the internet.

With these, the future is going to have vast data of the past.

We are creating history today.

The internet is a public space, and whatever we put there cannot be erased. It’s stuck.
This is why we need to be wary of the stuff we put there.

When we paste photos of others on the internet, it doesn’t have to humiliate or show them in a very vulnerable state.

Someone once shared a photo of my wife and me during a Zoom meeting.

Not the kind of shot I’d like others to see. It’s utterly embarrassing.

Now, I don’t feel comfortable in public gatherings. I never know who’ll take my photo and share it without my knowledge.

Such photos can become memes circulating around the web.

Take your time to frame your photos and get the angle and lighting correct.
And do a quick retouch to adjust the contrast, brightness and the like.

In addition, us Snapseed, a free app from Google that helps to put a professional touch on photos on devices. You don’t need to be a pro to use this app. It’s super easy.

Sometimes, you need others permission before putting their image on the internet.

Whatever you share, make sure you dignify others in your photos.

Digital Gold

/in
Digital Gold

By fiifi DZANSI

Data is the digital gold for tech companies.

With our data, they can track all our activities.

These tech companies know us so much that they’ve become like a god above watching down on his creation.

Tech companies flourish on selling data to a third party and accumulate millions of dollars at the end of the year.

The bait is to throw in a free app and encourage people to use it at no charge.

And because the majority of us like free stuff, we are quick to hop on. 

We hand over our privacy to them on a platter.

Eventually, we pay for ‘free’ apps with our valuable data, digital gold.

Seeking Approval

/in
Seeking approval

By fiifi DZANSI

Social media has made us more conscious of all aspects of our lives. Whatever we post has to be liked, re-shared or receive comments praising our efforts. It pushes us to post more.

In time, we become entitled, expecting to see others reactions to our posts. Fewer or no feedbacks make us sad or disheartened.

Instead of being ourselves and focusing on our uniqueness, we are rather constantly seeking approval from others.

There may be several reasons why people don’t respond to our posts the way we want them to.

  1. Followers are also following thousands of accounts. Therefore, they have more content fighting for their attention
  2. Followers are not necessarily interested in our stuff. They may be following you because they are family or friends.
  3. We post inconsistently, and probably at a time most of your followers are not online.

When people don’t respond to our content, we despair that our stuff is not good enough. But from the above reasons, this may be false.

Treat social media as a diary, and overcome the burden it places on you as a means of measuring success.

It’s a tool that helps you document your journey whether the majority gives you thumbs up or not.

Popularity Syndrome – The Quest To Gain Internet Fame

/in
Chasing Internet fame

By fiifi DZANSI

This is how social media works.

The more you post, the more likely you are to reach many.

The more people you reach, the more likely you are to get likes, shares and comments.

More of these could bring you fame.

That fame qualifies you as an influencer, your ticket to wealth.

It sounds simple on the surface but more complex and soul-sucking beneath.

Because platforms are acutely congested, it’s difficult for your posts to reach myriads of people. Unless you’re famous, you need to put in the work. 

As humans as we are, we always look for shortcuts. And we almost always find it. People have discovered the shortcuts to internet fame. Sad to say, many of these shortcuts are riddled with insanity.

Trolls. They roam free on social with impunity. They jump any trending topic bringing their sarcasm, racism and sometimes obscenity. Many are drawn to trolls, thereby giving them the numbers to become influencers of some sort.

Political fake news. Fake news spread fast on the internet. But they say political fakes news spreads the fastest. These kinds of a report where facts are manipulated to look like lies and lies are decorated to otherwise spark massive conversations and incense people. 

Obscenity. This is perhaps the king of them all. People in their hearts crave things of sexual nature. 

A recent survey suggests that women who show heavy behinds and breasts in a rather lewd manner are gaining attention. And the algorithm spreads such posts to many because of the interaction they get.

Because of this, many women are spending thousands of dollars on plastic surgeries to enhance various body parts and make them sexually attractive.

Unfortunately, some in their chase for this fleeting popularity have descended so low and have thrown away the little dignity they had left.

Social Media Growth – Have Fun

/in
Have fun on social media

By fiifi DZANSI

The world is not a perfect place. Sometimes it’s the imperfection that makes our world interesting.

This is why tragic plots make great novels. And overcoming adversity makes blockbuster movies.

Sharing only success stories and the shiny stuff on social media makes your brand appear unreal and cold.
Let your followers see your struggle.

Share behind the scene and your work in progress. When you do, your followers would appreciate you for all the effort you put in to create. They’d also understand what inspires you.

Not many dare to share their failings and perhaps vulnerabilities. Sometimes you have to share these to teach vital lessons.

Did a client reject your work? Did you lose clients as a result of mistakes on your part? Or did your previous business collapse?

Share with your followers. They’ll learn from it.
After all, we are human.

Social Media Growth – Give Value

/in
Give value to followers on social media

By fiifi DZANSI

People follow you based on the value you give them.
The value may be in the form of education, information or even entertainment.

Your content, therefore, must have value to attract and retain followers.

To offer value, first know your followers: the accounts they follow, what they like and share and what they are talking about.

Don’t give yourself a headache by trying to figure out on your own what quality content to produce.

You can use apps like the Google search engine or Quora or Answer The Public to know what people are searching for and create your content around that.

Your posts that do well are the type your followers want to see. Keep giving them that.

Likes are good. But comments and saves are strong indicators that your content is getting the attention it deserves.

Also, look into similar accounts like yours and learn from what they are doing.

Social Media Growth – Collaborate

/in
Using social media to collaborate

By fiifi DZANSI

I once met a guy downtown. He kept talking about himself – his accomplishments like his second college degree, his brand new Ford Fiesta, his attractive girlfriend with many admirers blah blah blah…

He never allowed me to say a thing. It was all about him. And you know, that was the first time I met him.

Boring guy.

It’s selfish behaviour when people don’t value the opinions of others. Or worse, when they feel they can do it all alone.

Collaborating with others brings out the best in your brand. It’s also a way of supporting what others are doing.
One way to collaborate with your fans is to ask them what specific topics or questions they’d like you to discuss in your next post. And create content to address that.

Also, share quality contents that your fans or others have created and give them credit.
And you can invite other creators to take over your account for a day.

Be on the lookout for people who have mentioned you or used your branded hashtag in their posts.

Social Media Growth – Engage With Followers

/in
Using phone to engage with followers

By fiifi DZANSI

Humans are social beings. 

This is why we want to live in communities, form relationships and have a sense of belonging. 

Social media platforms make it easy to satisfy this need online.

Engagement is what puts ‘social’ in social media. 

When you engage with your followers, they know a human is behind that computer or mobile phone who deeply cares about them.

But how do you engage with your followers? 

Make use of questions. This is the best way to get people talking. Sometimes after posting your content, ask your followers what they think. 

Host a contest. We love competitions, and winning makes us feel good about ourselves. And don’t forget to reward the winners.

Send Shoutouts. Greet your followers using their individual handles. When a follower achieves a milestone, congratulate them. In addition, if you realise a follower is having difficulty with a particular task, you could offer suggestions.

Above all, your goal is to form a relationship with your followers. So your reactions to their questions, comments and DMs should be unique to each individual and not generic.