Social media has sure been a pain in the ass. For a lot of folks in the cannabis industry and social justice advocacy work it got even worse during the summer of 2021. People were getting accounts shut down for just existing. It seemed like some folks could rally easier than others. Some gave up, some started their own social networks, and some kept trucking along, rolling with the punches and trying their best to persevere.
We were in the latter camp. Initially, we slowed down our social media outreach to a near halt when pandemic information needed priority and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s justice efforts needed support. When we came back to share our experiences in cannabis and social justice we were stonewalled. Most of our posts wouldn’t load. We eventually stopped creating content because of the futility of it all. Not defeated, but making an intentional choice to look at what we were trying to achieve through that channel’s messaging and community interaction.
Our best advice for solopreneurs or the scrappy diy’er when it comes to social media is to treat it like the hamster wheel. If you find yourself becoming consumed with futility because you are not going anywhere, step back. Get off the wheel and look at your messaging from a holistic standpoint. Look at your “why” and you will start to see your next logical piece of communication. Have fun! I know this sentiment can feel contrived if you are feeling fed up. It is true though. Social media wants to inspire and excite. Try ways to connect with what inspires and excites your audience and your brand. If that also excites you, bonus!
If social media weren’t a big enough bear, communications platform, Google, has joined in on enforcing a conservative terms of service. I haven’t seen any cases of cannabis disruptions as of yet, but the company just rolled out their monitoring 12/16/21.
*GOOGLE DRIVE USERS*
This is important. Google announced on the low that it is going to start locking users out of content that goes against their terms of service. If you’re anything like me, you may be using google drive to collaborate with folks. You may also still be working through repercussions from social media crackdowns on cannabis content. Overwhelming, I know.
My suggestion is this:
Develop a data back up routine if you don’t already have one. Quarterly is usually great, monthly is better.
Move your productivity out of google to a cloud based server like dropbox. If you have an internal server, keep all content and communications local if possible.
Remember, tech is a tool and all these platforms are products who have very free range to your data.
Good luck out there! We’ll still interact with community via social, and we’re going to be investing a lot more in our immediate community through our newsletter The Good Shit and by publishing visual and written pieces in our quarterly print version of CHEECHABLE. Become a subscriber to stay in the loop!