COM0014 – Chipotle corners the youth market

For this B2C case I decided to take a look at the restaurant chain Chipotle, who aside from cornering the taco and guac market, have recently drawn loads of consumer attention for their vibrant, quirky online engagement techniques. 

Chipotle is a chain of Mexican restaurants originating in the US but expanded to various countries across the world, primarily known for replicating the famous “Mission burrito” from SanFrancisco. The company is uniquely successful because in the wake of TikTok, a vastly popular social media website that engages consumers through short entertaining video clips, they’ve bit the bullet and invested in the platform with a fantastic return on investment, while most companies have shied away out of intimidation. 

Most of its content involves the TikTok trend of “challenges” which essentially asks users to replicate a video in their own style using a popular hashtag, usually accompanied by a particular song. Its first, #ChipotleLidFlip, generated over 240 million views on the platform. Its second, #GuacDance, was even more successful with 430 million video starts in six days. 

The company’s Twitter voice seems to follow this youthful, comical energy, offering tweets like: “Chicken bowls live rent-free in my mind”. The mention of something living “rent-free in my mind” has become its own trend in the comments sections of TikTok, so it’s very apparent this “spicy” fast-food chain is on the pulse of what’s fresh and fun and knows exactly how to connect with its audiences.

In addition to clever quips, the brand frequently posts freebies and food shots, also enjoyed by consumers. In creating this hip, funny content on TikTok, Chipotle has become relevant to younger consumers, and I’d say they’re succeeding in their B2C strategy with flying colours!

COM0014 – Blog #3 – Tapping into the hero psyche

For the purpose of this assignment I’d like to take a closer look at the target audiences of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. We’re currently developing a social media strategy so understanding our key demographic is a critical step in establishing how and what we communicate. 

Upon searching through Twitter and listening to some of the conversations taking place in the medical sphere it’s clear CMAJ must communicate directly to physicians and clinicians of relatively high socio-economic status. In terms of demographics, these are psychiatrists, surgeons from various specialities, family doctors and researchers, most of which fall between the ages of 35-60. Because they are doctors, it’s safe to assume the majority of our audience is financially stable, highly educated (with up to ten years of post-secondary education), informed and likely married with families. I feel it’s safe to say a large percentage of audience members are male, and they are especially advocates for fast, savvy information. They’re constantly on the pulse of medical innovations and value fresh perspectives delivered in a timely fashion. We can also tap into a more niche audience of female surgeons, which present a particularly fascinating challenge as they deal primarily with gender discrimination in the medical field. It will be important to curate content that is mindful of this phenomenon and advocates for equality when communicating to female physicians. Diversity is definitely a factor to consider; as we publish primarily for Canadian authors we also distribute research to physician around the world, from Asia to Europe. 

Upon doing a bit of deeper research into the psychographics of these audiences, I’ve actually noticed that medical professionals – particularly surgeons – tend to be very curt, direct and practical in their approach to public life. They are results oriented, if not slightly impatient people, which I believe stems from their demanding careers. They are very busy people juggling multiple professional responsibilities as well as family lives, so they value their time and appreciate the “bottom line” of communications. I think understanding this about my audience can help me craft the right content – material should be concise, critically relevant and bold. I believe they like to travel but commonly agree with more conservative viewpoints. Most likely upper class citizens, I imagine they drive luxury vehicles but I don’t think they are particularly materialistic individuals – they value people and social change. They’re most certainly leaders, which comes with the territory of being a health care “hero” as public perceives them, and they likely unwind through sports or physical activities that promotes good health. All in all, I think our audience members are very rational, well rounded people, with a tendency to get heated about controversial subjects that seem unjust. 

With this in mind I think the most important thing we can provide them with is a space to feel safe – a recluse from their busy schedules. Physicians are inherently a hard demographic to tap into but if we can offer them a space to relate to one another, perhaps take off their hero’s cape for an hour to decompress and talk about issues they frequently bottle up; such as stressful schedules, delayed surgeries or simply coping with the stress of COVID-19, then we can develop a long-term relationship of trust and understanding. 

COM0014 – Blog #2 – Be genuine

The most important thing I learned this week about storytelling is authenticity. A writer friend of mine once told me, “you have to sound like a lot of other people, before you officially find your own voice,” and it always stuck with me. Getting to know oneself is often a gruellingly gradual, yet very important process. Only upon having a solid understanding of yourself can you truly learn to engage effectively with others. 

I strongly believe that intelligent people can see through inauthentic mirages we present to them. It’s so much more fruitful to show people who you truly are and let them engage with that person – the interaction will be genuine, thoughtful and honest. Trust is a huge part of communication, and you can’t expect your audiences to trust you if you’re being a phony.

I’ve always prided myself on being approachable and I think I do this by showing people that I am not perfect. In today’s world it seems we’re all competing for the biggest and best trophies: battling in the online minefield and feeling constantly pressured to flaunt our successes and achievements. But I believe in showing your real self: the self that isn’t always perfectly put together. The self that occasionally makes mistakes and has lows. The self that makes monumental mistakes but doesn’t regret anything because each experiences brings a life-changing lesson. I believe the world would be a better place if we communicated with this level of raw radical honestly. When I think about my goals as a communicator I think about how I can make people smile and laugh in the face of life’s painful qualms. I want to make people feel less alone than I did. And the only way to do that is through being vulnerable, genuine and honest. 

COMM0014 – Blog Post #1 – Melting into toast: my trip to BC

Like many people I’ve talked to, 2020 was going to be “my year”. I’ve always loved travelling and 2020 was going to be the quintessential vision board of that passion. I had big plans. Specifically, I was going to take advantage of my work’s fruitfully flexible “work from home” policy, jump on a plane across the pond and set up camp in Wales for a month or two to spend time with my grandparents. They’re getting older, and as I reach my ripened peak of maturity I’ve come to realize: it’s now or never. Time to tap into those gold mines of ancestral knowledge. 

Of course, like many of us, I was massively devastated by the cold harsh slap of COVID and spent a few months stewing in bitterness and fear. It’s been seven months since the pandemic started so I’ve had some time to reflect and I’ve realized what I was feeling in those early stages was grief. I was in mourning of all the things we’d lost; the lifestyles we’d been building, the relationships we’d been nurturing, the goals we’d been working towards. But around June I decided – enough is enough. I need to find a way to be happy amongst all this doom and gloom. I think that’s the main qualm I have about this entire situation: in the midst of such a dark storm it feels not only impossible, but also kind of inappropriate to still smile and seek bliss through it all. Like watching a tragic documentary, but laughing in between commercial breaks, or knitting at a train wreck: I have this irrational fear that if I’m not serious and tense 24/7 I’m not doing it right. 

As you can tell, I was in need of a vacation.

The decision hit me quite impulsively one night. After polishing off a bottle of merlot I called one of my old friends Annaka, who lives in Kelowna with her husband Leon. They’d been living out West for ten years but I never made the trip, partially because we’d grown apart but also because I’d always chased international destinations in my wanderlust adventures. But with domestic travel as our only option, it seemed like the perfect time to go. “That’s it,” I slurred through my last sips of red. “I’m booking this flight and I’m coming to see you next month!”

I won’t lie – I was a bit nervous for this trip. Partially about sitting in a sky tube with masked strangers for five hours, but also about staying in such close quarters with people I’d recently grown apart from. When I tell you the trip exceeded my expectations – well that would be an understatement.

Three weeks felt like six months, but in the best way possible. It only took a few glasses of wine and three hours until I felt closer to my friends than ever. I sunk into the West Coast life like butter melting into toast, and I felt like I’d found my home. We spent the majority of our days engrossed in relaxing activities: making curries and croque monsieurs, binging the Wire on HBO, and checking out local shops around downtown. Kelowna is a funny little spot – known for its disparity in the demographic you’re either surrounded by old conservative retirees or transient beach bums soaking in the summer sun. 

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On our more active days we hiked, biked and explored the dozens of wineries littered along Lake Okanagan. I’m telling you right now, if you love wine – this is the place to be. Fluttered with rows and rows of luscious grapes, full-bodied cabernet in one hand and sharp cheddar in the other – I was truly in my element.

But of course you can’t come to BC and not participate in the multitude of physically enduring activities. I like to do my fair share of hiking – but man, we hiked a lot. My absolute favourite hike was to the top of Knox Mountain, which provided such beautiful views it made the gruelling work uphill completely worth it.

Another weekend we hopped in the hatchback and road tripped four hours east to Nelson, a gorgeous little hippy town close to the border of Alberta, where we drank IPA, ate tacos and climbed Pulpit Rock – which as you can see, nearly killed me. 

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Many people have told me returning to Ontario after visiting British Columbia isn’t easy, but I didn’t realize how true this was until I left. I miss the sweetness of the West Coast air, the ever-flowing mild breeze and vast green giants filling every backdrop. Months later I reflect with pure elation, and claim it to be one of the best trips of my life. Funny how you don’t realize how much you needed something until it’s given to you, isn’t it? I’ve been wondering lately if I would have felt this way even if there weren’t a pandemic happening. If I hadn’t felt the need to escape, would I have molded so beautifully into my West-Coast refuge? If I hadn’t had felt so chained by COVID’s grip, would I have felt so liberated, when I finally set myself free?

Bearing the blunder

We’ve learned enough about social media by now to know it has incredible potential – to both expand your brand, and to destroy it.

I liked reading the examples of successful campaigns (revisiting the Old Spice one made me reflect and chuckle, I love that guy), but I was also really curious to learn more about social media campaigns that didn’t quite work out; the ones that shot high and fell hard. How did those companies deal with their failures? What were the outcomes? Does a bad social media campaign ruin your brand for life?

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I studied communications and public relations in school (like a decade ago so things have obviously changed a lot), but I remember really enjoying the segments discussing crisis communications.

This is such a huge part of managing your company’s brand. You need a team of experts fully prepared, at the front lines of defense, in case something goes terribly wrong; whether it’s a toxic troll demolishing your image, one of your products gone bad, or a band wagon of negative activity online, you need to be ready for the worst.

More importantly, you need to know how to respond. You kind of have to think of your brand as a person, with human qualities and traits. What would this person do if someone said something terrible about them? What would this person do if they made a big mistake? Would they be gracious and apologize, or fight and stubbornly defend their actions?

Personifying your brand is a tremendous part of building it.

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

I remember really liking the example of the Maple Leafs debacle. Following news of a deadly Listeriosis outbreak affecting their products, Maple Leaf meats CEO Michael McCain was faced with the daunting task of confronting a sea of disgruntled customers. It was possibly one of the biggest company errors in history. But the reason he went down in PR history was all because of his response.

What did he do, you ask? It’s simple.

He apologized.

Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain was voted 2008 Business Newsmaker of the Year in 2008 in a survey by The Canadian Press for his handling of the deadly listeriosis outbreak linked to a company plant in Toronto.(Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

McCain faced the public with such empathy, grace and sincerity, that he hit the top of the charts in crisis communications strategies. The public accepted his apology, thanked him for his candor, and Maple Leaf Meats lived to see another day. It’s amazing what can happen if you’re just real with people – if you simply just appeal to the human within them. How did Maple Leaf personify their brand? They made him a genuine, relatable guy who knows when he’s done something wrong – and who doesn’t like a guy like that? Who doesn’t forgive someone who takes the blame and pleads for forgiveness?

Inspired by my fond memories of McCain, I did a little reading and came across an interesting article that highlighted some of the most well renowned social media blunders.

Honestly, some of them were hard to read.

The first example was recalling a swiftly terrible move from the US Air Force. Remember the whole yanny-laurel debate that conquered our social media pages for a week back in May 2018?  So a lot of brands tried to jump on the coattails of that fun little experiment. While people were arguing and debating whether the audio clip said “yanny” or “laurel”, brands were piping in and posting social media posts, writing things like “forget yanny and laurel, pretty sure you just hear [insert brand here]!”

Super corny, right? But whatever, they did their best and they didn’t hurt anyone.

The US Air Force, on the other hand, completely fumbled.

In response to all the uproar, they tweeted:

“The Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10. Read more: https://t.co/pTxpG3X6Uipic.twitter.com/vLbCg94P3w”.

Basically, they took a funny Internet debate and brought the death of other humans into the situation. So what’s this brand’s personality like? Well aside from the fact that they should have used Bitly for the link, they were unprofessional, distasteful, and widely inappropriate – to name a few.

Listen, I do stand up comedy. I get the difficulty in trying to make light of heavy situations, and help people laugh about the things in life that suck. But there are just some topics you really shouldn’t touch.

So what do we do? 

Maybe with super sensitive topics like death and war, just go easy on the humor tactic. And honestly, even the fact that a serious organization like the US Air Force tried to ride the popularity wave of a silly Internet meme stands to question. Those guys are too professional to pull off that kind of tomfoolery – stay in your lane US Air Force.

Everything seems to have worked out for them though. They basically did exactly what McCain did – they accepted full responsibility for the error, and apologized with sincerity. I feel like McCain may have set the bar on crisis communications – when you’ve so clearly made a mistake, perhaps it’s just best practice to cut your losses and say sorry. That’s what I believe anyways – in life, and in social media.

What’s your policy?

The article was a helpful read, anyway. It’s good to know what works, but even better to know what doesn’t. But reading about the social media blunders just reinforces the opinions I felt in my previous discussion post – that you kind of need to “get it” in order to write these things.

That guy who wrote the tweet for US Air Force clearly didn’t have enough insight, human understanding or emotional intelligence to know that something like that would NOT fly. If companies fail in their social media campaigns, should they fire the person responsible and hire someone more emotionally intelligent?

At the end of the day, social media is all so new and confounding. Only in the last five years have we been able to solidify best practices based on real-life concrete examples of what does, or doesn’t work.

In the broad scheme of social history, social media is still in its beta phase. We’re all trying to navigate the abyss together, so mistakes will obviously be made.

I wonder when we’ll stop being so forgiving though? Will there ever come a time when social media is streamlined so well that we won’t have so many mistakes?

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Facebook post: Social media for business is tough. We’re in the beta phase, and mistakes are bound to happen. But how do we deal with those mistakes? Can brands survive the turmoil of a bad social media campaign? Read more here: https://bit.ly/2Uz2BCF

Twitter post: So your social media campaign didn’t work. What now? https://bit.ly/2Uz2BCF #blunders #crisiscommunications

 

 

 

 

 

Too close for comfort

There’s no doubt in my mind that social media monitoring is a critical step in any social media strategy. If you’re not listening to what your consumers are saying about you then what are you doing, besides just mindlessly shooting products and services out into the universe and hoping for the best? That, my friend, is called traditional marketing, and it’s on the outs.

So what’s in? Conversations. Dialogues. The quintessential two-way street – we now live in a world where they talk, we talk back, they listen, and voila.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

After emerging myself in a sea of social media research, my mind buzzing from an overload of catchy social media tool names like “Buffer” and “Sprout”, I couldn’t help but think about the very big elephant in the room; the question that constantly plagues me, but one I’ve been too afraid to Google, until now.

My question is: we know companies are listening to us – but exactly how close are they listening? And how close, is too close?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The dark side of social listening

Black Friday recently passed us by. You know, Black Friday? That one day of the year that might as well be triathlon training for company Christmas sales? So I was texting my friend about going on a big shopping spree. I said I needed a new TV. She said she wanted a new vacuum, but a cute little modern one.

Literally less than 24 hours later, I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed and what do I see? Cute, little modern vacuums. Bursting out of the page, at $279 a pop.

 

Weird right? But it didn’t stop there. Scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed that day, I saw a whole lot more than the usual posts of my cousin’s baby dancing to Ariana Grande.

I saw TVs. Everywhere.

Best buy, the Source, Walmart – each and every one of those mass conglomerate mongrels knew I was on a mission to enhance my living room entertainment experience, and they were on me like white on rice.

Has this ever happened to you? Honestly this has happened to me so many times now, that the initial fright and sense of violation has sort of worn down into a warm, gooey glob of acceptance. Maybe this is just the way things are now?

Getting to the bottom of it

Trust Vice to tell the real story about what’s going on. Vice writer Sam Nichols interviewed Dr. Peter Henway, senior security consultant for cybersecurity firm Asterix and according to him, it’s true: our phones are listening.

It would appear that in order to actually record our conversations, our phones need to hear some kind of trigger word, like “Google” or “hey Siri”. But as the article states, “in the absence of these triggers, any data you provide is processed within your own phone” – meaning, any third party applications you have, like Facebook, still have access to this “non-triggered” data, and it’s up to them whether or not they want to use it.

Peter goes on to say that from time to time, little bits of audio clips trace back to social media servers from your phone, but there’s no way to know what triggers send them there. These apps on your phone could have thousands of unidentifiable triggers: from a regular WhatsApp chat with your friend about vacuums, to a quick snapshot of TVs from your online Best Buy cart.

So, are they listening?

What worries me is that just because these apps “could” utilize this technology, we still can’t know if they actually do – especially Facebook, who recently denied that they listen to our private conversations. But Peter said that Google already openly admitted they do, so what’s stopping Facebook from doing the same?

Seemingly struck by the same curiosity as me, Peter decided to test this theory and purposefully utter a bunch of phrases out loud that could theoretically be used as triggers. If you finish the article you’ll either be shocked, scared, or intrigued (depending on how you feel about all this), to see what happened.

In the end he said we don’t really need to worry. Unless you’re a lawyer or journalist protecting some secret pile of sensitive information, you pretty much just have to go about your consumerist life the best you can. And if you’re curious, most of these posts provide the option to “read why you’re seeing this ad”, so I guess that level of transparency can be somewhat reassuring?

Privacy vs. Acceptance

I turn the floor to you guys. Does this kind of revelation worry you? When I do personal inventory of my relationships, it seems like all the baby boomers in my life are in complete shock and disgust of all this, but all my Gen Y peers don’t really seem to mind. They’ve become warm gooey globs of indifference, just like me.

Is it just because technology’s quips and quirks simply don’t surprise us anymore? Are we just numb and immune to it all, having grown up with it? Should we be more outraged that this is actually happening?

Oh and in case you were wondering, I did manage to get a TV. $400 off. You win this time, Best Buy!

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Facebook post: Social media monitoring is key for big businesses to thrive. We talk, they listen, and better products are made for our enjoyment. But where do we cross the line with how much we let them hear? Does strategic listening mean eradicating private conversation all together? Read more here: https://bit.ly/2SvzYVc

Twitter post: We know big companies are listening, but just how close it too close for comfort? Read more here: https://bit.ly/2SvzYVc #privacy #social

 

 

Your brand wasn’t built in a day

Blog # 2 by Holly Clark, from the Introduction to Social Media (COM0011) class.

So all this talk about becoming a “brand” has really got me thinking.

Listen, I get it. I know if you want to gain influence, you have to walk the walk, talk the talk. Drink the koolaid – get online and start filling in the fields that describe who you are to the world.

My question is: what if you simply don’t know yet? Or what if you find yourself in one of life’s biggest limbos, where you’re in transition, or struggling, or say, battling with depression or addiction? Do we lie to the world and write down the brand that we wish we could be? The brand we one day aspire to be? Does our online brand become the measure to which we work towards? I once read that the definition of anxiety is the space between who you are, and who you want to be. Is that what people are talking about when they say social media evokes anxiety?

Maybe we simply are who we are, and our online personality is whom we want others to see; the version of ourselves that doesn’t yet exist. Does anxiety breed in the space in between?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I understand this is a really critical, nihilistic view of social media. If you haven’t guessed by now, I like to push buttons and ask difficult questions before jumping on bandwagons. But my question is: what should we choose to share, and what should we choose to hide?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about social media consumption and addiction; how the rise of mental health awareness moves simultaneously with the growing popularity of social networking. I also wrote about mental health in my last blog – clearly there is a trend emerging here!

In Lesson 4, we read a lot about separating our personal and professional personas. We read about tips and tricks – how to be unique, yet still authentic. But I can’t help but feel the strain of contradiction there. How can we be a verified brand with a shiny blue check mark, and still be our authentic, imperfect selves?

I recently read this article in Adweek about how social media is changing the conversation around addiction, and it provided me with a bit of hope. I understand this is a sensitive topic. Not everyone wants to be overtly honest and candid about personal struggles online – that’s why philosophies like the AA anonymity still exist. But we can’t deny that with the advent of technology, we’ve also seen an incredible rise in mental health and addictions awareness. People don’t hide the way they used to. We’ve opened a discussion, a dialogue, around mental health, wherein people find solace relating to one another online. Major companies like Bell have capitalized on this trend, implementing game-changing hash tags like #BellLetsTalk into their social media campaigns. We’ve seen an influx of influential addiction memoirs, such as Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: a Love Story” and Sarah Heppola’s Blackout. There’s a bunch of new shows on Netflix that tackle addiction in creative, inclusive ways.

Gillian Jacobs plays Mickey in “Love.” (Suzanne Hanover/Netflix). Photo taken from https://bsun.md/2PQ7Sa9. 

Addiction is undeniably on our minds, and it’s on our screens.

There’s evidence that this acknowledgement can be incredibly cathartic. As the article explains, “status updates and comments on Facebook are, in effect, fluid, open diaries written in real-time by those in the trenches of addiction, whether celebrating another day sober, dispatching a cry for help or grieving the loss of a friend to overdose”. They’re effective, because they are real. As Robb-Dover writes, “these real and personalized glimpses of the addiction epidemic have more compelling, mass appeal—akin to that of a social protest, for example—than what a celebrity talking head might generate in a public -service announcement.”

This movement, in my humble opinion, is combating the precise pain point of addiction – isolation. It’s reminding people that not only are they never alone, they’re actually part of an entire community of support standing together against the pain. In that sense, do we need to stay anonymous anymore? Should we? Do we need to mold our brands into these flawless, superhero versions of ourselves? Or is this hindering the very fire fueling this historic movement?

Maybe we should only be anonymous until we’ve improved ourselves, and then share our tales? Or do we keep everyone in the loop every step of the way?

It’s a big question, and I understand the answer may be different for everyone. Everyone has their own unique journey; both in their mental health, and subsequently “building their brand” whatever form that may take. But I think the important thing to remember is you’re not actually a “brand”, at least not in the commercial way. You’re not Kraft or Nike. You’re a human being, with a beating heart, and you’re a work in progress – we all are.

So before you go filling out online fields about who you are, be honest with yourself about who you are right now. Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither was your brand, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Protect your account, protect your mind

a post by Holly Clark, student of COM0011 – Introduction to social media.

While I may consider myself a self-professed social media fanatic who undoubtedly understands the professional benefits possible with such tools, I definitely recognize the reality that social media, if abused or used violently, can be detrimental to mental health and social stability.

With great power, comes great responsibility, and social media is a perfect example of that.

I read this Guardian article recently and it sparked my interest, not only because it hit a nerve, but because it provided results issued from a British public engagement group I used to volunteer for called Involve.

The article states that approximately 3,400 young people, aged 14-25, were surveyed in England and expressed extreme discontent with the state of social media, outlining some very worrisome repercussions. What struck me initially was how displeased and self-aware these youth are about social media; I think we see kids these days snapping and tweeting, glued to their screens and automatically assume that not only are they enjoying every minute of our social revolution, but they’ve truly just got it all “figured out”, whilst we less knowledgeable elderly users struggle to figure out which hash tag to use.

It’s actually kind of reaffirming to know that young people see the benefits, but also the pitfalls and threats associated with social media.

When I think about my own relationship with social media, I can recount a number of times I’ve felt anxiety about it all. I mean, I think we all have. You break up with your boyfriend, and then your Facebook news feed informs you he’s “liked” a picture of a pretty girl you’ve never seen before. Jealously ensues. You see your best friend has created an event, to which you haven’t been invited: loneliness and isolation seeps in. These types of scenarios are countless. Sometimes scrolling through social media feels like sitting alone in the corner at a party, listening to people’s conversations, hearing your name, and trying to act coy while you eavesdrop. How can you say that’s healthy for the mind?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I was impressed with the intelligent suggestions put forth by some of these students in the article. One suggestion addressed the need for a “social media mental health service” through which people can access online support. Imagine that, online support for bullying?

Another point highlighted the possibility of hiding notifications about who liked what, from certain people. A great suggestion, for sure, but at what point are we censoring and shaping an unpredictable life force that was originally intended to be a free-for-all in the realm of free expression?

Social media is a platform for people to express themselves; whether you like what they have to say or not – so are we expected to just take the bad with the good? Is it possible to shelter people from things they don’t want to see online? And if that’s the case, I just worry that social media will take us further down this trail of inauthenticity. We’re always only posting the positive things; my aunt had a baby, I just got engaged, everything is great, everything is perfect. Apply filter, force a smile, and project your perfect image to the outside world. If we’re hiding from the negative things online, are we hiding from reality even more?

I’m sort of playing devil’s advocate here, because the truth is I actually do believe we need to address the mental health impacts of social media; and I think implementing some kind of online service would be very beneficial. I can’t even imagine would it would be like to be a child today. Being bullied in school was hard enough – adding abusive Facebook posts to the mix just sounds treacherous. So yes, I do like where this article is taking us. And I think studies like this need to be performed and written about more often. I understand we’re all here in class to celebrate the benefits of social media, which is great, but to ignore the darkness of it all would be naïve. So let’s address it.

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It’s all fun and games until someone gets bullied! British public engagement firm Involve surveyed youth aged 15-25 about the severe mental health effects from social media, and here’s what they had to say. Is it time to take action? https://bit.ly/2zauoAd #mentalhealth #cyberbullying

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protect your account, protect your mind – how much anxiety does social media cause you? https://bit.ly/2zauoAd #mentalhealth #cyberbullying