How to use social media to approach cancel culture and promote your organisation’s inclusive values

The benefits of having a social media presence

Social media makes it easy to connect with your customers, target audiences and current and potential employees. There are a wealth of benefits to using social media, and it provides the perfect opportunity to promote your organisation’s commitment to inclusion.

Sharing your approach to inclusion via social media, alongside the tangible actions you take can demonstrate to your audience how you are bringing your values to life. It’s also a brilliant opportunity to act as a positive role model, show allyship to different communities and act in solidarity when global events occur.  

With planning, you can ensure that the language and imagery that you use do not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or contribute to microaggressions, and by embedding the development of social media content into your wider communication plans, you can also explore and utilise different mediums (video, images, text) that are accessible to people with access needs.  

As well as giving you a chance to communicate your thoughts and actions, social media can also provide you with real-time feedback and learning opportunities. Both positive and negative feedback can give you an insight into how your work is viewed by your audiences and inform future communication plans. It can also help build a stronger connection with your audience and help you fix mistakes and correct wrongs. Public displays of allyship and solidarity on social media can demonstrate your support to communities and show that you are open to learning and strengthening your allyship.  

However, social media can also open your staff and organisation to public scrutiny.

What is Cancel Culture?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines culture as:

A way of behaving in a society or group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that offends you. 

The growth of cancel culture has seen an increase in public criticism and boycotting of individuals and organisations, including those you are associated with. The temptation can be to dilute your messaging or to stop posting entirely, but often not saying anything can be interpreted as your organisation lacking commitment towards communities, global events and movements or not wanting to take responsibility for your actions.

Reasons for Cancelling

Research carried out by the Pew Research Centre identified the top reasons for cancelling as:

• To serve as a teaching moment
• To get the person to consider the consequences of their statements
• To expose racism or sexism
• To get people to think before they speak
• To hold someone accountable for their statements or behaviours

Social Media Guidelines

One way you can build a robust approach to social media and work to minimise the risk of call-out culture is through clear social media policies and procedures. Ideally, this is linked to your values and behaviours, guiding your staff in terms of what is expected of them at work and through their personal accounts. It can also provide clear steps to respond to criticism and minimise the risk of shunning and boycotting.

It is essential to have crisis management built into your social media policy. This can support your team in navigating these challenging situations and can help to protect your reputation. This is particularly important if you plan on announcing news on a topic known to attract negative comments or trolls. As well as protecting your reputation, a crisis management approach will help protect vulnerable groups from abuse, both within your staff group and your external audiences. Another way you can support staff during challenging situations is by building a network of internal inclusion allies who can provide a listening ear or signpost to support.

Effects on your organisation’s and personal brand / values

Another important step is to regularly carry out due diligence on partners and stakeholders, not only in terms of their approach to inclusion but also their approach to social media use. The aim here is to mitigate any potential issues or clashes in values before them being publicly identified and to protect both the organisation’s and your own personal brand.

This can be an opportunity to work with your partners to support their understanding of inclusion and avoid having to withdraw your support publicly. This is not an attempt to quell free speech but instead an opportunity to share your knowledge and reemphasise the importance of your values.

If you decide to withdraw your support, remember to base your decision-making on your social media policy and its connection to your organisational values, which will help reduce the negative impact on your reputation and your staff.

People like to see organisations taking responsibility and righting their wrongs. It is essential to be transparent when addressing your mistakes and use this as an opportunity to show the growth in your organisation’s thinking and commit to tangible actions. This will help to avoid long-term damage to your brand.

Protect your mental health

If you are dealing with the impact of cancel culture, it is important to prioritise your own mental wellbeing.

• Before responding, take the time to check in on your emotional response as if you are feeling stressed or anxious; this can cause you to respond quickly and without taking the time to construct a thought-out response.
• Refer to your social media guidelines and ask trusted colleagues to review your response or statement before pressing the send button.
• Take a step back from being online and talk to someone. This can be a friend, colleague or mental health professional.

How Inclusive Employers can support your organisation to promote your organisation’s inclusive values

• Attend our webinar Approaching Cancel Culture Through Social Media
• Read our informative blogs: What is allyship? A quick guide
• We can provide workplace training such as Inclusion Allies
• Read our members’ resources, especially this one: An active bystanders guide to challenging microaggressions
• Our new member resource How to navigate inclusion in your online presence

If you are a member you can seek support and guidance from your account manager, alternatively, send us an enquiry and we can discuss our support and training options in more detail.

Related Articles