Four Ways to Avoid the "Thoughts and Prayers" Trap

In the wake of a tragedy, loss of life or other natural disaster, far too many corporate communicators are quick to leap to the generic and character-limited "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims/family members/friends of [insert tragedy]" message on social media, whether or not the companies they represent have any real connection to said victims/family members or friends. In my opinion, this is lazy, and the creation of a quick and thoughtless 'Me too' post clutters the field and diminishes the value of the much more meaningful and authentic messages from those with actual connections to these unfortunate events. So how should corporate social media specialists think about and evaluate these posting opportunities?

1. Consider Your Connection. Do you have one? Don't post just because everyone else is doing it. A meme or other digital mash-up of a candle or ribbon and your company's logo will probably not be appreciated by the victims. If your company is not connected in a real way, taking a digital moment of silence and suspending other planned posts on your social media calendar might be the best and most respectful way to go. 
2. Be Real. Most companies don't have collective views or thoughts on tragedies, but executives, managers and employees might have something very genuine and personal to express. Take the time to identify these people and feature them in the content you post, or help them create content to post on their own. 
3. Share Your Prayers. If your employees or members of your organization actually pray - individually or together - documenting and posting the prayers of those who wish to share them more broadly could be a very powerful way to contribute to the barrage of social media activity that usually follows a tragic event. Understand the difference, however, and don't confuse fleeting feelings or throw-away expressions of empathy with actual prayers. 
4. Understand Your Audiences. If your company is doing something to help or support the individuals affected by a tragedy, that's great. But you need to consider who you tell, how you tell them, and when. If you're launching an employee fundraiser to benefit victims, use your internal communication channels to promote it. Unless you're looking to engage people outside of your organization (customers, business partners or the general public) in the effort, you probably don't need to post it on social media. Do consider posting a future social media message to communicate the results of these efforts and use that post to recognize and give credit to the people who contributed to the positive results, not the company. 

Those are my thoughts (sans prayers). What advice do others have to offer? 

See my earlier post on Honored and Humbled.