The Push Pull Paradox of Social Media

By David Shifrin and Tommy Barbee

Today’s point in 172 characters? X is officially the coin of the communications realm in US politics. But it’s not enough by itself and may be the opposite of your best storytelling strategy today.

Social media’s expectation of speed and brevity can make it feel like the new media rule is to just Say Something . Anything. ASAP.

President Biden may agree: “Biden’s staff posted the news [to not seek a second term] on X because they must have understood that, for better or worse, it is the quickest, least mediated way to inject information into the bloodstream of political and cultural discourse," The Atlantic wrote last week.

Is this the new rule for storytelling? Is first foremost?

With news cycles measured in nanoseconds, it can feel like the classic counsel to be first to tell your story and to “own your narrative” requires always communicating fast in a blast of 280 characters or in 30 seconds on TikTok.

Well, maybe. Sometimes.

The rising power of social media is an addition to – not a replacement of – your suite of available communication strategies. It’s not a one-stop EZ Pass to getting your messages delivered. And understood.

Communicating first with your internal audiences? A background briefing with your local editorial board? Leveraging local TV news? Coffee one-on-ones? Yes, the classic rules still apply.

But Twitter (ok, fine…X) and a few other social media platforms are increasingly legitimate and powerful tools for introducing and sustaining your strategy to own your narrative, even within local markets. And that inarguable momentum has been boldly reinforced lately.

As The Free Press wrote this week, “The distinction between the online and offline exists as a matter of degree, not fact, and it grows lighter every day.”

The distinction certainly grew lighter last week when President Joe Biden, 81, used a Tweet – not a press conference, not a TV interview, not a finely worded talk track – to announce his decision to not seek a second term in the White House.

“Biden spurns traditional media, avoids leaks by quitting race online,” headlined Axios, itself an online news service.

“Avoiding leaks” is a strategy you employ to control your story, of course.

It reflects steps you take to ensure your version of important decisions and events is delivered to your important audiences without interpretation or the self-interested interpretation or mediation of others. Not through the media. Not through a manager. Messenger to audience.

It’s the reason you have quick telephone calls with 10 opinion leaders before you push out that press release. It’s the reason you meet with the medical exec committee at 6 a.m. on the day of your big announcement.

For President Biden, it was a Tweet, a lightning bolt missive that tore through a cloud of voices speculating about this health, calling for him to step away and dampening support for him and his party.

In a few characters, he took control of the narrative – no leaks, no ambiguity. Decisive, clear action. That momentum built with his rapid endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, who then took the baton and ran .

This handoff showed a core strength of social media, especially Twitter: It can be great for starting point for simple and fast message delivery. Since then? The newly formed Harris’ campaign has used social media, especially TikTok, to keep the conversation going while former President Donald Trump has continued to type away using his own social media platform, Truth Social.

Social media platforms offer communicators a paradox. These can be great for kicking off a story and making the first points. But once you hit send, anyone can take the narrative anywhere. One must stay engaged in the conversation to continually shape it. It’s not one-and-done. It requires a commitment to communicate.

What are the lessons for healthcare leaders and communications professionals?

• Take a beat. Say word’s gotten out about an acquisition you’re contemplating. Or layoffs. Or a service line closure. Even if you must move fast to own the narrative, pause to evaluate what strategy and which associated tactics give you the best chance to maximize your chance of immediate narrative ownership as well as sustained success and avoidance of unintended consequences. (Optimally, these tactics would be identified as part of your crisis prep plan.)
• Don’t turn the tactic into the strategy. The tool – the means – should not be accidentally mistaken for the end. Your approach to message delivery may vary depending on the size of your organization, the story you’re putting out, the people involved. Owning the narrative by announcing a merger on Twitter? Not the right approach.
• Reconsider the channel. Don’t get pulled into dancing to someone else’s music. If you lose control of the narrative or have to respond to an attack, don’t necessarily do so using the same methods or tools as the other side. That might be the right approach, but it’s not a given.
• Use social media to your advantage. Even so, have a thoughtful social media plan in place to use it well when the moment arises. Others are using Twitter so at some point you will have to. See it for the two-sided coin it is – both offensive opportunity and defensive necessity.
• Be ready to move offline to keep control. Once the trolls get hold of things, it’s over. Unfortunately, many of them have the same blue checkmark as your organization does, giving them an outsized reach that puts them on par with your organization. Don’t escalate. Go offline for further conversations with relevant stakeholders and work to change it through other appropriate means.
• Leverage the power of the classics. Don’t discount your entire long-standing toolkit of strategic communications. While social media may be the fastest vehicle, other tried-and-true tactics merit a place at the table to educate, establish clear understanding and encourage advocacy for your position.

Communication tools are rising and falling with increasing speed. Last year, Twitter was “dead ,” X a zombie platform and Threads was the usurper. Tomorrow’s new shiny toy? We expect AI to give us that answer soon.

But come what may, the rules of good storytelling and narrative control remain. Compelling language and visuals. Confident and personal delivery. The right audience reached at the right time through the right tools with the right message.

To end with a bad pun: Whatever tool you use, character counts.

Contributors: David Jarrard , Emme Nelson Baxter

Image Credit: Shannon Threadgill