The last decade or so shows the increasing number of subscribers and followers as an important asset in today’s and potentially tomorrow’s business order. The increasing network effect of the social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, twitter, WeChat, YouTube, and recently tiktok, for example, have become as significant as the more traditional email marketing platforms. Driven by the data analytics capability developed behind these technologies, almost every category of business is going after them to leverage the online traffic. Apparently and despite the contents, comments, likes, clicks, tweets and retweets help boost the dynamics. They have become important parts of the game.
We often see the popularity of controversial contents skyrocketing in a short span of time mainly reinforced by ongoing comments, likes and clicks. Politics and activism contents are cases in point. However, while the rest of the world leverages the benefits of comments, likes and clicks in almost every business environment, my assessment is not encouraging in the case of Ethiopia.
The social media environment is the less costly and easier medium of marketing especially for startups and entrepreneurs and we have seen it boosting the popularity of new innovators from nowhere. Not much in Ethiopia. Sometimes they do even more harm than good.
For instance, and in a strange way, I find tiktok as a positive medium to help connect Ethiopian youth who lives outside of Ethiopia back home. I have observed many young Ethiopians trying to grasp the local language, culture and history out of curiosity of belongingness. Going deep in the likes and comments’ section, however, you will likely find most as discouraging than being positive. People have no mercy to play negative with emotions of others. You will learn that something is wrong here.
Why are we so reckless and low behind desktops? And Usually for Nothing.
Obviously, Ethiopian politics has been polarized and I would not be surprised if it stayed there. The problem is that the norm does not make any distinction anywhere else and I think we get it wrong when it comes to comments, likes and clicks trends I am talking about and I am afraid that we are not benefiting as such. It is common many Ethiopians complain, rightly so, about joblessness and the lack of opportunities, yet we failed supporting one another in our actions. If we really get it wrong with the simplest comments, likes and clicks, what different result do we expect?
If you are reading this piece, I am sure you are one of the people who constantly go back to your previous posts to see how people reacted. I know this because we are all social creatures and we always want to prove our social status and the way to do it now (younger generation) is online through comments, likes, clicks. If we do care as such to ours, why are we not do so to others? Strange, yet real, right?
Whenever someone out there made a statement, it is important we are critical about the motive and objective behind it and whenever possible to support that someone or otherwise to bring it to our own advantage morally, financially and/or socially. It only takes change of our mindset. Have you ever carried a memory that someone provided an encouraging feedback when you were struggling for some reason? If so, what you are doing online today is all the same. You will be remembered for staying positive and supportive at a time when we are full of waves of noises behind desktops. After all, we are all human beings full of ups and downs and we feel the comments, likes and clicks whether the bad or good.
Our living realty keeps changing, so should our actions and perspectives. Tiktok, for example, was like a joke at the beginning but look how big followers and connections many Ethiopians built in such a short time period where tiktok being an innovation boosted by similar social interactions we made on a daily basis. Although I cannot speak on quality and benefits, I for sure see many young talented Ethiopians rocking on the stage probably vying for longer careers.
Ethiopia is a big country and we are larger than we think. The cumulative network effects of our comments, likes and clicks are so relevant to the online traffic. If we think for a moment and try to be as supportive as possible to fellow citizens through our comments, likes and clicks, we do more good (money) to ourselves than now.
This is my humble note @ Showing Up and Exposure Matters to mostly Ethiopian Connections, and spread it as much if you find it relevant.
Digital is here already. Social media platforms have become key tools to engage in the digital ecosystems. Disinformation, misinformation and fake news are spreading at a speed of light in today’s world affair. Digital is the new normal for marketing, sales, business, politics, activism, and almost everything in life. You cannot be safe from the negative impacts of digital just by avoiding it anymore, either.
The solutions, I think, is to consciously engage, adept to weather the bad fruits of digital and constructively support one another in a way that reinforces our collective growth in the environment we find ourselves in under the principle of what goes around comes around.
After all, it is up to us to make the digital footprints we throw to the internet in the form of #comments, #likes and #clicks be meaningful and relevant and at best none discouraging to others.
“One important advice I read about being measured at speaking is to assume that you are being recorded every time you speak”.
It very much applies to digital engagements as whatever we #comment, #like and #click is not going anywhere once step out of our hand.