The Power of Social Media

Last month, one day after the inauguration of Donald Trump, news stations all around the world were broadcasting women, men, and children, marching in solidarity against many of the policies being put in place by the Trump administration. These marches were not only in the United States but all around the world in other countries and the amazing thing about this was, it all started with just one woman’s Facebook invite.

Disappointed by Trump’s victory, Teresa Shook, a retired lawyer who lives in Hawaii, dashed off a post asking if women were interested in rallying in Washington around Inauguration Day.

She asked her online friends for help in creating an event page, and posted one for her proposed march. When Shook went to bed that night, 40 people had signed on, but when she woke up the number of responses swelled to over 10,000.

What Teresa Shook started with a single Facebook invite to 40 of her friends snowballed into one of the biggest protests the US has ever seen. When Teresa was interviewed by the LA Times she said: “I’m overwhelmed with joy. A negative has been turned into a positive. All these people coming together to unite to try and make a difference. That’s what we’re going to be doing for the next four years. I see it’s really going to happen.”

Washington DC led the way with at least 500,000 people gathering for a rally outside the US Capitol building. Organizers, including the Women’s Equality Party, said an estimated 100,000 descended on central London with similar events taking place in Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Liverpool and Cardiff.

Many of the women in Washington wore pink knitted hats with cat ears – a reference to comments made by Mr. Trump in a 2005 leaked video in which he bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy”.

This was an international day of action in solidarity” on President Trump’s first full day in the Oval Office.

All with one little Facebook post!

The power of social media can be good bad and ugly. As we know, the new president is a big user of Twitter which is the 140 character social media platform. Twitter is actually considered a microblogging platform where you can quickly share information with a large number of people in real time.

So what do you do when you start a movement on social media?

The true power of social media is an influence. Social media provides an avenue for companies to not only engage with customers but also influence them with the right content that helps them make a decision. It’s obvious that social media (i.e. talking to people) is a great tool for building relationships with fans and customers.

Whether you are a big company, a little company, or even an individual, social media platforms can be used to connect with your customers. Social media gives you an efficient, cheap, and effective way to build that trust, provided, of course, that you’re trustworthy, to begin with.

Social media does not always have to be an online distraction or a procrastination platform. Even with many being addicted to their social media networks, it is one of the best ways to stay informed. News outlets, corporations, and everyday people use social media to deliver their messages to the masses.

So if you have a cause or a purpose the best way to get more involved is to post it on social media and Facebook Groups are in my opinion the best way in which to do so.

Your topics can be one of many, but I had an opportunity to interview Whitney ‘Nic’ James, founder of a Facebook Support Group, Fearless Woman, I Am, who’s purpose and mission is to encourage women to BE FEARLESS while living unapologetically with intention, purpose & audacious faith. To become the go-to source for women seeking entrepreneurial, every-day life and/or faith-based inspiration & encouragement.

You can hear the entire interview by clicking this link.