Message from a state authority on a condemned social media platform I
Stephen, who works in the PR department of a state agency, needs to reach young adults with information about the institution’s services. After researching their media habits, he finds they spend most of their time on social media channel Y, which is known for spreading disinformation. Officials have therefore been advised not to use this channel for state communication.
What would you do in Stephen's place?
- 1. Social media channels for which it is not known what information the algorithms filter and whose interests the channel serves must be avoided.
- 2. The security rules established by the state are important, but it is also important to inform the target group. I will turn the message into a meme and spread it in as many channels as possible.
- 3. I will use the channel to send a very short message to invite interested young people to visit our institution’s website for more information.
- 4. I will present the dilemma to my boss and ask which value is more important for our institution: whether not to use suspicious social media or to reach our young people in the most direct way.
- 5. My job is to make sure that young people are critical of the use of social media. I will write an article about the problem of my moral choice and distribute it in the media and on the website of our institution.