Alarming Frequency of High-Risk Social Media Communication and What to Do About It

Dr. Contrecia Tharpe, marketing, branding, and communications practitioner and founder and chief storyteller and strategist at neuIMC, now known as FayeVaughn Creative.

Part 2 of a 4-part Communication Intelligence Special Series
Leaders making highly-opinionated and high-risk public communication

The story being examined for this series is the one where Ilya Shapiro, a new hire as a senior lecturer and executive director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, a part of the law school at the university, communicated a tweet that he came to regret, yet believes was misinterpreted.

While many called for his termination, after some thought, his superiors have decided instead to suspend him.

What did Shapiro communicate to cause unrest, hurt and anger? In regards to President Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, Shapiro responded in a clumsy, at least, if not unprofessional and offensive manner.

The tweet: Objectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan, who is solid prog & v smart. Even has identify politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn't fit into the latest intersectionality hierarchy so we'll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?

Because Biden said he's only consider[ing] black women for SCOTUS, his nominee will always have an asterisk attached. Fitting that the Court takes up affirmative action next term.

Shapiro did apologize and at length and with apparent sincerity. Yet is that enough for communicating a belief, as a public figure, that was considered dismissive and condescending?

Georgetown University's Black Law Students Association demanded Shapiro be fired.

“This is a situation that we are seeing more frequently. The line between the first amendment, freedom of speech, and organizational ethics are very finite, yet many operate as if they are blurred,” says Dr. Contrecia Tharpe, founder of neuIMC, now known as FayeVaughn Creative, and chief storyteller and strategist for the integrated marketing and communications firm.

“This is a very common happening - nurses getting fired based on TikToks, celebrities being canceled for tweets that are over five years old, and heads of organizations losing their footing because they chose to post personal thoughts at such pivotal times in their career. The implications of abuse of social media continue to be present daily and many people ignore them based on the theory that it won't get seen, or that it can be deleted. Mr. Shapiro made a rookie mistake that can have harsh consequences for him and any organizations associated with him.”

As to whether Shapiro committed a big-enough error to where he is a poor representative of his employer and unable as well to have a trustworthy working relationships within the university, Tharpe has observed the social landscape and knows what is more likely to happen.

“Ilya Shapiro definitely cast a negative light on all organizations associated with him and his work. However, I believe that we are in a world that sees power in second chances and redemption,” she says, adding, “Yet, there are some clear opportunities for professional development and growth in the areas of diversity, inclusion, equity, and leadership.”

As to what that looks like in practice, Tharpe explains in more detail.

“The opportunities center around bringing in professionals and consultants who are able to speak to the ethical responsibilities of using social media from a personal standpoint while in a position of leadership and influence. Cultural and societal competency is a must and is required in these positions so you are able to speak to — or avoid — certain topics, with an awareness of language, sensitivity, and appropriateness,” she says.

There are common deficiencies in this area that require more attention, focus and improvement.

“I believe that many companies and organizations blanket social and digital media usage under their rules without proper training. But with the frequency that these types of issues are happening, you would think that companies would be more proactive to provide training and resources from experts on how to and not to manage social media,” Tharpe laments. “In (Shapiro’s) role and with the line of work that he is in, he has an obligation to be more mindful and cognizant of what he is saying at all times.”

As for Shapiro’s apology, it didn’t impress, as many expressions of public regret don’t.

“The generic apology and statement that were issued scratched the surface, but there is more beneath it. There are many opportunities for learning and growth that far exceed a crisis statement.”

High-profile people do seems to communicate poorly on a regular basis, inside their organizations and publicly, not recognizing what they are saying and how their communication will be received and judged. As for why this happens, if not regularly, then more often than it should, there are reasons.

“The idea of social media is that your audience is small and those closest to you,” Tharpe says. “I am sure that Mr. Shapiro has had similar conversations with individuals he is close to; however, a global platform means a global reach and requires keen attention to be paid to what is said and how it is said.

“Many high-profile individuals have fallen prey to the ideology that 'my account is private so it won't get out' or 'I don't get that much engagement so no one pays attention' and that is where they go wrong,” she says. “(They) too often forget that their words are a representation of everything they are associated with and it has to speak to the values and ethics of the organization (or in this case) organizations, or they risk being terminated.”

Even educated people don’t always learn from the mistakes or egregious errors of others.

“It's alarming how many people still continue to make this rookie mistake,” Tharpe says. “We have seen some wonderful people taken down by 280 characters (Twitter character limit).”

The risk that professionals assume in being careless, if not reckless with their online communication, is extreme. Damage to relationships, trust, reputation and employability prove significant.

“I think its an absentminded things, honestly. Is that how they feel? Definitely. Does an apology erase the words? Of course not. And that creates the problem,” Tharpe says. “The legacy and history of someone's work can be erased, overshadowed, or forgotten because they chose to be careless with 280 characters.”

False beliefs about agreement is a dangerous assumption to make, yet that is what happens.

“The mistake that most people make is believing that their thoughts are more widely supported and understood than they actually are. They also confuse support of one's work as a professional with support of one's thoughts as an individual. The two are completely different,” Tharpe says.

She goes deeper to explain where companies too create problems for themselves will ill-advised communication.

“Consumers respect your thoughts because of the work that you do, but when your words show that you are not as aligned as one may believe, it creates a tough impasse and a roadblock to get around. The confusion of 'respect' and 'camaraderie' are the foundations for reckless decisions everyday.”

Learning to manage impulses to communicate that otherwise hurts other people and simultaneously attracts great risk to trust, reputation and job-and-career security seems important to talk about. Tharpe has recommendations.

“Organizations have to implement social media trainings and updates at every turn,” she says. “Many corporations have social media policies that only require signing and no actual training on implementation, mindfulness, and censoring of thoughts.”

Improved social awareness is not an impossible task to learn for individuals or organizations. Yet it is a skill often unappreciated and not pursued.

“Also, a lot of people are not fully aware of how hurtful words may be until it is too late. Money, politics, lifestyles, religion, and gender preferences are all touchy subjects that really have no place on the profile of someone who works with a diverse audience of people,” Tharpe says.

“One has to be more intentional about seeking the right thing to say and (self) censoring topics, thoughts, and phrases that shouldn't be a part of their content.”