To Post or Not to Post? Navigating Social Media with Emotional Intelligence in the Wake of COVID-19

By Devin Yasi

To put it gently, 2020 was a year marked by unforeseen challenges. While every day life was uprooted, and the lives of many changed in more ways than one, communications professionals found themselves faced with obstacles never before experienced. With the arrival of those challenges came understanding when and when not to publish social media content on behalf of clients. As communicators know, timing is everything when it comes to social, and now more than ever individuals must operate at a heightened level of emotional intelligence.

In March 2020, as the first wave of COVID-19 swept across the United States, public relations practitioners encountered what I refer to as a never-ending-PR-crisis. It is not uncommon for PR pros to encounter an emergency throughout their careers, but never before had individuals across the spectrum of the industry had to deal with every single client entering the same crisis, let alone the entire world.

Social media can be tricky when it comes to determining the best time to post content. After all, publishing your company’s blog post at noon isn’t a great idea if the majority of your audience is online after 6 p.m. or if they are not active on the platform in which you are publishing. Understanding your audience is the difference between creating great content that will inspire and build relationships, or sending information out into a void where it will reach no one. This is why marketers and PR practitioners have relied on analytics so heavily throughout the years. The data helps determine the best course of action to reach followers.

But times have changed, and social platforms are buzzing with more content than ever. While your client may have a fantastic idea to create content around their upcoming product launch, PR practitioners must consider if the timing of the post, in regards to the state of the world, is wise to publish or not. To accomplish this, communication pros must actively be engaged in social listening to understand what individuals on the various social platforms are discussing. By practicing this, companies avoid coming across as tone-deaf when publishing content to their channels.

At the end of the day, we are all human, and that is what is at the heart of PR: relationships. We must be conscientious about the interactions we have with clients and followers alike, understanding that everyone is going through challenging times right now.

It is good to publish content on behalf of clients to social media. It is good to generate excitement about product launches and company growth, but in the end, be mindful of the conversations happening across the country, and the world. Having emotional intelligence is the difference between being human and being a machine.