Boundaries are something we social workers know about. We are trained to assertively affirm the boundaries between ourselves and our clients, our personal and work lives, our own egos and the needs of those we love. For most of us, at some point in our educational process we had to learn the “boundary lesson” the hard way in one form or another. We couldn’t leave work at work, we let anxiety creep in about a client’s welfare, or we made a clinical misstep because we didn’t read the boundary issues of a client. We are boundary tested. Until we meet social media.
As a consultant for nonprofits and small businesses, I believe there is no test of boundaries quite like social media. When you compound a medium like social media with a tendency for unrealistic expectations (your own and your client’s), you have a boundary crisis on your hands. Here is my take on four of the elements underlying this crisis and some information on my own course correction.
Boundary Busting
Social media is, by it’s nature, boundary busting. It is pushing information at us everywhere, every way, and all the time. You can get your posts and tweets and updates on your computer, your iphone, your blackberry and your tv. But the problem is that it isn’t just about receiving the information. It’s the requirement of a response – immediately. You got it now, why shouldn’t you answer NOW. I’m the one who named my business Tell the Story NOW. I did that intentionally because I recognized that social media was a way for us to tell the stories of nonprofits with a true sense of urgency. I just didn’t understand how that same urgency would translate into a scope of work.
We often talk about the importance of your message being transmitted on multiple channels. Then everyone can choose the channel they wish to follow. Social media as a scope of work means that you are working in all of the channels all of the time. Ouch.
Best Practices
Another real dilemma is that social media best practices suggest you should be engaged 24/7. Paul Sutton, from Social Media Today, compared social media to caring for a baby. As he says, “The social web doesn’t rest, and Facebook and Twitter wait for no man (or woman). Log on at any time of the day or night and there are friends, followers and fans online, which means that any social media profile needs 24 hour attention; the social media pro needs to think in 24 hour terms.”
So if you want to be considered a competent, professional social media consultant, with each signed contract, you have just adopted a baby. And if you have several clients, you have just agreed to adopt several babies simultaneously. In my social work training, I would never have approved you for that many adoptions no matter who you were.
I attended a series of hand-on workshops at the Nonprofit Technology Network conference last year. The presenters taught us more than we could have imagined and demonstrated their skill and commitment. None of them were willing to tell us hour many hours they work each week – no matter how many times we asked.
Boundary Warp
When I think about the effect working in social media has had on me, boundary warp is the best way I know to explain it. Most of the time I feel like I live in a world where there is no distinction between what I do and who and where I am. Part of this is the work at home reality. Many of us find ourselves re-inventing our work lives in what used to be our personal space. Parts about that are fun, enjoyable and freeing. But when it comes to boundaries, the struggle increases.
When your scope of work is social media, the boundary warp increases. It used to be I would decide a time of day when I wouldn’t take the phone call or schedule the appointment. Now I was deciding at what time of day I would turn off my computer. Then when would I refuse to look at my blackberry. After that it became a matter of could I look and not respond.
Creeping Scope of Work
Small organizations, particularly nonprofits, are typically working with less capacity than demand. This is particularly true in areas of technology or infrastructure. Social media is tied directly to the technology capacity of an organization. Your email marketing is connected to your website pages is connected to your optimization is connected to your data management. You get the idea. Without even realizing it, you find yourself sliding over into other technology assignments because you know that without that work your social media campaign doesn’t have a chance.
And then there is the ability to “do” social media and also “tell” about what you are doing. Most stake holders are not as familiar with social media as the folks who do the work. The older the stakeholder and the younger the social media consultant the greater the gap. Just trying to keep your clients informed about your progress can be as large a component of your scope of work as doing the job – but most clients don’t count that in your hours.
Course Adjustment
In several articles about social media best practices there is much about “focus.” It’s as much a social media buzzword as Facebook (well, maybe not quite). I would agree with the importance of focus to limit the boundary warp and creeping scope of work. People also talk about keeping your eye on the big picture. I would suggest that is perhaps more about narrowing your vision. Pick a couple things and make sure you are always there. Let the rest go.
It’s very hard to talk about limiting anything in a conversation about social media. Everything is expanding and more is always seen as better – more friends (excuse me, “likes”), more followers, more page views. But if you can’t take adequate care of the baby, don’t adopt. Limit the channels to the ones you can handle. You may have better conversations and, more importantly, you may live longer.
