Navigating Social Media’s ‘New Normal’
By Carolin Wenzel – Director – Comms For Change
On February 18 2021 we woke up to the stark reality that we don’t own or control our Facebook pages.
Not only had Facebook blocked the pages of corporate news sites and removed links to news articles from all of our Facebook pages, retrospectively (!) – thousands of government, community service and not-for-profit organisations pages became collateral damage in the war between the social media giants and the Australian government over the news media bargaining code bill before the Senate.
The Guardian reported that pages of 1800 Respect, The Bureau of Meteorology, hospitals and government health departments ceased functioning – many are gradually being restored as social media teams urgently appealed to Facebook.
St Vincent’s Health in Melbourne told reporter Josh Taylor that it was “extremely concerning” its Facebook page had been blocked “during a pandemic and on the eve of crucial Covid vaccine distribution”.
When challenged about the widespread impact Facebook managers in Australia said these blockages were a mistake due to the speed with which they developed the algorithm and the broad definition of what is ‘news’.
In a spectacular own goal, Facebook’s own @facebook page was down temporarily.
Hundreds of community organisations contributed to a spreadsheet set up by Organise Us to monitor the impact – more than 150 reported that their Facebook page was ‘wiped from public view with banner removed’. Some but not all are back up.
By 4pm on Thursday Tabatha Fulker at Organise Us and GetUp! Creative Lead Patrick Morrow hosted a zoom meeting for the community and civil society groups trying to deal with the situation.
On Friday morning ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie told Nine’s Today Show that Facebook’s irresponsible action had left many people without vital information from community organisations. She called on Facebook to urgently restore the missing pages and weblinks and said the Government must ensure community services are resourced to connect with the people who need them.
Surviving the ‘new normal’ on social media:
- If your page is still blocked, or links to your own publications are not working, ACOSS Communications Officer Cameron Lum advises you can appeal to Facebook by following these steps:
Go to this link: https://australia.fb.com/news-law/
Scroll to the bottom and there’s a line that says “Read more about how people can appeal by clicking directly on the notification on their Page which will bring them to the help Centre & appeal form. Click on “Read More” and follow the prompts.
This will bring you to a page explaining Facebook’s views on the proposed legislation. Scroll down to “contact our support team” and select it, then fill out the form on the next page. NOTE: You need to make a case for why you shouldn’t be banned/blocked. You can justify this by explaining you’re a not-for-profit that shares media articles as a form of advocacy or awareness-building then provide screenshots of other posts you should also add many examples of posts you make that do not contain media links.
Read Cam’s Current facebook instructions on the ACOSS homepage.
- You can still share links to relevant news reports and articles to other apps like Twitter or LinkedIn, but this is no longer possible on Facebook – and unlikely to change
- Create Facebook posts that engage with your audiences – Get Up’s Creative Lead Patrick Morrow advises the most effective way is to find and write stories about real people affected by your issues by posting their own words, photos and videos;
Sites which do this well and will be minimally impacted by the ban on sharing news content:
https://www.facebook.com/GetUpAustralia/
https://www.facebook.com/raisetherate
https://www.facebook.com/antipovertynetworksa
https://www.facebook.com/AmnestyOz
- develop your own visually dynamic content – it’s worth paying a designer to create content
- Take some time to develop memes – here are some tips on how to make a meme
- This Guide to Social Media Activism, developed by Jessie Mawson for Amnesty International in 2014 is still largely relevant and available to download from the Centre for Australian Progress Resources section.
