In the end, money talks (even in the social media world)
By now you’ve probably read the news that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (and within that, ICE) has hired Hootsuite for social media management services to the tune of $2.8 million. Not surprisingly, that’s upset many people across social media. Folks have even protested in Vancouver, where Hootsuite is based. And it eventually prompted Hootsuite CEO, Irina Novoselsky to publish a letter laying out the company’s reasoning for the move.
But make no mistake about it, this is all about money. Pure and simple.
Irina even said as much in her letter. She says, “Our responsibility is to our customers, to the clear standards that govern how our technology is used, and to ensuring public conversation can be understood responsibly and at scale.”
“Our responsibility is to our customers.” Bingo.
And that’s the issue. You can work with the government. I have a number of times over my 17 years as a social media consultant (all State of Minnesota clients, all wonderful clients). But when that government, and one particular piece of the government, is behaving like it has lately killing protesters and randomly abducting people off our streets and detaining people for simply the color of their skin, you simply have to take a stand.
In this moment, money talks. It’s why so many people locally here in Minnesota had been calling for the big companies based here to speak out about what is happening (and why so many were disappointed by what they eventually did say—and limited action wasn’t taken).
This doesn’t feel like 2016 when people were calling for companies to take stands based on politics. This is about human decency. This is about democracy. This is about basic rights. This is so much bigger than just politics.
But again, money talks.
And by keeping The Department of Homeland Security as a client right now, Hootsuite is planting a pretty firm flag in the ground.
The big question now is: What will you do with your money? Because you have decisions, too.
I know locally here in Minneapolis, many people are making conscious decisions with their money. Some are donating to organizations to help immigrants and people of color. Others are eating out at immigrant-owned eateries (we did this last night at one of our favorite spots in South Minneapolis).
Your money can make a difference. And if more of us make conscious choices with our money to support companies, brands and organizations that are just trying to do the right thing in the world, well, that would be a pretty great thing.
We’re already seeing it happen in Minneapolis. Here’s hoping we see more of it across our country, too.
Will Threads ever overtake Twitter?
According to recent data from SimilarWeb, it already has. At least in terms of monthly active users.
However, we know monthly and daily active users are just a data point (and not a very great one, at that). What’s much more important is how active are users on each platform—a much tougher question to answer. The eye test tells me it’s close.
I still see an awful lot of traction on Twitter around sports and politics. You still hear media outlets refer to Twitter much more than Threads. That said, I also see momentum on Threads. As stated in this article, more celebrities and sports accounts are active there now. I’m not sure I’d go as far to say that Threads is now the de facto real-time social media platform. But, it’s definitely not the slam dunk it was just a year or so ago.
Are social media subscriptions becoming more acceptable?
Most of us still don’t pay for access to social media platforms. But, it’s worth mentioning that almost every large social media platform does have a paid option: Meta (Verified), LinkedIn (Premium), Snapchat (Snapchat+), YouTube (Premium), Twitter (Premium).
Is 2026 the year of analog?
I wasn’t at all surprised to read this headline recently—I’ve been reading about how young people are looking for ways to spend less time doomscrolling for the last six months. And those headlines are becoming more prevalent by the day. Bottom line: Young people aren’t going to give up social media completely—but there is a definite urge to spend less time on the platforms.
Last week, the incomparable Gini Dietrich had a great post about the glut of AI comments we’re now seeing on LinkedIn and how people are losing a lot of trust by taking that route. Couldn’t agree more. But here’s the thing: I’m not mad about this. In fact, I’m happy to see so many people posting these ridiculous AI comments. Why? Because it spells opportunity for the rest of us.
Opportunity to be yourself. To leave a comment that only could have come from you. That includes a specific reference only you and the original poster may know about. Because that’s the whole point of commenting! Isn’t it?
We talk about this in class at the University of St. Thomas. Comment are powerful—but only when they’re specific. Case in point: The “Congratulations!” comment. We’ve all made it on that post where a friend or colleague got a new job or promotion. My advice in these situations: Add context and be specifics. Refrain from just commenting “Congratulations”—you’ll just blend in with the 50 other people who say the same thing. Instead, add a personal anecdote or story that only you and the original poster know about. That’s how you stand out in the comments. And that’s something AI will never be able to produce.
Thanks for sharing, Arik! I have also been thinking about increased screen time with the last month or so. Have you noticed a correlation with screen time and political chaos?