Social Media As A form Of Communication

We all know that social media is taking over the world. The Twitters, the Instagrams, the TikToks, and the Snapchats. All of these things have their place. But one thing that they should not be replacing is personal and professional communication methods; especially the latter.

Yes, our phones are always in our pockets, and for some, always in our hands. But that makes me argument even more valid. Right alongside your Instagram and your Twitter apps, you have your email, your text messages, and your telephone. So why are these last three often ignored or guarded (mostly out of fear)?

Specifically for the professionals out there, social media systems are not reliable sources of communication, for multiple reasons. For example, my Instagram account was recently suspended. There were people there that I was in communication with about doing some photographic work together, and now we are no longer to communicate with one another. Well, we wouldn’t if I wasn’t able to reach them and exchange cell numbers with them; now we’re working via text and phone calls… The most reliable method of communication.

If you need another example of it not being reliable. These platforms rely on web hosting and systems that will work properly at all times to be able to have access and usability at all times. If any of these services go down, you are now unable to communicate for anywhere between one and forty-eight hours. I’ve seen it happen.

I’m yelling all of this out of frustration as someone who needs to communicate with people on a professional level about things that I am putting time and money into. “DM to book” and “DM for rates” does not work for me. Well, occasionally, someone is on top of their Instagram messages and we are able to coordinate things. But often, it turns into me giving up and not wanting to continue trying to contact them. I know that a lot of people fear giving out their phone numbers because they feel that it is going to result in some kind of “unwanted attention” in the form of text messages and phone calls. But if you’re considering working with me professionally, you’re going to have to provide me with more personal information than just your cellphone number (I require legal names and photos of government ID).

We just have to get better at being professional if you want to do any kind of business.