Why are social media mangers leaving?

Let me just start this by saying, I love being a marketer. I love learning new skills, writing, and story telling to anyone who will listen. But social media was the main reason I decided to move away from journalism to go into marketing. Despite most people thinking it’s a space for cute cat videos and sexy food pictures, social media has had a pretty big impact on the lives we live today.

First of all, we wouldn’t have got through COVID without Instagram, Tiktok, and any other networking app which let us connect with loved ones from afar. But the impacts didn’t just start with lockdown, apps like twitter have made waves in mainstream media and the legal system. Think of the infamous Brock Turner case, and how a typical case of white privilege superseding the American legal system turned into a naming and shaming of both Turner and the corrupt legal system that let him serve mere months for Rape.

To be someone who works with technology like that day in and day out is an absolute privilege. But that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult, that doesn’t mean its mentally draining.

I recently discovered an article from the start of the year from Digiday, about social media managers grappling with burnout. And whether you work in social media full time, or dabble in your own brand occasionally, a lot of the comments will ring true to you.

when catastrophe strikes, advertisers and social media managers hit pause on their content. Days go by and then it’s back to business. But last week was a wakeup call for strategist Amy Brown, who said the last decade of her career has been a “front row seat to the rise of the alt-right and QAnon” and like “watching a car crash in slow motion.”

“There’s only so much trauma one single human brain can process, and Twitter is like an always-on trauma machine,” Brownsaid in an email. “It takes a huge mental toll to consume this content, day in and day out.”

More often than not, businesses or famous talent hire social media managers to bare the brunt of their online life. Whether that’s posting on their behalf, finding new opportunities, or clearing through the hate comments so they can present themselves higher than public opinion. But isn’t that just deferring the mental anguish onto the next person? Of course, the hate comments and controversy aren’t directed at you, but they can still drain your mental energy.

I still remember managing a “TV personalities” social media, my morning routine as I entered the office would consist of me making a quick coffee and starting the solid half an hour task of clearing through the comments. Hiding cockroach pictures, “homeless sonic” comments and plenty of other dude things I’d rather not repeat on the internet.

Take time out, know when you need a mental break and try focus on managing your time in a way that works for you.