We would like to preface this blog post with our acknowledgement of and gratitude for the land on which our office in Richmond stands, which is on the land of the Indigenous Wurundjeri people.

Following the murder of American George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, we have seen one of the most unique movements seen on social media to bring due attention to the issues surrounding race and discrimination not only in the USA, but Australia too.

On Tuesday 2nd June, #BlackoutTuesday became a trend on social media. The simple goal was to shut down content on social media, primarily Instagram, and revert posts to a plain black square to divert focus onto the #BlackLivesMatter discussion.

Interestingly, many supporters and campaigners were quick to correct anyone who used the wrong hashtag: #BlackoutTuesday was to be used; and #BlackLivesMatter to be replaced with #BLM so that the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag could be focused on educational posts, donation links and the like.

In the space of three hours on Tuesday from 4:30pm, the #BlackoutTuesday hashtag went from 137k to 1.4m posts. At the time of writing, it sits at 29m.

For most brands during this time, it was an understandable change in programming. With online pressure encouraging many brands to put a pause on regular organic posting along with paid activity. 

However, the steadfast mobilisation to not post caused some frustration with some. Yes, a black tile represents a larger issue and during this time, it caused a discussion about its meaning. But for some, it wasn’t enough. What action is being done by these individuals or companies posting black tiles?

Action is what is important these days, where everyone is super #woke and aware of a false sense of action; saying what is expected rather than proactively doing something to help. We see this all the time, most recently during the bushfire crisis. We are pressured— and rightly so— to contribute to a cause, and when we don’t, we are let know about it.

Of course, money and donations matter in a crisis like this, but aren’t there discussions to be had too? Money cannot easily change ingrained privilege and bias, nor systemic racism.

The #BlackoutTuesday movement started within the American music industry to “provoke accountability and change”. The initial hashtag was actually #TheShowMustBePaused but was generalised to include the wider community and demand change on a grander scale.

Most social media users are demanding brand statements about representation and diversity within companies (at employee and leadership levels equally); and more often than not, why they are not posting content for the good of the issue.

This is a tricky line to tread and we have seen many in the social media industry choosing to slow or cease posting frequency. It has left many social media managers questioning the following, how long do you cease posting? Does this apply to all industries? Do local accounts, for brands that have a larger global following, need to post during this time? How do you respond to accusations of wrongdoing or letdowns regarding people of colour?

There is no right or wrong answer when you’re in uncharted territory on social. Being nimble and listening to consumer feedback has proven to be of heightened importance. Where suitable, starting a dialogue with your audience, through closely monitored community management, has also proven to be successful in some instances.

Some brands have slowly come back onto social media over the last few days. With statements and stances on action to be taken moving forward:

We have seen brands gradually posting their own brand statements so it’ll be curious to see how social media managers approach this subject one week on. Time will tell whether this “blackout” trend will hold on strong or be whisked away as part of the news and media cycle.

Some info sourced here.