Social Media in the Professional World
Engineers and geoscientists like situations that they can control. So, it’s little wonder that some APEGS professionals are wary of social media which can easily be described as the most chaotic media yet invented.
But as APEGS Executive Director and Registrar Bob McDonald pointed out at last year’s annual meeting, the issues surrounding social media are nothing new.
“Essentially, all forms of media – from the earliest cave paintings to the invention of the printing press – are social media to one degree or another. Professionals have always had to be cautious about what they say or write in public in case their words are interpreted as defamatory or unprofessional,” McDonald said.
The distinguishing factors of today’s online electronic social media, McDonald noted, are their speed and abundance. Reputational damage happens faster through social media and can be much harder to fix.
Yet, despite these risks, no organization in the 21st century can afford to ignore social media. The new APEGS strategic communications plan includes a goal to develop social media channels for the association.
As the association prepares to take this step, members can take comfort in the fact that this is a well-worn path. A number of other engineering and geoscience associations have taken the leap into the social media world.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta took a staged approach to social media. They began using Twitter and LinkedIn in 2010 but only moved on to Facebook in 2017. The association also occasionally uses YouTube, primarily for election videos. Most recently, they have started an Instagram account but, according to APEGA Assistant Director of Communications Gisela Hippolt-Squair, they have yet to use it much.
“We’re hiring a social media specialist this year. That will let us leverage Instagram and better leverage the other platforms,” Hippolt-Squair says.
The association’s content rules to this point have been straight-forward.
“We mainly promote APEGA events, volunteer opportunities and initiatives such as council election, AGM, awards and professional development sessions. Our communications department manages all of our social media, but we work with our other departments for content.”
Hippolt-Squair says the channels have met a need that came from members and have been quite popular.
“More and more, our members expect a social media presence and want to communicate with us this way. Our LinkedIn discussion group has always been popular. We have 19,500 members who actively discuss engineering and geoscience. We lightly monitor this group for appropriateness. The goal is for those interested in the professions to have a forum. We don’t allow any marketing, sales or recruiting on that channel.”
Overall, APEGA has encountered many positives from its expanding menu of social media and few downsides.
“As with all social media, we get the occasional troll, but otherwise engagement has been healthy and productive. But doing social media effectively is labour intensive. That’s why we’re hiring a social media specialist.”
Professional Engineers Ontario also has a long history with social media. It has a presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
According to Communications Manager Duff McCutcheon, the association’s content is quite matter-of-fact.
“We limit our content to PEO news and updates. Most of it is regulatory in nature,” McCutcheon says.
McCutcheon feels the association reaps a number of benefits from social media use.
“The two main benefits are that it’s basically a free communications medium, with the only cost being the time to post content. It’s also a great tool for establishing two-way communication with our stakeholders. We use social media to inform our followers, listen to what users are talking about, look for trends and engage with our audience on PEO initiatives and engineering regulatory subjects. And it’s all in real time.”
Even the commonly-cited downsides of social media provide positives, according to McCutcheon.
“Because it’s a two-way communications medium, people will sometimes use it to voice their complaints and grievances. However, that’s not always a bad thing as it gives us an opportunity to learn more about users’ complaints and to publicly address them when necessary. Oftentimes, we can use the opportunity to clear up misconceptions.”
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick moved into social media in 2011 and now uses three channels: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. To effectively reach its audiences, the association uses each channel in a slightly different way.
“I have actually just finished an audit of our public facing channels and as a result, we will be making minor adjustments to our approach and establishing a playbook. This will provide great efficiencies, consistency and enable anyone on the team to leverage social media with confidence,” says APEGNB Chief Communications Officer Heather MacLean.
In terms of benefits, MacLean notes that it is critical to think about your audience – who they are and how they like to consume information and where.
“As demographics change, we need to adjust our channels so that we continue to reach our primary audience. In terms of uptake, social media is really another expected channel to receive and share information and we are pleased with our growing engagement.”
A Part Of Doing Business
A recurrent theme in responses gathered from other associations is that social media is an expectation and a requirement in modern communication, both for associations and for their members.
“It would be hard to fathom engineering firms not leveraging social media in some capacity in 2019. It really is a course of normal business communications,” MacLean says.