When the world’s richest man wields his social media platform as a weapon, what chance does the truth have?
by Robin Marshall
Recently Elon Musk decided to take aim at Oldham in reference to child sexual exploitation (CSE). CSE is unquestionably abhorrent, and those who have been impacted by it must have their voices heard and be believed. However, I doubt the sincerity of Musk’s approach as he perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes in order to attack the UK's Government.
As a person working in Oldham Council's communications team, the challenge was how to respond to his battering posts on X (formerly Twitter), the platform he owns.
We were inundated with press interest from national newspapers, who mostly seemed to accept his narrative without question. There was also international interest. One reporter came over from France to speak to people on the street about it. It mattered not how accurate the claims were, whether they were based on evidence or not. It mattered only what was said and by who, how loud the voice was. Online agitators quickly jumped on the issue looking for attention. But also those with genuine concern about a sensitive subject. Going back with a formal statement to the press on our own social media channels would reach a pitiful amount of people compared to the millions of Musk. It didn’t feel like bringing a knife to a gunfight. It felt like bringing a sponge. The damage was done before we even knew what hit us. We were moving in slow motion compared to the pace of the extremely online.
Media pile-ons are of course nothing new. Newspapers can do it, but the sheer speed at which social media moves, and the lack of regulation, present a major challenge for communicators.
So if attention is the currency of the day. How can organisations, often with small teams and resources, hope to compete with those who have massive followings and reach? In our case a billionaire who owns the very platform we were using to respond.
To start with we must better use the tools available to us and adapt quicker. Podcasts, YouTube and TikTok are some of the methods used to quickly spread messages. We must get away from press releases and formal statements and meet people where they are. We must master these tools if we hope to have our voices heard.
That’s not to say traditional media is dead. But it is dying. Public service broadcasts are declining in popularity each year. As are newspapers, both in print and digital format. Four of the top ten individual news sources are now social media platforms. Facebook continues to be the most-used social media source (reaching 30% of UK adults), while TikTok has been growing in popularity as a source of news, reaching 11% of UK adults, up from 1% in 2020.*
An interesting side effect of social media and the 24-hour news cycle is that nothing stays a story for long. In a week Oldham was forgotten about by the media. There was another outrage to shout about.
This makes mastering the media tools available on the internet even more important. Loud voices in a crowded space mean we must fight harder and adopt trends quicker if we hope to have a voice. The alternative is allowing the truth to be determined by online trolls like Musk, who will use hate to advance their own interests and to divide our communities.
*Ofcom, News consumption in the UK 2024 report, 10 September 2024
Robin Marshall is communications manager at Oldham Council
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