Doing 2022 better...
So, hello 2022.
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post on the website. Looking back to my last post in April 2021, it seems odd reflecting on what has changed (or not) since then.
There is a distinct tinge of optimism there that the pandemic would be fading away by now. As I write in January 2021, we know that it is still very much with us, and putting huge strain on the NHS, who are of course, some of my most valued partners.
However, the more things change, as they say…
Twitter is still driving me mad (more of which later). But thankfully, I’m still working with a community of incredible clients, doing amazing work.
The start of a new year brings an opportunity for reflection and to think about what’s important over the coming months. Though I have no overly ambitious New Year’s Resolutions this time round; there are some things I’m looking forward to, and hoping (possibly in vain) for.
New projects, new colleagues, new ideas
In spite of it all, 2021 was a really busy year here at Grey Fox. Some longer-term projects came to a close, and as they did, new opportunities came into light.
I did a lot of comms strategy work, and a big summer public awareness campaign among lots of other great projects.
But, I have to be honest, I’m with a lot of people who freelance, and many clients I speak to, who say how much of a slog 2021 was at times. The long bleak winter, juggling home schooling, emerging after the second wave of COVID with a lot of uncertainty, working in public services already under huge pressure; generally running to stand still. I know that last year felt like an especially hard working year.
I did want to spend some time exploring new areas and concepts last year, around community wellbeing. I’m really interested, for example, in how new approaches to the built environment and community development can positively impact health and happiness of people.
Due to being super busy, this exploration didn’t go a lot further than a lot of reading, podcast listening, and having some really interesting conversations. It’s an area I’m keen to look into again this year.
I’m also looking forward to working more on a project exploring inter-cultural relations, and unconscious bias in the workplace. It’s a collaborative project that is testing my own assumptions and biases; and I’m looking forward to sharing more about it soon.
So my (possibly vain) hope, is that 2022 is the year where we all start to be able to carve out some headspace to explore a bit more, and get involved in new concepts and ideas.
Making the NHS better for all
I love working with NHS organisation. And I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to work on the comms strategies for some really important improvement programmes.
I’ll be doing some work in cancer, and a lot of work in workforce planning and development. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the latter in the last quarter of 2021, including some on-location video work, which I’m excited to share soon.
“As we emerge from the pandemic” (a phrase that hopefully we can finally retire in 2022), there is so much opportunity and appetite to make the NHS the true envy of the world in terms of patient outcomes, population health and employee experience. I’m excited and grateful to be working with some real innovators in their field to make it happen.
The NHS is under huge pressure and is enduring generational challenges, no doubt. But I know that there are some amazing people thinking differently and driving change to make it better for all of us. I’m proud to be supporting their work.
Indefinite Twitter Hiatus
What I wrote last April about Twitter, sadly hasn’t really changed.
Twitter still provides unhealthy distraction. It can be a mindless time-sap. It also amplifies the worst aspects of the human nature.
I did ultimately break my self-enforced Twitter ban, and even wrote about how I was going to have a healthy relationship with it. It worked for a while. It was nice to reconnect with people again.
But, before I knew it, I was back to vacant doom-scrolling.
Just like last year, it has become bad for my attention span, and mental health. So I’ve logged out again. I plan on my hiatus being indefinite (if not permanent) this time. It’s a shame. I’ve always liked Twitter. I’ve made lots of real-world friends on it, and it has been important for developing the business.
But there are bigger issues this time. I’ve come to the conclusion that the social media business model is entirely broken, and locked in a perpetual cycle of harm. I’m working on a project at the moment which explores online safety, and what governments around the world are attempting to do to bring about greater regulation of the space(s); that has really opened my eyes to the issue.
I understand that any type of regulation comes as an anathema to the free-wheeling, anything-goes, free-speech-at-any-cost utopian vision of the Silicone Valley Tech Bros. And I kind of get that.
At its best, and in earlier years, I loved Twitter for its role in democratising information and publishing; where every user was (in theory) operating on a level playing field. It was, as this old blog post describes, my favourite social medium.
However, over time, as the main social channels have become essentially advertising platforms, and big money has started pouring into them, it’s clear to me that the utopian vision of online “free spaces” allied with huge commercial imperatives is no longer workable in practice.
Most comms people won’t need this explaining but here goes anyway. Very simply, Twitter and Facebook (and others) are brilliant advertisers for two main reasons: they have unrivalled access to users’ data on their lives and habits (that they all freely give over in exchange for “free” use of the platform); and they’re brilliant at holding their users’ attention. They’re especially good at holding my attention in particular, distracting me from more important things.
I’m glad to see Twitter banning certain high-profile accounts with a track record of pedalling mis and dis-information. This is an important step in the right direction. But the fact is that the platform knows that what keeps users’ attention the most is conflict, polarised opinion, and “pile-ons”, and there remains a huge amount of high profile “blue tick” users who thrive on this kind of environment.
The algorithms promote this type of thing to you as they see it as engaging, which, I guess it is. It gets big numbers. And many people secretly love sitting back with the popcorn watching things unfold in real time.
But this is just promoting negativity. It’s rewarding unkindness, and misinformation. It’s a broken model, and until some regulation comes in to solve or mitigate this, I’ve decided that I’m officially out for the time being.
I have regularly used social media advertising for my projects. As an advertiser, I love it. It’s easy, cheap and unbelievably effective. But on a personal level, I feel like I can’t go on blindly advocating for it without being cognisant of its negative, and in my opinion, deeply unethical side.
Sure, social can have its place as part of a wider comms strategy, but I’m committed to finding new and more positive ways to engage people as part of my work this year.
Can a modern comms professional get by with not being on Twitter? We may be about to find out…
But I’m always up for a chat. So you can find me on LinkedIn, or you could just phone or email me? Who knows, it may catch on…
Some highly recommended podcast listening
When I started writing this blog back in 2018, I used to have a section called “podcast of the week”. I spent a lot of time on trains back then, and walking long distances between client meetings. It was ideal for lots of podcast listening. It was entirely normal to listen to a different podcast every day.
I have less time these days, sadly. A thrice-weekly run, or 5-10 minutes in the car on the way back from the school run seem to be my most opportune podcast listening opportunities. So I have to pick wisely.
There are some politics podcasts that I love, in particular this, and this. But as part of my only trying to surround myself with positive things, and cut out some of the noise of life, I’ve lapsed from being the super-fan of them that I once was, bar the occasional listen.
But thankfully, I’ve been absolutely hooked on “Things Fell Apart” by Jon Ronson, which is available now on BBC Sounds, and soon to be out on other providers.
It’s an absolutely fascinating dive into the origins of the culture wars, examining human stories, and seeing how sometimes serendipitous events led to chains of events in which, in Ronson’s words, things fell apart.
If a podcast about culture war sounds not all that appealing, trust me and check it out. They’re all based on individual human stories. Ronson has an amazing ability to empathise with his subjects, without any obvious judgement. This means that he’s able to tell stories that are sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, sometimes inspiring; but always utterly gripping.
I think like other stuff he’s done (in particular his book “So you’ve been publicly shamed”) it’s a brilliant listen for comms professionals.
To start with, they tell the stories of “normal” people brilliantly, but they also explore how the basis of how we engage with people that are different with us can impact each other. It shows how assumption without engagement can be dangerous. It shows how tribalism works in the digital age; where certain belief systems have emerged from, how we can use empathy to bring disparate people together, and sadly what can happen when there is a total breakdown of that empathy.
And if your role involves interviewing people, or engaging people as part of co-production, Ronson’s personable, empathetic, non-judgemental style of questioning is a masterclass in how to gain people’s trust and help them to open up.
It’s the best podcast I’ve heard in years. If you don’t feel you want to commit to a full 8 episodes, at least check out Episode 3 “A Miracle”. I challenge you to listen to the end without developing a lump in your throat, and a tear in the eye.
Maybe meeting more people IRL this year….(hopefully)
The couple of occasions I did get out last year, in particular on a couple of road-trip video shoots, were probably the most enjoyable of the year.
I’m a big advocate of home working, and the flexibility it brings to people’s lives. But I was rather hoping to have done a bit less of it last year. I do really hope 2022 allows us to get together a bit more and exchange ideas in real life and in real time. I’ve done some great stuff and made some great relationships on Zoom (and even MS Teams), but I still miss getting out and meeting people for real.
My big bag of post-it notes and sharpie pens are desperate for an outing at some point too. Hopefully this year, they get to do their thing again.
And hopefully those serendipitous conversations over coffee will soon be back again. Do give me a shout, if you’re around the North West and fancy a chat at some point. I love to talk…
So that’s what 2022 looks like for me: less noise, new ideas, and helping good people to do good things.
I’m looking forward to it. I hope you are too…
