Among the social media dross – a moment of clarity
Amid the sea of grief which engulfed the global cricketing community following the tragic death of Phillip Hughes, it was one man’s simple gesture that gave everyday Australians an inspiring avenue to share their respect of a young man taken too soon.
Wanting to pay tribute to the popular sportsman and offer condolences to the player’s family, friends and team mates, a Sydney dad photographed a lone bat and hat and posted it on social media under the hashtag #putoutyourbats
Little did he know that his heartfelt tribute would spread across the globe like wildfire.
What makes this gesture even more poignant is that, despite #putoutyourbats trending globally and drawing tributes from far and wide, its originator had no other intention than to express his sorrow and pay tribute to a young man who passed away just days shy of his 26th birthday.
While the hashtag subtly invited others to show their respects, there was no call to action, no incentive, no data collection, and no ulterior motive. Not even a request to “share my post if you care about Phillip”, nor an equally annoying call out for likes (“Can we get a 100,000 likes for Phillip Hughes?”).
Just #putoutyourbats. It was pure. It was simple. It was clear. It was genuine. And boy, did it resonate. Within minutes of going live, images of cricket bats and hats outside Australian homes, businesses, schools and sporting clubs flooded Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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And it didn’t stop there. From TIME Magazine to Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, from world class cricket teams to the local Under-9s squad in regional Australia, they all paid their respect. Soccer legend Tim Cahill posted a photograph, as did ANZ Stadium, Arsenal FC and Michael Vaughn.
They all stopped for a moment and put out their bats for Phillip Hughes.
"I simply can’t see how thousands of people taking one second to click the ‘like’ button is tangibly going to translate into helping anyone experiencing hardship."
Social media has become ingrained in our daily lives, and if you’re like me, you’re probably of the view that there’s a lot of activity on those platforms that is meaningless, annoying and attention-seeking (at best).
Many people only use social media in their private lives, but for me it’s also part of my job. Working in strategic communications includes advising clients on social media strategy and content, and it’s often a fine line between engaging with people by delivering creative and useful content or openly pushing brand messages, irrelevant posts and just plain trash.
Needless to say, social media has taken its place in our lives, and there will always be the good, the bad and the outright ugly. To this day, I can’t believe the atrocity of an insurance company overseas using the MH17 tragedy to flog its life insurance policies on social media. What an unbelievably inappropriate act of disrespect.
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An extreme example, yes, but there are plenty of other incidents where social media practices have been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. So called ‘slacktivism’ is one of those.
Used correctly, social media can be a great way of raising awareness of an issue – but while some may consider people liking a post about what needs to be done to combat poverty among children as a powerful method of spreading the word, the cynic in me just doesn’t buy it. I simply can’t see how thousands of people taking one second to click the ‘like’ button is tangibly going to translate into helping anyone experiencing hardship.
And don’t even get me started on the posts that go viral, claiming that for each ‘like’ $1 will be donated to a certain cause – without ever disclosing who donates that money, or providing further details on the timeframe or fundraising goal. And strangely enough, no updates are ever made to let us know that the $287,917 was actually handed over. But the message gets shared, so objective achieved, right?
Don’t get me wrong, great social media campaigns are being developed every day, and I don’t want to play down the immense work that goes into those projects. Great, well planned strategy developing great campaigns can deliver powerful results.
But it was the genuine simplicity of #putoutyourbats that made its impact so great.
It wasn’t a slick marketing strategy developed around a multi-layered campaign, it was just one suburban Dad’s way of sharing his grief, and the world embraced it.
That’s probably why it grew so organically and achieved something most social media strategists can only dream about. It unified people from all over the world. It showed us all what social media can actually achieve. It created a social spirit and brought people together, uniting them with a shared sadness and sentiment.
Personally, I was incredibly touched and teary as I scrolled through the hundreds of images for #putoutyourbats.
It reminded me once again, that the simplest message is often the most powerful.
Leigh McClusky is the company principal of McClusky & Co Strategic Communications.
