Speaking Moylanguage #2
Irish linguistic supremacy, crisis communication, health misinformation, New Year reflections, strategic social media, changing personal social media topics.
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the second edition of Speaking Moylanguage! A quick overview for the uninitiated:
The newsletter is divided into three sections - stories, ideas and skills.
The content is mostly shared in Google Doc format, with comments enabled.
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1. Stories
Why are the Irish so much better at English than the English?
Back before COVID-times (who knows when exactly - time has taken on a kind of spongy, vague quality these days), I was kindly invited by the European Speechwriter Network to speak at a conference in the Collège des Irlandais in Paris. Cherry picking evidence and employing questionable mathematics, science and history, I endeavoured to prove that the Irish were objectively better at English than the English.
Principles of Crisis Communication: A Case Study
A few things in life seem simple until you have to do them. We have learned about some of those things in the current crisis; for example, cutting your own hair, starting a home exercise regime – or communicating in a crisis. Over the past year I organised a number of sessions in universities and elsewhere comparing the reactions of several communicators to the tragic death of Princess Diana - and this is what I learned.
2. Ideas
Correcting Health Misinformation Online
Alongside a pandemic, in 2020 the World Health Organisation declared an “infodemic”. A wave of misinformation on health topics ran rampant on social media, threatening public health and undermining efforts to fight the virus. This year, I spent a lot of time learning about how we can fight it. In this piece I reflect on the work of Dr. Leticia Bode and Dr. Emily Vraga, who study what works and what doesn’t in trying to correct health misinformation online.
Year Compass
I’m a big man for New Years Resolutions. I love them. However, this year I decided to try something else. At the recommendation of Laura May, I tried out the Year Compass. This year they had a special “Pandemic Supplement” that focused on confronting the loss of control, taking stock of the profoundly changed daily life, and assessing the health of your social circle . I found it a very gratifying and thoughtful exercise. I recommend it to anyone looking to spend a little time reflecting on 2020 and thinking about what they want from 2021.
No charge, no sign up needed and available in more than 50 language versions!
3. Skills
What problems can social media solve for my organisation?
Organisations get on social media for all sorts of reasons - and not always the right ones. Here I explore some of the questions you should ask to make sure that social media is solving problems and adding value for your organisation, as opposed to just adding to the workload.
Changing your sector? Change your social media too!
I have worked in a few different policy areas and sectors at this point in my career - in economics, trade, development and education. I’ve worked in corporate communication, sectoral communication and local communication. After an interesting exchange with a friend recently, I put down a few thoughts on how to use social media when changing your job - how to use it as a way to learn about your new area and how to use it to establish yourself in your sector.
Some recommendations
A few things of interest that kindly friends, colleagues and connections have shared:
Cass Hebron writes The Green Fix - a newsletter sharing information and practical resources for those interested in fighting the climate crisis and building a greener world.
Anca Scortariu’s awesome thread showing 2020 through the eyes of the European Commission’s design team.
The Social Media and Politics Podcast’s year in review episode is out - a 2.5 hour marathon round up of 2020 in political social media.
This gorgeous graphic showing patterns in film production from Bo McCready.