The social media work is full of controversies each and every day. Business is not immune to this either. Just imagine if Jesus had a Twitter account and you were His Virtual Assistant. Now I can imagine things getting “Sporting” on Twitter. As a business owner or a virtual assistant. my hope is that you might even learn a few things that could help you recover from #Fails and disasters.
This blog post will look at what happens when controversy hits and what can be done about it. This post is not meant to be disrespectful to anyone; not even Jesus. With that in mind, I cannot think of anything more controversial that “What” Jesus might say today on Twitter and “How” He might respond to that controversy. Let’s see what learning we can take away from this post and apply it to our social media endeavors.
Now I am going to rely on what I have read to illustrate some points, and apply them to Twitter in today’s climate. This is not a right and wrong debate. It’s all about what we can learn from these examples. It’s all about “What do I do next?” when you work with a very controversial person or when controversy comes knocking at your business door. So let’s get at it and get learning.
(1) Here is the first situation for you: Jesus had the ability to really create a lot of emotional responses around Him. Seems like what ever He did, the religious folks got upset. People literally tried to kill Him. In today’s climate, Jesus would probably see the same things happening. I suspect that the people today, who are supposed to appreciate Jesus, will end up hating Him. Now imagine you are posting on Jesus’ behalf on Twitter. Get used to it… You are going to see lots of trolls and lots of hate pointed right at you. It might even get a little discouraging. You think? Here’s some help for your woes.
So what’s a VA to do in this case? When negative comments are coming at you, you need to analyse the situation. Here’s some points to consider:
- Don’t take it personal. You’re not Jesus. You’re just His VA.
- Remain professional. Jesus would probably tell you… “Don’t return evil for evil”.
- Always wait before you respond. When your blood is boiling, that’s not the time to be tweeting. Walk away and respond with a cooler head.
- Always be respectful. You might not share the same views as others. You can agree to disagree and move on.
- If you really had to, you could block the individual. You might even have to report them to the authorities. It depends on what is coming at you. Remember that you are not a punching bag. Don’t take abuse. Get help when it becomes necessary.
(2) Here is the second situation: As a high-profile Twitter account, Jesus’ account is going to draw a lot of followers. And there will be lots of engagement. But as Jesus’ VA, you had better let Him do the talking. His followers will get really mad if you try to fake it and answer as Jesus. I don’t think Jesus would be happy with you winging it either.
Here’s a few thoughts on what you can do as Jesus’ VA:
- Make sure you have a Twitter handle to let people know that you are responding on Jesus’ behalf. For example, if I was the VA, my handle would be ^JB. That’s short for Jeff Brown. This helps others understand you is responding. It will help avoid as much confusion as possible with others.
- There will be lots of questions from followers, and you know that everyone probably will not get a tweet back. So what should you do? You could acknowledge the community as a whole and let one response touch as many people as possible. Let your tweets reach as many people as possible at once and make them feel they are all acknowledged.
- Don’t automate responses from Jesus. Sooner or later, peeps will put it all together and be really upset. Just know that your responses will be limited as a VA. Do what you can and be gracious to everyone.
- Empathize with His community, but don’t sympathize. Empathy allows you to feel the pain, but allows you to keep a distance so that you will be able to respond. Sympathy puts everyone in the same dirty mud puddle. You won’t be much help here in the mud.
(3) Here’s a third situation: Sooner or later, someone’s going to record Jesus on video doing something that many won’t like. Just imagine Jesus getting recorded on video telling the woman caught in the act of adultery to “Stop committing adultery” after He forgave her. Now that’s going to go over like a lead balloon today. The really is that you cannot please everyone all the time. And when Jesus says or does something controversial, there’s going to be fall out.
So what’s a VA to do in this case? Here’s some thoughts:
- There’s going to be various responses out there, both good and bad when controversy is involved. As Jesus’ VA, you need to quickly check with Jesus as to how He wants to handle it. You might set up some responses ahead of time. As the VA, I want you to remember that you did not get yourself in this mess. It’s up to Jesus to respond, not you. He directs. If you try to fake it on controversy, you will be crucified; excuse the pun.
- Don’t try to deny what’s on the video. It’s there, plain for all to see. Work with the situation. Acknowledge it. People may not be happy with the situation. But they will get extremely upset if they think you are trying to distance yourself from what they see as the facts.
- Realize that Jesus’ comments will generate a lot of responses. You are not going to be able to answer them all. You might even have a FAQ section to direct people for further reading.
- Know that the problem evolves around how people perceive the issue. Two people can look at the same thing and see it very differently. Some will side with Jesus, and some will side with the woman. Both parties believe that they are right. This is a hard spot to be in. But when you are Jesus’ VA, there is not shortage on controversy. You are Jesus’ VA and He is the boss.
- Make sure you don’t take your work home with you. You are going to need to get a rest. Your mind needs rest. If you do not calm yourself, you are going to get sick. [Been there and done that as an automotive service advise for 6.5 years.]
- Sometimes we can agree to disagree with the issue. It does not mean we have a hate on for each other. We simply do not agree on the issue. This happens everyday. That’s why we have judges in many circumstances.
If you are going to be Jesus’ VA, make sure you get paid well to do it. It’s going to take a toll on you. Make sure you are compensated well for what you do. It bothers me when I see businesses people selling themselves short of their true value. Get paid for what you are really worth and don’t apologize for it either.
(4) So here’s a fourth situation: Sooner or later, you are going to step into some controversy. I trust and hope it won’t be as bad as what Jesus might get into. But it could be bad. Real bad. I suspect that it might arise from something you said and something you have done. You are even going to #Fail.
Here’s my thoughts on how you should handle controversy or a #Fail:
- If you created the mess, you fix it. Don’t pass the buck. Don’t blame others for your mistakes.
- Fix it fast. The longer you wait, the less people think you care.
- Don’t wait till you get the perfect response. It will be too late by then.
- Don’t try to make excuses. Own the thing and man up or woman up. If you are wrong, you are wrong. You don’t need to act like a politician here. People will appreciate your humility.
- Realize that you are not super human. You will make mistakes. They will happen when you are working hard. Fail forward as John Maxwell says.
In summary: here’ a parting thought for you to consider:
- As Jesus VA, you are probably going to see a lot more good things than bad. Make sure you put everyday into perspective. Some days might be hard, but I bet that there will be more “Better days”. If you have more bad days than good, it’s time to get out. Get another job. Remember that social media takes a lot of work.
- Always remember that you are in a place where many others probably want to be. Work hard and do your best to stay there. Always keep learning. It bet it will be rewarding in the end 🙂
