Survive on social media when people don’t welcome you

Posted on by Hongyue Guo

It’s not a good start to be labeled as an incompetent before a new job, especially when being the new Education Secretary.

The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) as President Trump’s education secretary on Feb 7th. Her confirmation was quite controversial. From her current media presence, she is considered as a billionaire who has no education-related working experience and supports vouchers and charter schools.

Supporters like a tweet, but opponents comment a tweet. Comments under Devos’s account are full of concern, disappointment and anger. People get to know more when the media is richer. To social media users, a one-minute confirmation hearing video is more persuasive than a simple sentence. And it’s more harmful when her performance was “clueless.”

Education matters because it is the future of a nation. People cares so they are complaining. Ignoring those opposing voices won’t help in the long run. Instead, criticism is a guide of direction. Social media is a great opportunity for DeVos to listen to people’s needs since she can’t talk to everyone in person. She needs to communicate with her staffs and make a plan working for the whole team. The more important is to go to different schools to see what kind of environment students are in. She can start with the schools people are talking about most on social media. After the visit, use videos and images, not just words to express her thoughts in order to build trust. People need to feel being heard. Interacting with Department of Education online is also a good way to show the team effort.

Next time when a person complains about lack of federal funds in her child’s school, what about replying on twitter with certain opinions and even going to that school in person?

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