Ask a Manager: My boss has TERRIBLE ideas about social media

[minoanmiss]

I’m part of an academic research lab, and our PI desperately wants us (postdocs and Ph.D. students) to do an amazing job with our lab’s social media, but whenever it comes to concrete suggestions on how this would happen, he shoots down all of our ideas. This is ridiculously egregious. The first time my PI asked, I went to my friend who is a social media professional, and together we drew up a list of ideas (basically, fun science facts and photos of our adorable lab cats). This was destined for success! I mean, LAB CATS. Our PI refused, on the grounds that we had to show that we were very serious. The other postdocs and Ph.D. students proposed similarly practical, reasonable social media campaigns (interviews of us in front of attractions in our aspirational tourist city! March Madness style brackets of our favorite dromedary species!), only to have all of those rejected in turn. Instead, our PI wanted to post pictures of himself with notable politicians. You see, our PI was recently elected to a minor government position (think, member of the school board) and has since been rubbing elbows with those on the political circuit, and … you get the idea. When he asked for more suggestions, he got crickets, because … why. Why would anyone suggest anyone else only to be told they were wrong?


Later, my PI confided in me how sad and unreasonable it is that he is handling all the social media all himself, and none of the people who should be helping are. He has another meeting planned, and we are going to discuss social media again there.

Please send help. This is a recipe for a nightmare thankless time sink that takes away from our other work, work that actually furthers our careers, and I don’t know what to do other than feigning incompetence and being hopelessly noncommittal.

I can’t speak to the politics of academia at all, which can sometimes be quite different from other workplaces, but can you just decline? Can you say, “Social media isn’t my area of expertise, and I think I should focus my time on XYZ”? Or if that’s too straightforward, can you just be aggressively unhelpful about it — “Hmmm, I don’t know. You’ve heard all the suggestions I could think of.” … “I’m not sure what would be best, it’s not really my thing.” … etc.?

The other option would be for you and your fellow team members to push back on your PI’s preferred strategy, possibly suggesting some A/B testing so you get real data on what does and doesn’t work … but it doesn’t sound like you want to take that on, which is completely reasonable.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

This one goes out to all the beleaguered postdocs, past and present.

[sathari]

....OMG. This dude is basically soliciting in-kind campaign contributions from his academinions. I wish I were shocked. PI-Dude, your campaign website is your campaign website. Unless there is something about your research that is directly related to your elected position or the photo ops you're getting with local political figures are related to the research you're doing, or some combination of the two, do not cross the streams. Your political activities belong on social media accounts that are dedicated to your political activities, and the social media accounts for the research you're doing should be related to the research you're doing, and only if there is some concrete overlap between the two should they be interacting. (Also, I don't know exactly the terms and conditions of this particular academic research lab, but whatever institution or institutions are funding/supporting their research may have their own specific rules about how their resources can be used, i.e. possibly not to further the PI's political career unless it somehow directly relates to the purpose of the research--- though on the other hand a university may be quite glad to have faculty or whatever the PI is also serving in local government.)

ETA: Also, if the PI is posting photos of himself hobnobbing with local pols as part of his elected position and in some way passing that off as being recognition that the research project is receiving, that's another whole kind of problem--- making the research look more significant/well-received than it is is another place he could get in trouble with funding agencies etc.

[azurelunatic]

Someone has suggested the local equivalent of ombuds/university ethics, and OP has now seen this: https://www.askamanager.org/2022/10/my-boss-has-terrible-ideas-about-social-media-video-games-on-your-resume-and-more.html#comment-4050133

[ioplokon]

honestly, once you have tenure idek why you'd want to be on social media. enjoy your niche reputation and not having to self-promote!

but since he's determined, does the university have a pr team who can explain why this is the worst way to do it?

(also, social media for the lab isn't a bad idea! but this is clearly social media for the PI)

[lilysea]

honestly, once you have tenure idek why you'd want to be on social media. enjoy your niche reputation and not having to self-promote!

Because you still have to attract research grant funding...

100% agree that dude is going about this the wrong way, though.

[cereta]

Tenure isn't the last whistlestop in academia, and if dude's work is research-based, it's almost certainly at least partially grant-funded.

[minoanmiss]

Looks like you haven't been. Whatever you tried to post before probably just glitched.