Social Lives 125 | Mind the (Pay) Gap
Empty platitudes don't pay the bills
While I'll never charge for 'Social Lives,' it does take half a day to put together each week. I realise that times are super tight for everyone right now, but if you enjoy reading this newsletter and can spare the cost of a pint it would be appreciated. If you can't do that, please forward this on to your friends, your lovers, your enemies and your mothers.
MIND THE (PAY) GAP
This is going into serious ‘why would you say something so controversial yet so brave’ territory, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of International Women’s Day. While I identify as non-binary, I’ve been considered a woman in most of the jobs I’ve worked in and it always sticks in my craw when I see large organisations patting themselves on the back for the achievements of the women who work there, who they treat like total shit. It’s really easy to post a nice picture of your ‘women friendly workplace’ on your LinkedIn profile while subsequently ignoring that women tend to be paid less than men, are often penalised for getting pregnant, or are made to beg for flexible working so they can look after young children.
So, you can imagine the glee that I - and many others - felt on Tuesday when we saw the appearance of @PayGapApp on the Twitter TL. Designed by Francesca Lawson, a freelance copywriter from Manchester (big up that Mancunian excellence), and her partner Ali Fensome, a software developer, @PayGapApp quote-tweeted big brands’ fluffy IWD posts with information on their pay gaps. To say it caused chaos would be an understatement. I’d loved to have been a fly on the wall in various social media agencies on Tuesday when they realised they would have to pull their carefully curated posts. I also wonder how many of those agencies were prepared to tweet unironically about what a great place they were to work. @PayGapApp did exactly what it was supposed to do - start a real conversation about the shallowness of using one day in the year to shine a spotlight on women, only to snatch it away when they start to ask difficult questions.
I’ve seen some people say that they felt uncomfortable with @PayGapApp because it led to these brands’ social media accounts receiving abuse. There is a point to be made there, especially as social media is a ‘pink collar’ industry. The people responding to those tweets are usually women, and usually underpaid women at that. But it’s too easy for employers to hide behind fluffy PR that obscures the reality of people’s working conditions. This is especially prevalent in the digital industry, which often makes a big noise about their cool offices, ping pong tables, beer fridges and free pizza on Fridays, as if these things make up for long hours and terrible pay.
I feel that there’s a real discussion to be had around salaries in social, and why so many agencies are so bad at disclosing what their people earn. My first proper social media manager job in 2013 paid me £30k per annum, going up to £31.5k after 12 months. That was almost ten years ago and things haven’t really changed. Granted, this is a relatively good wage and above the UK median average, but the job was in London. Over the past ten years, the price of everything from food to rent has increased significantly. Shouldn’t wages be rising to accommodate this?
For all that it claims to be a forward thinking industry, there’s still a touch of that old school mentality in advertising. The ‘three Martini lunch’ may be a thing of the past, but there are still many agencies out there where it’s presumed that men do the bulk of the creative work and women do the ‘soft skills’, like dealing with clients and sorting out social media. I’ve worked for too many agencies where the male creative directors received all the credit for ideas devised by female creatives. No amount of slick PR can disguise the fact that, if your agency's mentality is stuck in the 1980s, the pay gap probably will be too.
As a society, we need to be less touchy when talking about money and comparing what we earn with our peers. @PayGapApp reveals an inconvenient truth - that these things are often hidden in plain sight. And no matter how much big organisations want to hide it, this conversation is not going away any time soon.
JOBS BOARD
Freelance: CYOA Media are looking for a full time freelance Social Media Co-ordinator to join their team.
Freelance: I spotted this tweet from social media consultant Sally Biddle saying that she’s looking for a freelance Social Media Producer to join her agency.
Freelance: Taster are a restaurant group looking for a freelance Social Media Copywriter to support them with ad-hoc work.
Freelance: The Barbican are advertising for a casual (aka freelance) Social Media Assistant.
Remote: Sue Ryder are recruiting an Online Community Manager.
INTERESTING THING OF THE WEEK: HOW LONG SHOULD A SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO BE?
Ah yes, the eternal question - just how long should a social video be if you want people to watch it? There’s been as many answers to this as there are social media platforms, but if you’re looking for some trusted stats from a trusted source, the nice people at Hootsuite have written this blog post containing key stats for each platform. They’ve also included some handy tips on how you can make your videos more impactful - yes to adding subtitles, no to making them 20 minutes long.
IN THE NEWS
Facebook is testing a new Desktop layout (Mashable)
Facebook Group admins can now auto-reject posts that fact-checkers have debunked (The Verge)
Instagram has removed the Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps from App Stores (Social Media Today)
TikTok has suspended its service in Russia (The Guardian)
Twitter has launched ‘Twitter Shops’ (Twitter Blog)
THINGS I LIKE
Emily Oram’s football newsletter, The Way U Talk About Ball, is always a great read - as well as an excellent source of football thirst traps. This week’s edition contains a must-read section on footballers and social media, and the often uneasy relationship between the two (The Way U Talk About Ball)
How deceit drives the influencer economy (Huck Magazine)
I adored this piece about people in their 50s, 60s and 70s who love to dress (and live) loud (The Guardian)
I know that no one asked, but just in case, Yes I will be baking Olia Hercules’s incredible looking Apple Curd Cake this weekend (Nigella.com)
I feel sad that we no longer live in the era of pizza restaurants featuring singing animatronic mice (Decoder Ring)
CAT OF THE WEEK: OPIE
This grumpy little man is Opie, a truly A* bald cat. His Mum Rachel says that he “is the most perfect pet, an absolute lap dog of a cat who will howl if not sat on a lap.” Opie went missing last year for five days, but was eventually found safe and sound, although he “still tries to escape on occasion.” Escape artist, warmer of laps, fashion icon…is there anything Opie can’t do?
SEND ME YOUR CATS! If you'd like your kitty to be featured in the best (and only) newsletter to feature social media news and cats, email me!
There will be no edition of ‘Social Lives’ next week as I’ll be off doing feats of strength at a powerlifting competition. See you in two weeks!
