Youth Engagement on Social Media: Key Factors to Consider Before Starting

Youth engagement and social media go hand in hand, especially in today's context. Where are all the young people you may ask? It’s no hidden secret that youth are online nowadays. Your organization is likely on these platforms as well, but the question is, are you maximizing social media as the tool that it could be to help with your youth engagement?  

Most assume that simply being on these platforms like Instagram and TikTok, is enough to reach youth and engage with them. However, you’ll find that you have to be a lot cleverer than that.

In 2024, all organizations should be on social media, but merely having an account isn’t sufficient enough to get youths' attention, engage them and then convert them into community members.  

But before you start pulling out your phone camera and filming funny videos with the intent of engaging your younger audience, here are three considerations to keep in mind when you are planning out how to use social media for your organization’s youth engagement strategy.

Consideration 1: Youths are not present on all platforms

Youth are likely to be present on several different platforms across social media, however, there are still some that are more used than others by the younger generation. Knowing and understanding these platforms is key to reaching your audience. It will also help you determine if your organization does need to join a new platform, and where to direct your energy, money and resources. Understanding the platforms that youth are on also signals to you what kind of content you need to start creating that will attract them and engage them. If they are on TikTok, then you have to create content that makes sense to you in the form of short-form video content. Understanding where your target demographic is, youth in this case, is the first step to deciding where to put your efforts when using social media.  

Consideration 2: Balancing Trends and High-Quality Content

Everyone has been tempted to jump onto an internet trend because they are fun. However, it’s important to understand the trends you’ll be associating your organization with and ask yourself if the trend can be adapted to your organization's brand, messaging, vision and mission.

Your mission in this context is to take a trend and strike a balance between being relevant and producing high-quality content that speaks to your brand, augments it and engages youth. Take, for example, Statistics Canada. They have taken trends and adapted them to suit the messages they were trying to communicate, all while staying true to their brand. That will be your job – to ensure that you are producing high-quality content that is fun, relevant and communicates your key messages, all the while engaging youth in the process.

Consideration 3: Converting Online Support into Real-Life Support

“Slacktivism” – we’ve all heard of it by now. Essentially, it’s the participation in a social cause using only social media or online tools but doing very little to support the cause offline. This is not intended to start a debate, but it is a reminder that people engaging online, specifically youth, in this case, does not mean they will support you offline. What this means for your organization is that you need to work smarter to ensure that the activism, support or community you build online can also be transported offline. In your social media strategy, I recommend considering how you can use social media as a tool to get people to know about your organization, engage with them and then find ways to bring that engagement offline.  

So why should you use social media to engage youth? Because social media is THE tool available to be used however you’d like. It’s somewhat easy to learn, there are a lot of resources on it and it is accessible for your target audience. Just remember, as great as it is to create an online community, you need to also start considering how to take it offline. Stay tuned for a few tips on how you can do that!