You may have heard the phrase ‘chronically online’.

It’s a term for people who spend a lot of time (probably too much) on the internet, in whatever corner they prefer. And in my opinion, these are the people who should be looking after your social media.

The kind of people who remember none pizza with left beef, know who Spiders Georg is, ‘watched’ Goncharov and are ready to respond with “Sure hope it does” if anyone says “Roadwork ahead.”

I’ve been on the internet and part of online communities since the days of dial up internet. I’ve grown up on LiveJournal, Yahoo Groups, and Tumblr (where I still spend plenty of time) and because of that I can have entire conversations in GIF and there’s probably not an internet meme, viral story or online scandal I’m not aware of.

You may be asking how any of this helps me, and others like me, do our jobs better. And the answer is that a deeper understanding of how the internet works, it’s history and culture, the language and the people on it, allows us to create better content, reach wider audiences, and avoid missteps.

Here are some more benefits of relying on people who are fluent in internet:

• We’re able to mitigate risk by knowing what campaigns didn’t work and why so that mistakes aren’t repeated.
• We have seen stories (both positive and negative) circulate across channels enough times, we know exactly how they are going to spread.
• We have an encyclopaedic knowledge of memes, understand what they mean, and can dish out the perfect GIF reply.
• We know the proper etiquette of a forum and how it’s different from a Facebook group, a Discord server or a Reddit Subreddit.
• We are fluent in the evolving languages used on individual channels allowing us to communicate easily with our audience.
• We see viral moments early and can jump on them at the right time, not two days late.
• We have our finger on the pulse of the collective mood and are attuned to political sensitivities.

So how do you even become fluent in internet? It takes time and a lot of it. I will spend hours scrolling through feeds, swiping through TikToks, setting up accounts on new sites, falling down YouTube rabbit holes, and reading articles.

Whilst most of my internet explorations and learning comes outside of the 9-5, it’s part of my job to keep up to date with the latest in digital news. I love that I get to spend some of my day getting to grips with WeChat or clicking refresh on an account currently going viral (who remembers #DrummondPuddleWatch?) and I love getting to share what I’ve learnt with others even more.

If you’re leading a comms or digital team, my request is that you allow your team the time to explore the depths of the internet. I strongly believe that it should actually be in their job descriptions to spend time just being online. I promise you it’ll be worth it.

However….

While I think being fluent in the internet is important in a digital role, I understand it’s not always going to be feasible. If you’re the sole social media person or it’s just a small part of your job, I don’t want you to feel like you have to spend all your free time exploring forums, scrolling TikTok and watching YouTube videos.

That’s what I’m here for.

I know that years of making the internet my home combined with the same amount of time learning everything I can about social media makes me a better at what I do. I’m here to use that knowledge to help you be better at social. So get in touch.

Finally….

If you’re keen to up your internet knowledge, there are some great social accounts to follow and newsletters to sign up to which will serve up all the most important information in easier to manage chunks. I’m in the process of putting together a great list of the best places to keep yourself in the know, so keep an eye out for it.

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Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below.

Looking for digital marketing advice for your business or charity? Get in touch using the contact link to see how I can help you.