Giveaway Alert: Share Your Thoughts on AI in Social Media!

Hey @Jonathan Zuluaga: AI in Marketing is all over the internet, the trending topic at many marketing conferences, and the subject of many ebooks and reports over the past year or so. 

Things I love about how AI can help support SMMs: If you have to generate the same post three different times -- such as a webinar promo post with 3 different time-stamped promos, the AI feature in Sprout Social is awesome. 

I can click the button and get 3 different suggestions for new ways to promote that same session without using language that feels to similar to the prior post. I do still tweak what AI generates, but it saves me so much time and writer’s block on a busy day to not have to try to re-invent the hook and the CTA for the same webinar 3x. 

Challenges of using AI in Social: As someone who manages a team of Social Media Content Creators, I find the existence of less-than-stellar AI tools like ChatGPT not great. It creates a whole new dynamic where I have to create, set, and maintain boundaries with our Social Team in terms of what ChatGPT can be used for in terms of copywriting (synonym look ups, etc.) and/or what AI social post writing tools are allowed (Sprout’s on-platform tool.)

We work with an agency for one of our regional LinkedIn pages and the prior agency we used pretty much always had ChatGPT create post copy for those posts. And on my end it meant a lot of heavy editing to tweak those posts so that they felt like they were written by a human. And I know there are a lot of agencies who do social copy creation that now rely almost solely on ChatGPT without actually understanding how to prompt it to create verbiage that will be on-brand and reflect the usual tone and voice of that brand. 

There is also the risk with tools like ChatGPT -- since we often work so far ahead in social -- that if you’re using ChatGPT or an AI tool like Bard to create copy for a top-secret PR announcement (acquisition, etc.), you could be putting your organization at risk by feeding the AI tool those details before they’re live anywhere else. Especially for some of the biggest brands across the globe -- like our customer base -- that poses a big risk. And again, it’s up to me to make sure every member of our Social Team, plus the agency we work with is aligned in understanding that no confidential not-yet-released content can ever be fed into the free, baseline ChatGPT. 

PS: The brand whose Social presence I manage does a lot of webinars on the risks of AI and how to mitigate them - we’ve got one coming up on Aug. 27th in case anyone’s interested. 

One aspect I love about how AI is shaping social media today is its ability to personalize user experiences. AI algorithms can analyze users' preferences, behaviors, and interactions to curate content that is most relevant and engaging for them. This personalization can enhance user satisfaction and engagement by showing them posts, ads, and recommendations that align with their interests and needs.

However, one downside is that this same personalization can lead to echo chambers and filter bubbles. By consistently showing users content that aligns with their existing beliefs and preferences, AI can inadvertently reinforce biases and limit exposure to diverse perspectives. This can contribute to polarization and reduce opportunities for constructive dialogue and understanding across different viewpoints.

I’m somewhere in the middle when it comes to AI and how it is influencing/shaping social media. 

On one hand, AI can be a great tool for inspiration. If you’re feeling stuck on how to express a thought for a social media post, AI tools can work to help (possibly - and I say that with utmost honesty here) spark further inspiration.

On the other? Using AI on social media is a slippery slope. One day, it can help spark inspiration, as I just mentioned. The next day someone could use it every day to shape their social media campaigns and/or strategies instead of collaborating with team members or doing outside research (such as looking into audience insights, engagement and more) to make more informed decisions.

Totally agree with you! AI tools can be useful, but in my experience, it can put a lot more work on someone instead of saving time in the day to day.

Might be a hot take, but AI content creation is terrible.

AI stock photography doesn’t look realistic - there’s missing or additional fingers, or it’s too airbrushed. There’s not much to work with.

AI photo editing misses the mark - again, it doesn't look realistic, or it’s a very bad photoshop job.

AI copy is impersonal - you can tell a robot wrote it. It’s corny, despite telling it the tonality you want.

What AI is amazing for is idea generation, proofreading and sifting through data. Other than that, when people say AI is going to take over our jobs, I share examples of what AI can generate, and it’s comical. 

I saw a meme yesterday on IG that said “AI is coming for your jobs - ok hope they like having a meeting to discuss whether we should have a meeting to discuss a meeting” and it was an immediate reshare LOL

I am obsessed with ChatGPT. In fact, I tell people I am dating “him” because “he” just gets me. He has made my life in social media significantly easier, but also assists me in meal planning, resume updating, presentation building and more! I still have to gently correct ChatGPT every once in a while, but no relationship is perfect. 😂

AI is such a tricky topic right now for me in the world of social. On one hand, I like the idea of AI being able to take the thoughts in my head and shape them into a more understandable message, and even get some A/B testing ideas for captions within ads. Some days when the creative juices are running low, AI has stepped up to the plate and helped me not to fall behind in the copywriting part of social management. 

One thing that I am having a hard time with is what is being categorized as AI. I was chatting with a photographer friend about AI who was talking about some of her professional photos getting flagged as AI in social platforms because of some of the tools that she uses in the editing process. I know @Sarah Davidson mentioned AI photography not looking realistic in a note on this topic and I so agree, but I need better clarification from Instagram and other platforms in their marking of AI, so we aren’t getting confused with real-life photographers using tools to improve their workflow. 

Also I need Instagram to know that I literally never want to use Meta AI. I always accidentally click on it when I am working in DMs, and it is like “What do you want Meta AI to look into for you?” and I am like literally nothing, nothing for the rest of time. 

AI can be so helpful, but I’m beyond tired of every single platform shoving new (and most of the time un-necessary) AI tools in my face to do something I’ve never needed AI to do before.

Want to write a LinkedIn post? USE OUR NEW AI TOOL, IT’S GREAT YOU’LL LOVE IT!

Want to look for a stock photo on Adobe? TOO BAD, HERE’S 4 PAGES OF AI GENERATED SMOOTH TEXTURE 6 FINGER HANDS!

Want to ask a question about a product? HERE, TRY OUR AI CHATBOT THAT TOALLY KNOWS HOW TO HELP!

None of it feels authentic anymore. It’s like we’re all watching a bunch of bots yelling at each other. 

Like: The AI for Alternative Text in Sprout Social. It’s great to use as a starting point. Edits of course need to be made, but it’s time-saver to have something quick to work from. 

Dislike: Ambiguity in my organization/field on what features/aspects of AI are permissible, recommended, etc. We’re in a time of boundary exploration and limit-setting.