How to boost South Africa’s image on social media – Hashtag SA’s advice

media update’s Nikita Geldenhuys asked David what he thinks about South Africa’s image on social media and what the benefits are of improving this image.

In your opinion, how is South Africa portrayed on social media?

From my experience, being at the helm of #SouthAfrica for the past seven years, I have noticed a great disconnect, a sense of negativity, which stands out the most.

Whether you log on to social media today, in a week from today, or search the past five years, you will see more of a negative sentiment in our country’s digital landscape than neutral and positive sentiments.

This is one of the fundamental reasons why I established Hashtag South Africa. There are so many great business people in South Africa who are doing exceptional work to contribute to their societies, whether local or abroad. The same can be said about politicians and public service office bearers.

Do social media posts about South Africa create a positive or negative image of the country, and how was this image progress over time?

It all depends on what the objective and call to action goal is. Many brands are out there to push their products for you to buy, or events to attend. National brands that share the message of South Africa in the tourism sector are doing a good job globally, yet that needs to ‘fizzle’ down and along to other industries.

We believe that the true message of South Africa has yet to be portrayed online. As much as we make a noise and stand for liberation online, the global community barely notices our trends. As the leading economic powerhouse of Africa, our people need to take a stronger stand online.

There are great benefits to having South Africa and South Africans portrayed positively online - it can boost trade, investment, and tourism. It can also create new audiences that want to tune in online daily, rather than when there’s a gloomy headline on TV or in newspapers.

How can we improve the country’s image on social media?

I believe that it’s going to take the collective digital community of South Africa to stand up and make a difference. A larger responsibility sits with big business and national government. At Hashtag South Africa, we strive to help those in power to sustain the image of our country.

Brands should not use social media just to churn our consumerism. Building the future of South Africa with digital is so vital to the direction we take as global players. As much as international brands are marketing their products and services here, they need to be relative.

I'm not just talking about launching a burger with a South African slang word, but about using campaigns on digital to action the reversal of poverty and work towards radical economic transformation.

What can local brands and marketers do to help build a better social media image for South Africa?

They can contact Hashtag South Africa for digital consultation, whether for monthly digital guidance or once-off sessions. I will be running one last social media training class in August.

Students from the University of Johannesburg used the power of social media to help affect change. Read how they did it in our article, How a UJ student campaign got serious about human trafficking.