The speaker examines the pervasive influence of social media in today's world, noting that it has become an integral part of how we interact, obtain information, and perceive the world. They humorously acknowledge that even those who are "inactive" on conventional social media platforms are likely still engaged through direct messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram. As a social media manager for the World Health Organization, the speaker spends significant time crafting and monitoring content, aiming to cut through digital noise to deliver essential health information to a global audience.

Through her role, the speaker strives to build trust and a sense of community in the digital space by engaging in meaningful conversations, listening to audience needs, and responding in real-time via live social media features. They emphasize the importance of participation over perfection in social media's potential to enact positive change and address current events, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. The speaker is driven by the goal of transitioning the focus from "me care" to "we care," emphasizing collective wellbeing and storytelling, especially for marginalized voices.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. perceptual [pərˈsɛptʃuəl] - (adjective) - Relating to the ability to interpret or become aware of something through the senses. - Synonyms: (cognitive, sensory, mental)

We are what we consume offline and online and there's a lot of junk content out there.

2. curation [kjʊˈreɪʃən] - (noun) - The action or process of selecting, organizing, and looking after the items in a collection or exhibition. - Synonyms: (organization, selection, arrangement)

Social media users should curate their feeds to enhance valuable content while filtering negativity.

3. resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] - (noun) - The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. - Synonyms: (endurance, strength, perseverance)

Right now, as we speak in places like Gaza, like Syria, like Sudan or Ukraine, we are helping share the untold stories of suffering and resilience.

4. humanitarian [hjuːˌmænɪˈtɛəriən] - (adjective) - Concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare. - Synonyms: (philanthropic, charitable, benevolent)

I am on the front line of a social media response to various crises from the COVID 19 pandemic a few years back, to ampox and measles outbreak or a humanitarian crisis.

5. polarization [ˌpoʊlərɪˈzeɪʃən] - (noun) - Division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. - Synonyms: (division, separation, divergence)

To narrow the polarization in our views that nowadays seem to just be growing, we need to shift our digital engagement approach to humility.

6. scrutiny [ˈskruːtəni] - (noun) - Critical observation or examination. - Synonyms: (inspection, investigation, study)

scrutiny is often a signal that we are making an impact and that is the whole point of being out there.

7. engagement [ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt] - (noun) - The act of being involved with something. - Synonyms: (involvement, participation, interaction)

I spend on average at least eight hours a day crafting social media messages, designing visuals, preparing videos, monitoring comments, monitoring engagement, and wading through the flood of the digital conversations

8. dialectical [ˌdaɪəˈlɛktɪkəl] - (adjective) - Relating to the logical discussion of ideas and opinions. - Synonyms: (logical, reasoned, rational)

Our social media approach is to talk with people, not at them.

9. untold [ʌnˈtoʊld] - (adjective) - Too much or too many to be counted or measured. - Synonyms: (uncounted, innumerable, vast)

We are helping share the untold stories of suffering and resilience.

10. mindful [ˈmaɪndfəl] - (adjective) - Conscious or aware of something. - Synonyms: (conscious, aware, attentive)

It is about being mindful and intelligent about our digital intake and our digital outputs.

Crafting our digital intelligence – One post at a time - Aleksandra Kuzmanovic - TEDxGeneva

Is there anyone in this room tonight who is not active on social media? Can I please see your hands up? Well, that's a bit more than I expected because the latest data show that two in three people are active on social media around the world and the social media user base is growing at five times the rate of the global population growth.

So for you who raise your hands up if you are using any of the direct messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, any other, I may disappoint you because you are considered to be part of the social media crowd. So as we are almost all on social media, I have one more question. Who here hates social media? Can I see your hands up?

Well, this is what I did expect and I do get you. I do social media for a living. I spend on average at least eight hours a day crafting social media messages, designing visuals, preparing videos, monitoring comments, monitoring engagement, and wading through the flood of the digital conversations. Now some of you may think, how is this woman even sane spending so much time on social media every day? Or some of you may be thinking, is that all that she does?

Fair points. Because we are what we consume offline and online and there's a lot of junk content out there. I'm sure you're experiencing it as well. Social media is not all that I do, but it is my job. I am the leadership social media manager at the World Health Organization. Every day I help the Director General and my colleagues cut through the digital noise to reach people with messages that matter.

Every day I am on the front line of a social media response to various crises from the COVID 19 pandemic a few years back, to ampox and measles outbreak or a humanitarian crisis. An unrelenting demand for information, constant shifting in messaging, and absorbing and dealing with continuously growing waves of negativity are all parts of this job.

And as unattractive that it may sound, the reason I love my job is simple. Through social media we are making a huge impact. The ability to reach millions of people within seconds with essential health information is powerful, but it does require trust. This is why our social media approach is to talk with people, not at them. We use social media to listen, to gather intelligence, to gather insights for crafting our messages, by monitoring comments on our posts and by following all kinds of health related conversations across social media platforms.

Thousands of posts I've crafted so far are based on your needs, on people's needs, and based on adaptation to new digital trends. Some of our most successful campaigns have engaged people with intelligence and Empathy, speaking both to your brain and your heart. And those have reached over a billion people.

But not all conversations can be shaped in a few hundreds of characters and 15 second videos. This is why we are utilizing live features on X, on TikTok, on YouTube, LinkedIn. Again, you can name the platform. So we are creating the space where our followers can have a direct conversation with our experts and get the answers they need in real time. Doing this in a social media live program leaves no space for filtering.

So now we've built a social media community that trusts our experts, but it also feels heard. And most importantly, it has helped us to shift the health conversations from me care to we care. People now come to us not only to ask, how can I stay healthy, but how can I help to keep my community healthy?

We are also using our channels to give the voice to those who would otherwise be silenced. Health workers, professionals and others on the front lines of the humanitarian crisis. Right now, as we speak in places like Gaza, like Syria, like Sudan or Ukraine, we are helping share the untold stories of suffering and resilience. And I know firsthand the importance of that visibility because I was a child of war in Serbia way before social media existed.

If we analyze all those efforts in using social media for good, have we done everything hundred percent right? No. There were times where we could have been clearer. But perfection is not the objective. Participation is. And participation makes an impact. So whether you or I love or hate social media, it is here to stay, my friends. And it has changed the way we live and it has changed the way we connect with each other.

So here is what my social media job taught me about my personal social media. It is not about millions of followers. It is about being mindful and intelligent about our digital intake and our digital outputs.

If you imagine yourself in a restaurant as a client, you are given the menu to choose from and you make a thoughtful decision what you're going to order. Because you don't want to get something that can create you an allergic reaction, right? On the other side, if you're a cook, you aim to provide your clients with not only delicious but also nutritious quality food. Because if they love it, they will come again. And if there's something that they didn't like about it, you would want to know it firsthand.

The same applies to our social media. As social media clients or users, we can choose which conversations we want to be part of. I've learned over time that it's perfectly fine to protect myself from hatred, from trolling, or the content that I simply consider to be junk by unfollowing the accounts I don't want to hear from anymore, by muting or blocking those who create me any form of anxiety or upset me, or simply to ignore those comments that are trying to dilute my message.

But for those conversations that I want to be part of that we care about, we need to get ourselves into the role of the cook. Whether you are an expert in your field or you're passionate about a hobby, your perspective can help and impact and inspire others. And social media makes it easier than ever before because you are just one click away from those you want to influence.

And again, you don't have to have the vast following ,thousand or even 100 followers are enough to make a difference. For instance, I have just a few thousand followers on my LinkedIn page and yet my voice has an impact. This is why I was invited to come to this stage tonight and a few days ago LinkedIn granted me with the Top Voice badge.

I thought that that recognition is only safe for people like my boss who has hundreds of thousands or millions of followers. But no, they're not looking at the size of our communities. They are looking at the quality of the content that we are providing our communities with.

So my recipe for providing good content to our communities is to invest our time and effort in careful, consistent and patient listening to their conversations, to doing our best to understand their needs and above all to value their feedback. Earlier this week I shared a post about my experience at COP 29 last week where technology in the room failed and I had to livestream a diplomatic moment on my phone. We would say in social media world, old school.

And I got a feedback from someone who said great, you reminded us about the gadgets, but can you please tell us the process step by step? So that's what my next post will be about. We also have to be prepared for some harsh reactions because for sure some will come. Social media is in Disneyland. But some of those may be based also on our own mistakes because because we are humans after all, they may be based on our misunderstandings or someone indeed using your platform to push for their own agenda.

But to truly make a difference and to narrow the polarization in our views that nowadays seem to just be growing, we need to shift our digital engagement approach to humility. Making a difference also requires the courage to jump into those hard conversations and to be open to scrutiny. In fact, scrutiny is often a signal that we are making an impact and that is the whole point of being out there. If we are to make social media something of value and not just an addiction to likes.

We have to be part of those meaningful conversations or to craft them if they don't exist one post at a time. So please remember first, our digital intake matters. Tailor your feeds to minimize what you consider to be junk and what you consider to be value for you.

And second, our digital voice matters. With humility, with courage, and with purpose. You can add value when you speak and when you share your ideas. That is when you can make a difference in this digital world we are living in, and more importantly, to reshape it for our children to come.

SOCIAL MEDIA, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, INSPIRATION, GLOBAL, TEDX TALKS