Equiteam’s coach Liz Daniels gives her opinion on the effect of social media on coaching.
You’ve all heard the saying ‘Insta V’s Reality’ and for the most part we now all understand that one image on social media provides a split second snapshot without the balance of whole picture.
I feel qualified to talk about this subject as in my ‘other job’ I am a Marketing and Social Media Consultant. Because I understand social media – I love it and think that it is an incredibly useful tool.
But it is the understanding part that is so very important.
I know the benefits, I know how to control the content that I see, I know how to control who sees my content, and I am also all too aware of the damage it can cause.
When delivering training courses, or chatting to clients about social media content, I regularly praise the power and the benefits of social media when used correctly. I quite often find myself reminding them that it is not a direct sales tool – it is social media and therefore should be sociable. It is designed to be fun and create a community.
Sharing moments
Personally, I love seeing images and videos, when used genuinely, of people proudly celebrating their achievements, and acknowledge the power that social media gives us by sharing these moments with others.
As a coach there is nothing nicer than seeing a gratitude post showing progression, knowing that someone has worked really hard to get there and that maybe, just maybe, you might have played a small part in that.
When it comes to our mental health and social media, we are warned of negatives of seeing these images from everyone on your friends list, and the feeling that everyone else’s lives are picture perfect when our own are not going to plan.
We are told not to compare ourselves to these images, and that there is a balance – but of course words are easy to read and not always easy to act upon.
But what about the coaches?
As a coach there is a huge pressure to deliver a session that is Facebook and Instagram worthy every time you teach.
I hate to break it to you – but this isn’t always reality. In fact – when coaching regularly – this is rarely the reality.
Whilst you will always enjoy those breakthrough sessions when everything comes together, some horses and riders needs weeks of repetitive work, taken at their own pace to allow for progression and the foundations to be laid.
This is even more important than the progression ‘wow’ moment being captured – but this is the part that is rarely talked about.
Why? Quite honestly – because it doesn’t make for ‘good’ social media! ‘Bland’ doesn’t get the hits! Wow and eek moments do!
While people who understand and respect the training process don’t care about the photo, other people have the opposite approach and will coach hop until they find someone with a similar thought. This puts more pressure on coaches to constantly make you feel like you are achieving beyond your expectations.
The bigger picture
But there is an even bigger picture than that.
The harsh reality is that the Sir Mark Todd situation shaped the landscape of teaching as now almost everyone is terrified to have an opinion that someone else might take offense too. And I know I am not alone.
A five second video clip led to almost every equestrian in the UK having an opinion about a lifetime’s experience – without question. One of the equestrian Nation’s heroes crumbled in seconds.
Whilst I am not supporting what Sir Mark Todd did and the decision he made, I do believe that unless you were there, watched the full lesson and/or read the reports, then maybe everyone should have waited for the experts to conclude their opinion before burning someone at the stake.
Obviously, the majority of people on social media did not feel the same as I did, and the nasty comments were beyond damaging.
Imagine being on the receiving end of those.
As a coach, and from what I understand of lots of comments I’ve read on closed groups from other coaches, it made many of us feel vulnerable and as a consequence I find myself sometimes not coaching in the moment – but wondering what it looks like from the outside in case someone is filming.
What if...
Since this incident I have asked people to stop filming during a lesson several times whilst someone works through a problem. I now ask people to share social media videos with the sound off in case what I am saying is taken in the wrong context. A clip taken from a whole sentence or following on from an earlier conversation can sound very different on its own.
I am not doing anything wrong, but someone, somewhere could have an opinion that could essentially bring my livelihood crashing down – or in the very least be damaging.
I am not for one moment big-headed enough to think that the world cares what I do when I’m coaching and that a small time girl in Fife would reach the headlines – but I care, and I care what people in my community think and how they would perceive things.
But from the flip side as a rider I love having snippets of my coaching sessions filmed. I find them so useful from both an educational point of view, but it also to allow me to track progress.
I share some of these snippets on my own social media and enjoy looking at them as memories in TimeHop.
But as a coach, and with my social media hat on, I would make a plea to you – please think before posting videos and photos and any coaching session you film and use these simple points as a guide:
- Ask your coach if they mind you filming/being filmed
- Once you have your footage and before sharing; watch it back in its entirety and check what your coach and others riders in the lesson are doing in the background (and make sure they are happy to be featured in your video)
- Check the sound – if it doubt mute it out
Being a coach is such a rewarding and humbling job, in fact it’s one of the best jobs in the world – so please let’s all help to keep it that way.
Liz x
