Among the health-focused generation of entrepreneurs that have risen to fame in the past few years is I Quit Sugar founder Sarah Wilson. The former journalist and ex-Cosmo editor amassed a digital wellbeing empire near instantly, and in the process experienced the opportunities and downfalls of the online community. Recently speaking at Mumbrella’s Publish conference, she shared her suggestions on successfully navigating the current social media-dominated online space.
Take accountability
Social media does not follow the same structure of traditional journalism, making it far easier to refrain from taking accountability of actions online. Wilson says when she was in publishing, “I had Andrew Bolt, for starters, keeping a stern eye of me and a bunch of sub-editors and editors and other senior operators keeping an eye on whatever I had to say. I was held accountable and I learned accountability. That, I think, is missing because you just don’t have that presence [of senior operators] anymore.”
Ignore criticism
Take no heed of trolls says Wilson, who comments: “When trolls come my way, and I’ve had many over the years when I wrote about something controversial… I developed a way of dealing with these people. I had an analogy, which I share with a lot of young women today, where if you are lobbed a tennis ball you can put a lot of energy into hitting it back, or you can let it sail past and let it land flaccidly behind you. That would be the end of it.” She continues of her own experience: “I learned that early on in my days of writing opinion columns when you had letters to the editor. You had time to read them at a nice pace and you didn’t really have to reply or engage. That trained me to have a calm way of responding and to not get too upset about it.”
Think before you speak
Wilson admits the ease of communication has made it far easier to find yourself in hot water. Whether publishing a controversial piece or responding to what is already online, it is important to remain professional. She comments: “The speed at which technology moves does not allow for discerning thought. Discerning thought moves at the same pace as handwriting as opposed to keyboard writing and there has been [a] lot of studies into that. We don’t have the space nor the forums for a lot of discerning thought today.”
