Why Mental Health, Wellness, and Fitness Brands are (and should be) Deplatforming from Meta

In light of the information malpractices in online platforms, several mental health, wellness, and fitness brands have increasingly opted to deplatform from Meta. In this blog, we shall discuss why several brands considering deplatforming from Meta are the right way to go.

Why deplatforming from a Social Media Site, e.g., Meta, is Important

Despite its advantages, Meta can cause users to suffer from mental health problems. Some of these include:

• Increased anxiety

• Meta uses Instagram to promote pro-eating disorder content

Meta profits massively from the content it publish about eating disorders affecting young children. It has led to continued access to eating disorder content by teen girls, in particular, thus endangering their health when they practice what the content shows. For example, a report by Fairplay, a children's advocacy group, indicates that Meta makes nearly $2 million from users who follow accounts promoting eating disorders.

• Meta exposes users to sexual harassment 

• Misinformation exposure due to a lack of content moderation

Lack of content moderation has put Meta users at risk of misinformation. A bug emerged that led to users viewing posts filled with misinformation. These posts also spread fast because of the lack of appropriate warning labels on Meta. It failed to label nearly 80% of the posts that shared the highly misplaced conspiracy theory about the United States being responsible for funding Ukraine's bioweapons.

• More exposure to toxic feedback loops
  

Meta subtly capitalizes on human psychology behavior. It leverages a feedback loop of dopamine where users are pulled into a "feeding frenzy" to engage in more social media interactions. They partake in whatever campaigns that Meta promotes and advocates to get more likes on the platform. When these users fail to get more likes, shares, and comments on their posts, they end up feeling disappointed and depressed, thus spiraling into serious mental problems.

• Users are exposed to bad actors, e.g., Putin, who leverages the algorithms to sow anger amongst citizens (via vaccine disinformation, war propaganda, and Fox propaganda). 

Meta has gravely exposed users to disinformation by Putin and Russia. For example, it allowed the false reports which painted the Ukrainian government as being responsible for carrying out genocide to go unchecked. In addition, Meta is one of the channels that Putting and Russian-backed sources used to continually question the efficacy and safety of vaccines such as Pfizer. These posts garnered millions of shares, comments and likes on Meta and contributed significantly toward reluctance to be vaccinated. 

Building Your Own Online Community Space for Your Brand Matters!

Building or having your online community space as a brand has many benefits. The benefits of having your platform include:

• Reduced exposure to unanticipated platform outages

Existing social media platforms such as Meta, Instagram, and WhatsApp have experienced frequent outages which result from internal networking issues and leave users unable to access their accounts. As a brand, this can greatly hamper your business and marketing efforts. Your online community space gives you better control to take remedial measures.

• You are not exposed to frequent policy changes

Meta, like many other social media platforms, constantly introduces new rules. For example, its policy change regarding the inventory listings on Marketplace placed restrictions on auto dealers. Car dealers could no longer feed their vehicle inventory into Marketplace automatically. Dealers can only create manual listings on business pages. With your own online community space, you have greater control of your business's operations and set your policies.

• Monetizing your brand becomes easier
  

Your own online space allows you to build a community around your brand. Once you have an engaged community, you can capitalize on this to earn extra revenue for your brand. For example, you can use subscriptions and paid memberships where users in your online space pay fees to get your exclusive content. You can also organize live paid events, like webinars and workshops.

• Having your own online community space helps you achieve focused and centralized messaging

Having a platform or online space allows you to spread your intended message, which is key to the success of every brand. Whether you are a brand specialized in mental health issues or your forte is fitness and overall wellness, a focused and centralized messaging is crucial. Building an online community space prevents your messaging from getting distorted.

Examples of Platforms That Can Help You Create Your Own Online Community Space.

Platforms such as Mighty Networks, Profit and LearnWorlds allow you to create an interactive and profitable online space for your brand. Keep reading to find out more!

1. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks offers you an amazing opportunity to build your community and website instead of just renting your audience, as with Meta. Meta has full control of its algorithms to control what your audience can see. For example, if you have a group on Meta, your followers and members can see only a small percentage of the content you publish. With this platform, you also have access to Mighty Networks mobile apps and direct messaging privileges, all of which help you create an interactive community.

However, your online space or community allows you to engage with your audience openly and authentically.

Might Networks lets you choose from three tiers, as shown below!

Tier 1

It is known as the Community Plan and goes for $33 monthly and comes with features like:

• Native live streaming and video
• Chat and messaging
• Paid memberships
• Events and zoom integration

Tier 2

It is called the Business Plan and goes for $99 monthly. It offers features like:

• You get the Community Plan
• Online courses
• Analytics and member data
• Zapier APIs and Workflows
• Live Cohort Course Creation

Tier 3

It is called the Might Pro TBD and comes with features like:

• The Business Plan
• Google Play Store
• Branded App Notifications
• Account Management and Strategy Support

2. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a platform that allows you to create a learning community where your members can exchange ideas, share experiences, discuss issues, and seek advice from fellow users. Some of its features include:

• Unlimited networking opportunities
• Users connect and communicate with each other and build a professional and productive network.
• It has great customer service, providing uninterrupted communication and creating a stronger customer connection.

3.Profit

Profit is an all-in-one solution for all professional service providers, including consultants, fitness coaches, and wellness trainers.

Some of the features you get from Profi are:

• Booking and scheduling.
• Effective client management systems (CRM).
• Secure messaging and video calls for members—course creation capabilities.

Conclusion