Bilingual social media content helps promote diversity, equality, and inclusion in nonprofits by supporting cultural understanding. In the last few years, bilingual social media content has emerged as a tool used to increase diversity and rights for minority groups. On Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social platforms, organizations such as Tide Pods by Unilever have released bilingual images that support diverse communities. Nonprofits are currently producing bilingual content across the globe to increase equality further internationally. Bilingual social media content is now becoming a marketing tool for organizations to learn about other cultures worldwide. It can help them connect with their followers by using images that promote acceptance and understanding of cultural diversity.
More recently, nonprofits have started to use bilingual social media content as a marketing tool and support communities by creating awareness and encouraging the involvement of people to take positive action. This is important because it gives back to communities that have been left out by mainstream culture for many years.
I have been in the "trenches," as we, social workers, like to call it. And over the past 20 years, I have found that language and, by extension, culture are two of the most significant factors that influence a community's perception of self and identity with others. Immigrant communities adjust and make sense of their environments based on their background, language, and cultural norms. Within each culture, there are a set of values and traditions handed down to future generations. Kashima and Triandis (1986) showed that culture influences people's reasons to explain their successes, with differing motives based on their traditional values. When an organization, nonprofit, or business uses the native language of the group or community, know that your organization is also honoring that subgroup's culture and traditions, promoting diversity based on the de-facto acceptance and validation of their cultural identity. In this way, your organization actively exercises the endorsement of different viewpoints, which are the essence of diversity and the rejection of conformity.
Using bilingual communication in social media, an organization welcomes other cultural groups to join in their work. Using bilingual contact in social media is an effective way to reach a broader audience. It opens up possibilities for "unreachable" communities and groups. Through bilingual social media posts, organizations can also understand the specific needs or challenges of different communities by listening to what they say on a day-to-day basis, such as finding translation services in Spanish or resources that cater to Muslim families.
Social media has become a part of everyday life for many people around the world. Similarly, Improving equality through bilingual communication is possible. Bilingual social media validates other culture's individualism, welcoming them to participate equally and support each other. This equality promotes and improves an organization. Data shows that when organizations embrace the language and ideas of more than one culture, the organization becomes a more capable organizational leader, community member, and innovator, using more complex thinking to generate innovative solutions. As a result, the organization is more likely to succeed.
Nonprofits have used bilingual social media to promote their organizations and programs. It has been shown that bilingual social media can be used to help nonprofits expand internationally and domestically. Bilingual social media can help nonprofits create a globally connected organization by increasing overall communication, making programs an international endeavor, and making language barriers dissolve into thin air. Nonprofits can also use bilingual social media to direct their message towards specific communities while still maintaining content in English.
Bilingual social media are essential because they bolster a nonprofit's image and support for their cause. They help to increase resources, boost awareness, and raise revenue. Bilingual social media content is simply a way to engage with a community by using a language that a more significant number of people will understand. Make sure to use clear and straightforward language, keep it factual, and make an effort to correct your mistakes if you make any.
Bilingual social media content promotes inclusion by eliminating barriers to joining in the conversation. Communication becomes problematic in situations where people don't understand each other's language or culture. This lack of understanding prevents the sharing of complex ideas and thus full engagement. Bilingualism provides a nonprofit with sources of strength in more members, workers, supporters, and clients. By taking on the challenge of communicating intentionally in a language that the community, workers, and supporters understand, bilingual social media empowers communities to speak up, act, and make an impact.