We have recently released our latest report, The State of Social: Wellbeing Insights from Social Media Professionals. Our report focuses on the experience of 102 charity professionals and shares the good, the bad and the ugly, of social media moderation.
The team at Social AF have all worked with charities and our experiences are varied. At Social AF, we have had the privilege of working with 40+ charity partners, by providing expert moderation which seeks to manage their social media, or virtual challenge groups.
Over the years, we have observed and directly experienced several similar themes and concerning trends. The most concerning of which is how working within social media can negatively impact wellbeing.
The goal of the survey was to explore this in greater detail, to help identify commonalities and establish if certain charity causes or particular roles were more negatively impacted than others.
🚨 91% of social media professionals work beyond their contracted hours.
Regularly working over your contracted hours suggests there is either a resourcing issue or an expectation issue, which either way you look at it results in too much work for too few people.
If organisations want the output to remain the same, it’s short-sighted and unfair to expect the team to continually work over and above their hours to complete their given tasks. Change the tasks, or change the team.
💬 100% have been exposed to online hateful or abusive content.
We expected this figure to be high, but we didn’t expect it to be 100%. Being exposed to hateful or abusive content can take its toll on even the most seasoned social media manager/moderator. This figure is a strong indicator that no one is safe and we should ensure we’re prepared and equipped to manage it.
📉 40% have considered leaving their role due to social media management.
This was a really interesting figure for us – even more so the further we delved into the data to identify commonalities. Connections between training (or lack thereof), frequently working overtime, struggling to switch off and lack of organisational understanding are just a few which we highlight within the report.
✔️ How social media roles have evolved — and why many professionals are struggling
✔️ The mental health impact of constant moderation and online hate
✔️ The disconnect between leadership expectations and reality
✔️ What makes moderators happy at work—and how companies contribute
✔️ The changes that need to happen now to better support social media teams
✔️ Practical strategies for protecting wellbeing and creating a sustainable digital workplace
Our Head of Socials, Ashley Elliott, led on the development of the wellbeing survey and report.
She said: “We hope that this report will help give a voice to those who feel like they’ve been shouting into the wind when it comes to their struggles with social media management. We believe that positive change is possible.
We hope it gives everyone who works in this space some comfort knowing they are not alone, and that things can improve with change.
We hope it helps empower leaders who acknowledge there is an issue but aren’t fully sure what the next steps are to make a change.
We hope the sector takes stock and acknowledges that doing good in the world, needs to align with doing right by your team.
Perhaps naively, we also hope social media platforms take stock and do more to help protect wellbeing, however, that is only something we can try and collectively influence.
A mantra we often use at Social AF is to focus on what you can control. The unfortunate reality is that we cannot control social media platforms or what people choose to comment. Ultimately we hope that when people read this report they choose to focus on the things they can control, prioritise their wellbeing and support their colleagues to do the same.”
Becky Steeden, a Consultant from THINK, was the one of the first to read our report.
She said: “There are some seriously powerful stats in there! I wish this had been a sector-wide discussion a few years ago – it’s really heartening to see you guys championing this.”
Elizabeth Ryan, Senior Social Media Officer at The Salvation Army, said: “I absolutely loved reading this, it felt very cathartic and comforting to read quotes and stats which really resonate with my own experience.”
This report isn’t just data — it’s a call to action. The wellbeing of social media professionals in the charity sector is at risk, and we all have a role to play in fixing it.
📥 Download the full report now and join the movement for better support, smarter strategies, and a healthier future for charity social media professionals.
