Serna Social

08/28/2026

Last week's post about the blue collar crews turning "take photos from the job site" request into works of social media artistry was surprisingly popular! (ICYMI: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sueserna_could-you-just-snap-a-few-pics-for-social-activity-7495891261652955136-lVul?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAADLCcwBIIiZfhzU9Lf3teqT7UgjwOV0miQ) So I thought I would highlight another small business doing great social media: State Fair Edition. Today's nominee: Que Viet Concessions, purveyor of tasty eggrolls and other foods at the fair. Just like the job site posts, corporate communicators could really learn something from emulating what this business is doing.

If you have a big tentpole event coming up, take some notes:

👏 They started EARLY. Communicators often don't think about posting ahead of the event. But you can generate buzz, additional followers, awareness and attendance if you start promoting the event early with good content. Que Viet posted more than 30 times between the start of August and the start of the fair yesterday. I can't see their analytics, but I bet they had some great engagement and a boost in followers (including me).

👏 They posted entertaining content! The name of the game on social is to post something so funny, cool or interesting that it stops people from scrolling and gets them to look at your post. Seems simple, but it is increasingly difficult. In the video montage below, I included the first whole reel in its entirety because I think it is hysterical. A squad of aunties showing up to roll 55K eggrollls? I do want to see that. Yes, yes I do.

👏 They shared some personal thoughts. I love when the owner talks about treating herself to a Diet Dr. Pepper break after the madness of setting up their booth. Who can't relate to that? Being real is a key on social media, regardless of the size of the company.

👏 They varied their posts. Like any good content strategy, they have different types of posts to keep things interesting. There are funny/having fun posts, there are FAQ type posts (which is a really good idea) and there are more traditional posts like come buy our delicious food on day one of the fair. A content mix is important to keep things fresh.

Happy State Fair, Minnesota!

08/19/2026

New from CEO Sue Serna on the blog:
"Could you just snap a few pics for social?"

This request is often made of corporate communicators, and I have to say -- almost everyone doesn't understand the assignment. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a comms colleague sneak up the side of a packed auditorium, stand way too far away for a good photo and then snap one or two terrible pictures before running back to their seat like they just walked across hot coals barefoot while assembling a piece of IKEA furniture blindfolded.

If you want to see what understanding the assignment looks like, check out what on-site construction, landscaping, HVAC and other service techs are up to on social. There is an entire (recently discovered by me) internet wormhole devoted to on-site crews taking the "Can you send some pics from the job site" question and turning their responses into GREAT content. Here are some examples. Fair warning, they are kind of addictive!

Click here to read my full blog on the topic:
https://www.sernasocial.com/blog/understanding-the-assignment-just-snap-a-few-pics-for-social

Shout out to Gucciano Johnson Casali Construction & Remodeling E.R. Snell Contractor, Inc. J and R Property Services, Inc. and Maldonado Brothers Tree Service for the inspiration!

07/16/2026

If you missed CEO Sue Serna's intermediate-level Social Listening 102 course, the National Institute for Social Media has posted a snippet of it on Youtube. Listen as Sue breaks down the four levels of the social listening pyramid and possible use cases for each level.

Looking for better ways to monitor the conversation around your bra...

07/01/2026

🚨 New on the blog from CEO Sue Serna: Teen social media bans and why they just don't work. 🚨

We’re coming up on half a year since Australia led the charge and banned children under 16 from major social media platforms. Since then, many other countries have followed suit, including the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, Denmark, Greece and the United Arab Emirates. Other countries including Canada, Austria, France and Spain are working on digital safety bills that include a restriction on social media for kids under 15 or 16.

And while this may be the hottest thing going since doomscrolling videos of Scottish World Cup fans living it up in America, let’s have some real talk about these bans.

Here’s the problem: They don’t work.

➡️➡️➡️ Read the full post here: https://www.sernasocial.com/blog/the-flaws-of-teen-social-media-bans

03/05/2026

CEO Sue Serna is back on the blog tipping her hat to the fine folks at Security Boulevard, Home of the Security Bloggers Network for their excellent breakdown of Instagram's latest "non-breach" data breach. Read her thoughts here: https://www.sernasocial.com/blog/instagrams-no-breach-breach

02/26/2026

Don't miss the opportunity to catch CEO Sue Serna's encore presentation of Cybersecurity & Social Media: Ignorance is NOT Bliss. Originally presented last year at the National Cybersecurity Alliance Convene conference, this session will cover how much social media teams have to manage, where the key security risks lie and what to do to mitigate them. Please join us for this FREE webinar.

Register here: https://www.staysafeonline.org/events/convene-chats-cybersecurity-social-media-ignorance-is-not-bliss

02/17/2026

🔈🔈🔈 Check out CEO Sue Serna chatting all things social media safety with Rex Wilson on the No Password Required podcast. Take a listen here! https://www.carltonfields.com/insights/podcasts/2026/no-password-required-social-media-security-and-governance-leader-and-lover-of-all-beagles

12/04/2025

The latest on the blog from CEO Sue Serna:

📣📣📣 On this episode of Sue's Soapbox: This morning’s Social Media Today, LLC newsletter featured a really interesting – and eyeroll-inducing – headline: “Meta Touts Detection Efforts Ahead of Anti-Scam Summit.” Essentially, ahead of this big summit, Meta has released some figures to “prove” that it is doing something to combat the rampant scam ads all over its platforms. This, of course, would have nothing to do with last month’s positively astounding Reuters reporting that Meta knew about the rampant scams and in fact was set to make 10 percent of its 2024 revenue from scam ads.

This is a classic example of a social media platform cherry picking numbers that make them look good. It's also a classic example of trying to demonstrate progress while not really making much at all. Bottom line, Sue is not impressed -- and I hope you will take the time to read my full post about why these numbers aren't as impressive as they may seem at first.

➡️➡️➡️ Read it here:

This morning’s Social Media Today newsletter featured a really interesting – and eyeroll-inducing – headline: “Meta Touts Detection Efforts Ahead of Anti-Scam Summit.” Essentially, ahead of this big summit, Meta has released some figures to “prove” that it is doing something to combat ...

10/10/2025

New on the blog from CEO Sue Serna: This week I gave my presentation on the 12 major risks of poor social media governance at 3M’s Media Technology & Governance Summit. And as luck would have it, Discord provided us a real-time example that highlighted what can happen if some of those risks are ignored. Somehow this one event touches upon FIVE of my 12 governance principles, all in one incident. That’s sad, but it also illustrates how good governance relies on companies to be vigilant on multiple fronts, and it highlights how hackers are really good at finding a way in.

👀 Read my breakdown of how my governance principles apply to this situation and how you can work to avoid a similar incident for your organization ➡️➡️➡️

This week, Discord provided us a real-time example that highlighted what can happen if some of my top 12 digital governance risks are ignored. Somehow this one data breach touches upon FIVE of my 12 governance principles, all in one incident. That’s sad, but it also illustrates how good governance...