"Social media is usually criticized for its most visible failures: misinformation that spreads faster than corrections, trolling that rewards outrage, or tone-deaf posts that undermine otherwise serious leaders. Those problems are real-but they are no longer the core risk. The deeper issue is that social media has quietly become a leadership infrastructure: the system through which people decide who to listen to, which messages feel legitimate, and how authority is assigned inside organizations."
"A strategic shift appears on the CEO's LinkedIn feed just after 7:30 a.m. By 9:00, it has thousands of views, a flood of comments, and enthusiastic reactions from outside the company. Inside the organization, managers are still trying to understand what it means, what's changing, and what they're supposed to say to their teams. No memo. No decision framework. Just a post."
Social media now functions as an informal leadership infrastructure that shapes who is seen, trusted, and followed inside organizations. Algorithms determine visibility, credibility, and momentum more quickly and pervasively than formal strategy, governance, or internal communications. Leadership signals often arrive via public feeds, causing executives and managers to learn of strategic shifts through posts and comments rather than memos or decision frameworks. When leadership is not deliberately designed, authority is inferred by algorithms, audiences, and momentum instead of intent. The result is a power shift where social media dynamics can override formal leadership clarity and control.
Read at Forbes
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