DEI: What Does It Mean?

 Hello There,

DEI is an acronym standing for: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

To understand the full importance of this acronym for us as social media professionals (and people in general) we'll break down the meaning of each of these words and talk about why each is individually important. 

Diversity.

Diversity means more than just making sure that the three non-white members of your staff have their pictures featured on the "Community" page of your website. What diversity really means is being able to understand and appreciate attributes in other people that differ from our own. To truly encourage diversity, you have to engage thoughtfully with people who have different backgrounds; whether that's a target audience or your colleagues. Doing so will benefit greatly your ability to create messages and creative content. Multiple components make up diversity, including: race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, culture, economic status, ability/disability, and ideology. Thinking diversly requires factoring in all of these kinds of difference. 

Equity. 

Equity is the commitment to provide equal opportunities to everyone without discrimination. Built into the concept of equity is the understanding that not all people start out with the same supports in life and that in order to achieve fair opportunities may need to be provided with extra support, or accommodations. Promoting equity allows intelligent, talented, creative individuals of all backgrounds to lend their skills to your platform, business, or cause. 

Inclusion. 

Inclusion means bringing together people with different experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, and ideas in a way that represents your intended audience and the public at large. Inclusion also involves educating each other on messages and ideas that work and those that do not or can be offensive.  In a social media based business this is vitally important. You do not want to offend your followers, supporters, or customers. In this way, inclusion just makes good business sense. 

If you want to have the best people helping and supporting you, you have to make sure that you aren't allowing your own personal biases to keep you from recognizing those people or supporting them in turn when they need it. If you want a diversity of minds and talents, you need a diversity of backgrounds as well.