A Social Media Credentials Checklist for Trainers

1. 1. Pronouns in Bio: Ensure your social media bios and sign-lines in emails are up-to-date with your preferred pronouns. Whether you’re a ‘he/him’, ‘she/her’, ‘they/them’, or any other, showing your pronouns is step one in the woke playbook. Score higher by mixing them up, ‘they/him’, ‘Zim/She’, etc. Stay relevant by changing them periodically.
   2. Neurodiversity Badge: Select from a range of neurodivergent topics and align them with your own experiences and list them in your bio. Whether it’s ADHD, aphantasia, autism, or dyslexia, sharing your journey can earn you social media stripes. Remember, you don’t need an official diagnosis; just like gender, it’s whatever you feel it to be.
   3. Champion the Current Thing: Whatever the current social or political cause, make sure you’re on it. Change your profile picture to support it, share relevant hashtags, and post insightful comments to show you’re in the know and on the right side of history.
   4. Eco-Warrior Status: Your commitment to the planet is key. Share your efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Bonus points for posting a picture of your reusable Starbucks coffee cup, vegan meal, or the bike you ride to work instead of driving.
   5. Inclusive Language Guide: Show your followers how inclusive your vocabulary is. Post about the importance of inclusive language, and gently correct those who might not be as up-to-date as you are.
   6. Cultural Appreciation (Not Appropriation): Share your love for other cultures in a way that shows appreciation, not appropriation. This is a fine line to walk, so make sure you’ve done your homework!
   7. Black Lives Matter: Always, and when challenged about the massive BLM riots and destruction, just block that person decrying them as a Trump-supporting fascist and transphobe.
   8. Mental Health Advocate: Share posts about the importance of mental health, self-care Sundays, and promoting a healthy work-life balance. Your openness about mental health can help to destigmatise these conversations.
   9. Petition Signer Extraordinaire: For every cause, there’s a petition. Make sure your followers know how many you’ve signed this week, especially if they’re related to social justice, environmental issues, or any form of equality.
   10. Bookshelf Curator: Display your diverse reading list, focusing on authors from marginalised communities. Don’t just show the books, make sure you’ve actually read them and can discuss their impact. Photos of your bookshelf will really show off that intellectual prowess.
   11. Ally in Action: Lastly, show that you’re not just about words, but also about actions. Share your experiences attending rallies, participating in workshops, or volunteering for causes you care about.
   12. Trigger Warnings: Use trigger warnings in any post about the real world.
   13. Decolonisation Dialogue: Engage with and promote discussions about decolonisation, acknowledging the impacts of colonialism on present-day inequalities. Share articles, books, and resources to educate yourself and your followers about the importance of undoing colonial legacies.
   14. Hate the Jews: Support any terrorist organisation that opposes Israel and/or Zionism.
   15. Blame the Orange Man: Remember, the world and society had no problems whatsoever before Trump.
   16. White Privilege Acknowledgement: Openly recognise and discuss white privilege, reflecting on how societal structures benefit some at the expense of others. Use your platform to raise awareness and shame everyone for things that other people did a hundred or more years ago.
   17. Gender Privilege Awareness: Address gender privilege by claiming life-destroying disparities faced by trans-women and non-binary individuals in various spheres, from the workplace to healthcare. Remember, this does not apply to heterosexual cisgender white women who should rightfully be told to […redacted…]
   18. Cisgender Privilege Reflection: Reflect on and discuss cisgender privilege. Educate your followers about the challenges faced by the transgender community and promote a more inclusive understanding of gender identity. Also remember, no child is influenced by all the propaganda; that is not how childhood works. They arrive at their non-binary status entirely independently of cultural influence.
   19. Opposing Anti-LGBTQ+ Sentiments: Actively oppose any form of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and hate on anyone even hinting at disinterest in the TQ+ community’s issues. Use your platform to support LGBTQ+ rights and celebrate diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity.
   20. Battling Climate Change Denial: Climate change is real, and opposing denial is a must. Share scientific evidence, support sustainable practices, and promote policies that address the urgent need for environmental conservation.
       
       Condemn any counterarguments, research, or opinions as “alt-right propaganda.”
   21. Challenging Body Shaming: Healthy at all sizes. Advocate for body positivity and challenge societal norms around body image. Encourage discussions that promote self-love and acceptance, irrespective of size, shape, or appearance. The early death of fat people is only ever because of the prejudice of medical patriarchy, not because of morbid obesity.
   22. Show off that vaccination. Whilst holding a view that medicine is patriarchal, oppressive, and non-inclusive, remember to show off that vaccination.

Buzzwords to Use Regularly

Social Justice and Equality

• Intersectionality: Recognising how different aspects of social and political discrimination overlap.
• Systemic Racism: Structures and processes in society that result in certain racial groups being disadvantaged.
• White Privilege: The inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterised by racial inequality and injustice.
• Gender Privilege: The advantages experienced by individuals whose gender identity matches their society’s normative gender expectations. Be sure to use at least once a month the phrase “check your privilege” ironically in an online discussion with one of your woke friends.
• Incel: Just use this regardless of context; label anyone male you don’t like as an incel.
• Cisgender: A term for people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth.
• Microaggressions: Everyday, subtle, intentional, and oftentimes unintentional interactions or behaviours that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalised groups. Some are so micro that literally no one notices except you, and you can see them everywhere and in anyone without warning at any time.
• Cultural Appropriation: The adoption of elements of one culture by members of another culture, often without understanding, respect, or acknowledgement of their original significance, especially when the adopting culture is dominant or oppressive.
• TERF: Nope, me neither.

Gender and Sexuality

• Non-binary: Describing someone who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman and needs attention.
• Gender Fluid: A gender identity that varies over time and messes with everyone’s sense of wellbeing, causing them to be anxious in case they might get it wrong today and face the wrath of the wokerati.
• Queer: An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual or cisgender.
• Pansexual: Not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.
• Asexual: Experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others.

Advocacy and Allyship

• Allyship: The practice of emphasising social justice, inclusion, and human rights by members of an ingroup to advance the interests of an oppressed or marginalised outgroup.
• Decolonisation: The process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches. In a modern context, it’s often used to address the need for change in power structures and attitudes inherited from colonial rule.
• Social Equity: The fair, just, and equitable management of all institutions serving the public, either directly or by contract, and the fair and equitable distribution of public services and implementation of public policy.

Health and Accessibility

• Mental Health Awareness: Recognising the importance of mental health and advocating for the destigmatisation of mental illness.
• Neurodiversity: The variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions in a non-pathological sense.
• Accessibility: The design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities.

The Woke Calendar

Here are some key dates and observances in 2024 that are significant for your woke credentials:

January

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (USA): Third Monday in January – A day to honour the civil rights leader’s contributions and legacy.

February

• Black History Month (USA, Canada): Entire month – Celebrates the achievements and history of African Americans.
• LGBT History Month (UK): Entire month – Celebrates the history and achievements of the LGBT community.

March

• International Women’s Day: 8th March – A global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
• Transgender Day of Visibility: 31st March – Dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide.

April

• Autism Awareness Month: Entire month – Promotes autism awareness and inclusion.
• International Asexuality Day on April 6. Their flag is blank, I think.
• Earth Day: 22nd April – A day to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

May

• Mental Health Awareness Month (USA): Entire month – Raises awareness about mental health issues.
• International Workers’ Day: 1st May – A celebration of labourers and the working classes.

June

• Pride Month: Entire month – Celebrates the LGBTQ+ community, commemorating the Stonewall riots of June 1969.

July

• Disability Pride Month: Entire month – Celebrating and highlighting the value of people with disabilities.

August

• Women’s Equality Day (USA): 26th August – Commemorates the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote.

September

• Bisexual Awareness Week: Celebrated the week surrounding September 23 – Focuses on raising awareness of the bisexual community. Forget it, no-one likes the bisexuals.

October

• LGBT History Month (USA): Entire month – Celebrates the history and achievements of the LGBT community.
• National Coming Out Day: 11th October – A day to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in “coming out of the closet”.
• Indigenous Peoples’ Day (USA): Second Monday in October – Celebrates and honours Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures.

November

• Transgender Day of Remembrance: 20th November – Memorialises those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.
• Native American Heritage Month (USA): Entire month – Celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Native Americans.

December

• Human Rights Day: 10th December – Commemorates the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.