London, England
I have recently “touched down in London town” and started taking my classes through the GEO here. So far, I have been impressed by what London has to offer and all the different opportunities and experiences I have faced.
Walking into my first day of Social Media class, I didn’t know what to expect. To my surprise, it went along very smoothly. We did an activity of sharing the social media platforms we use and how we get our news. We then learned about the trends of social media that have changed everything for the past 25 years. I was curious to learn how the trends in social media have changed so rapidly recently. Friendster was a Facebook precursor and now is a complete irrelevance, just like Bebo, Tagged and Faceparty, which was tinder of its day. Social media has shaped how people communicate today and the evolution shows that ways of communicating is constantly changing. Personally, I get my news from Snapchat Discover and Twitter, both of which aren’t the most reliable sources. I rely on what is popular, what is shared and what is consistently popping up on my feed. I believe that if something was true and reliable, it would be everywhere, on every newsstand, especially on social media platforms for everyone to see. Not everyone goes on BBC or CNN, many people just believe what is on their screens every day: social media.
Through my Social Media for Journalists course, I was able to explore a different part of London I may not have considered seeing. I was partnered up with another classmate and we ventured off to Old Street and Shoreditch. Our task was to complete 20 steps of a scavenger hunt, including interviewing people on certain topics. I was intrigued to hear the different perspectives on Brexit and certain politicians, but also residents of the UK’s favorite social media platform and how they get their news. Many people did not want to be interviewed and most didn’t want their picture taken, but it was all worth it to hear different answers.
Old Street and Shoreditch reminded me of a hole-in-the-wall city that doesn’t get much recognition. It was filled with beautiful buildings, amazing architecture and historic moments. One of my favorite places we visited was the John Wesley Chapel. We were able to tour it at no cost, and we saw his tomb where the late founder of the Methodist movement lay. The chapel was magnificent and had the flags of every country running along the edge of it.The scavenger hunt was a way for me to get to know another classmate who I may have never introduced myself to, and to explore a part of the city I wouldn’t have thought to go.
Social is always changing and it’s crazy to think that false information spreads just like accurate information and you always have to be super careful about where you get your news from. Sources can be misunderstood or misused, which leads to mistrust or believing the wrong thing to be true. It’s impossible to ignore social media and so easy to get warped into the wrong ideas and beliefs. Our instructor presented on how social media has changed journalistic practice and the three different areas of focus. He touched on Fake News and gave some examples of images that have been altered in order for audiences to believe something else. I was never made aware of this type of photoshop that can have a major impact on someone’s life. He reiterated over and over again how important it is to always triple check sources and to make sure facts are backed up. Esther Kezia Thorpe visited our class on the third day and changed everyone’s perspectives. She gave the class 5 tips for getting ahead in the media career which I will look back upon when choosing a career path in the future. When she discussed how social goes private and asked the class, with a show of hands, to see who has a private account vs. a public one. It was astounding to me that most of the class has a public account and their reasoning made a lot of sense: they have nothing to hide and they don’t care. I have a private account, not because I have something to hide, but because I don’t want just anyone looking at my profile without me permitting it.This week, I found many perspectives and I look forward to learning more about social media platforms and its impact on the world today.
July 7, 2019
Expanding my Horizons
Adventures, sightseeing and new friends; week two is in the books. Through accidentally finding the London Eye and Big Ben, I discovered one of the best areas in town. It seems like a theme I have been noticing of stumbling upon the most extravagant places! This week, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Condé Nast International and hear from Sarah Marshall, Christine Banawa and Michael MacLeod about their experience with British Vogue and Vogue International. I learned all about the history of the internet age, the different titles such as social media editor and audience development/ growth editor and also what they see happening in the future. Sarah Marshall left us with some wise words regarding our futures: Be curious, ask the questions no one else would ask, in an interview, don’t be afraid to say “I can do this because…”, sell yourself for who you really are. She inspired me to be more courageous and to put myself out there to get what I deserve when it comes to interviews. We then traveled to BBC in Oxford Circus and visited their Arabic Service. The building was amazing and was buzzing with workers. Some things we learned was about looking at demographics and competition to determine what the target audience is looking for and wants to see. For example, female audiences was brought up many times and the idea behind what females look for in a product sparked a conversation about the quality of posts. Engagement in social media drives brands to encourage their audience to interact with their product and consume more.
Reflecting on the visit from Laura Oliver, I learned so much about what she wishes she knew going into her career. She mentioned how you define success may change. When she said this, it really made me think about what I see success as. I see success as living comfortably and happy. That is still the ultimate goal but it’s how you reach success may change depending on what path you choose to follow. Embracing the new is another word of the wise she mentioned. She said that it “gives us new ways to find and tell stories and reach people” and I thought that was super interesting. Everything is developing as we speak into new and exciting ideas that will allow producers to connect with their consumers in a relatable way.
The industry reading I chose to present to the class about was a story on Social Media Today: New Report Looks at Best Time to Post on the Major Social Platforms in 2019. Basically, brands have been trying to figure out the best times to post so that their content will reach more audiences. Sprout Social researched when certain social platforms indicate the “best time to post”. There is no single cheat code as to what time is the best to post, but there is a time when certain social media platforms have the most engagement. For example, for Facebook, it shows that Wednesdays between 11 am and 1 pm show the most engagement and therefore, would be the prominent time to post a brand promotion to that social media platform. For many others including Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, mid-day on Wednesdays show the most activity. I always thought there was a specific time that was the “most popular” to post, meaning more people would like a post. I was never aware there was just different engagement periods that lead to users viewing the brand’s posts.
This week really opened my eyes to the opportunities that lie ahead for me while here. I am excited for my upcoming week and visiting Wimbledon and experiencing all that London has to offer.
July 14, 2019
Observations and Realizations
I have never walked or seen as much as I have in one week in my entire life. I was sure that this week was going to be eventful but not this much so. I thought I had seen everything I needed to see, but I was very wrong. I went from seeing half to all of the hit spots this city can offer. A highlight from this week was getting the opportunity to attend the Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. I also got to experience a Serena Williams and Andy Murray doubles match in the afternoon! It was crazy to me that I had never attended a professional tennis match and my first one ever was to watch one of the greatest players of all time. Although I did feel a bit out of place, I came to accept the fact that I am from the states and I have never experienced this before so I was going to take everything in that I could.
This week really put into perspective everything that this world has to offer. Some people will never get to experience the things I have in their lifetime and I get the amazing opportunity to which is mind blowing. Just a year ago, if someone told me I would watch Serena Williams live at the Wimbledon Championships, I would laugh in their face because I never thought it would be possible. Now I get to take amazing classes in a beautiful city and meet some of the nicest and greatest people I’ve ever met.
In my Social Media class on Friday, Federica Cherubini came to talk to the class. She had a full slideshow presentation about audiences and how to maintain engagement. She explained how listening is a design process and offered six segments on how to be an excellent listener:
1. Empathize and collect community questions
2. Define, the community votes for their favorites
3. Ideate and brainstorm how to best answer a question
4. Prototype a reporting story
5. Test and gather story feedback
6. Finally, publish
Engagement is a process and it is what ultimately leads to empowering communities and establish trust. The more an audience feels heard and that they see you’re serving them directly leads to them most likely trusting and supporting your brand. Cherubini closed her time with us with a couple words of advice with the future. For interviews, it is best to prepare and research the brand and interviewer. It will always show you have done your homework when you answer questions with questions relating to the brand history or the interviewer. One of the best pieces of advice she gave: don’t take rejection in a negative way, always learn for next time. For me, I usually take rejection personally and blame them for why they didn’t pick me. Cherubini put into perspective that those who will reject me will be glad to offer some advice as to what I can do better in the future, which is ultimately super helpful.
Working on my About.Me website this week got me thinking about how future employers will eventually see this page and decide whether or not I am a suitable candidate for a position. I put a lot of thought into mine and I even redid my portfolio to make it more engaging and thoughtful.
The industry reading I chose to discuss this week was We Are Social’s Monday Mashupwhich included new renditions to apps this week. For example, Facebook introduced a competitor to Bitmoji, Avatars for Facebook Messenger. This will compete with Bitmoji in popularity and relevance to text and character. It will be released in Australia later this year before it is formally introduced to the rest of the world. Seeming to be a guinea pig, Australia will be able to access and send Avatars that look just like their person to other users. Snapchat launched more in-app shopping destinations including Kylie Cosmetics that will allow users to click on a brand and be able to buy in the app. This will make Snapchat a go-to destination for shopping rather than visiting actual websites where product is formally sold. Snapchat is smart for this because it helps advertise their own brand while also partnering with other products and promote online shopping in an easier way.
July 21, 2019
A Week Full of Tips and Tricks
This week, I was greeted by many new ideas, speakers and opportunities. To start out the week, our class heard from Will Saunders, consultant and executive producer at BBC. He came from a line of comedy and showed us some of his little bits. He talked to us about how the linear world is still thriving and in control. He gave an example of YouTube and how there are 6 billion + hours of content watched a day. This can relate to influencers who use social media to get a leg up on the competition of “already famous people” and get attention themselves. Saunders explained that working in digital is “applying the culture, practices, processes and technologies of the Internet-era to respond to people’s raised expectations”. Most people who work digitally make everything about and for themselves. The digital world is becoming very selfish. Saunders also described three ways to describe content universe:
1. Old things in old ways
2. Old things in new ways (Netflix)
3. New things in new ways (all opportunity will be here)
Distribution is changing the way linear media is being consumed. Saunders gave light to how much each platform means. In order to tell a story in a compelling way, the producer must be able to know how it works. For example, with Instagram, one must know just when to post an advertisement, who is using the app and how much. Saunders’ presentation was very compelling and very helpful and useful going forwards into PR because he taught us how to stand out from everybody else. Achievements make people differentiate and in an interview with a potential employer, be sure to show just how interesting the things you’ve done are and how that makes you different than the rest of the applicants.
Later in the class, Sue Llewelyn presented to us. She is a social media consultant and speaker. She came armed with tips and tricks to make an Instagram story different than all the rest. She says we need to have a clear strategy. The number one thing to keep in mind is: “who are you trying to reach?” The audience is the number one priority when it comes to posting content and how to make them happy/ engaged. She said that putting hashtags, locations and tagging people will get the most reaction and chance of discovery. Another great strategy is to lead the viewer to a final photo or caption that sums up what you have posted. She then gave us some helpful apps to make our stories more appealing and interesting.
After learning all of Llewelyn’s tips, we then set out on our own journeys to make our own stories. I went to the Wellcome Collection which is a museum about magic and played around with the different apps I learned, and it was rather fun! I learned how to take a photo move as if it was a video and blur out a photo.
We heard from Stephen Waddington, MD at Metia and visiting professor at the University of New Castle. He offered a lot of pointers when it comes to public relations. He said that now is the best time to use the tools we grew up with (technology and social media) and enter an agency and start a conversation. We are skilled with so much that so many don’t have and yet, we think we are useless. Having the tools and skills to work around a social media site is immensely helpful in an agency, according to Waddington. He said that there is a massive mismatch on the expectations of society and those who are actually meeting those expectations. Most agencies just focus on what the organization and/or the client wants, needs and expects. I asked him what would stand out in an interview to him and he said “doing the basics really well). He said to have good writing skills, have consistency, join a community like Twitter chat and have a LinkedIn profile. Everything he said, I wrote down and will carry on with me for a very long time. He gave me a lot to think about when it comes to how I want to convey myself to possible employers.
Through my industry reading on PR week, I learned about how Wendy’s sent out a calendar invite for lunch on August 19 to its Twitter followers. They said it would be a good chance for a couple million people to get together. It seems they are having trouble finding customers that they go to Twitter and Google calendars to make people want to come dine at their establishment.
Overall, this week gave me a lot of new insights and tips and tricks for a good career and future.