Over the past decade, social media has become so integrated into everyone’s everyday lives.
It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t have a social media platform. As younger generations grow up with social media in their lives, they are interested in making new ways in which to be entertained on social media.
Social media is not only about entertainment. It’s now the first place many go to find out the news, including myself.
People are seeking out information in the quickest way they can, whether it’s something they will remember or forget after about 10 seconds. While social media is a great tool, it also has been a major adjustment to newspapers across the country to learn how to use this tool.
In recent years, social media has created a large effect on journalism. Newspapers across the country have cut down their print from daily to a few times a week or have gone completely digital. The Post changed from a daily broadsheet newspaper to a weekly tabloid.
News publications have expanded to include all different forms of social media to attract all different types of audiences to their content. Readers just don’t want to read a news article. They want photos, videos, audio and other elements that will keep them interested in what they are reading.
The biggest forms of social media are considered to be Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Post uses these platforms as our main way of sharing our stories with our audience. We send out information as quickly as possible as soon as we know it.
While what we are doing now to share on social media is good, we are trying to find new ways to engage our audience with our posts and to have interest in the stories we are sharing.
Our social media director Matt Geiger was hired at the beginning of the semester to help us expand on some ideas. We are currently discussing ideas to expand on our current social media platforms as well as adding a few others.
Some of our newest forms of social media include Snapchat and TikTok accounts.
We want to start by using Snapchat as a way to give live updates to students as a way of live coverage of an event or breaking news. Students especially are always on Snapchat, and we want to be able to keep people informed in real time. Our social media staff is looking forward to testing out Snapchat with upcoming events in Athens, including the primaries and fests.
Our staff also created a TikTok account to make fun videos about events happening in Athens or videos of behind the scenes of what it’s like to be a journalist at The Post. We launched our first TikTok last week to introduce our staff and are continuing to brainstorm ideas to produce a couple of TikToks a week.
With all the forms of social media, we know we won’t always get it right. However, we want to try and fail to find out the best ways we would be able to reach our audience and be accessible to everyone, no matter what platform.
Follow us on all social media platforms. The Post can be found on Facebook, Twitter (@ThePost), Instagram (@thepostathens), Snapchat (thepostathens) and TikTok (@thepostathens).
Ellen Wagner is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Ellen at ew047615@ohio.edu or tweet her @ewagner19.
