MADELYN AUGUSTINE
Our world is quickly transforming with all of the advances in technology. We now have the ability to reach hundreds of people in the matter of minutes thanks to the internet and social media. When used correctly and appropriately both the internet and social media networks are an exceptional tool for journalists. They offer a different platform to tell a story on. When I am considering how I want to tell a story I take into account on if the story would be better for a print paper or an online post. Typically the stories I choose to put online are longer than those that go in our print paper. When putting a story on social media, however, I tend to choose the most intriguing facts to get people's attention because they will then, hopefully, go to our online website to read the entire story.
Click to enlarge the photo.
I grew up in the age of social media, so I know my way around all of the social media networks. As the Social Media Manager I run the Prowler Yearbook twitter account. I am currently working on getting a stronger base of followers by having staff members tell their friends to follow us on twitter and by spreading the word myself. Also, I am working at posting more content on our twitter page, so we can keep our student body in the loop on what we're doing and to simply increase our social media presence. By posting periodical sneak peaks at what the yearbook is going to look like this year, it keeps students and staff excited and anxious to get the finished product in May and will likely bring new people to purchase a book. People are constantly updating their feeds and I believe that as journalists we need to take advantage of that and get our work out there for people to see.
Another task that I have done this year as Social Media Manager is write to our school board and administration on allowing Journalism to create and run a Snapchat account. Nearly every high school student uses Snapchat daily. I wanted to begin a journalism Snapchat so we would have the ability to reach students on another platform. The photo to the left is a copy of the letter I sent to the board and administration; in it the specifics of the account are outlined.
Striv TV is another way that myself and the rest of the Catalyst Newspaper staff reach a wide range of audiences. Striv TV is a live streaming service that gives students, staff, parents and anyone else the ability to watch a home sporting event if they are unable to attend. I personally have acted as producer for Striv. This means that I am in charge of running the clock, scoreboard and switching which camera angle the viewers see. Other jobs that are completed include commentating and working as a cameraman.