Here's What I Know About Social Media

We all know about social media… (right?). It’s personally one of my favorite pastimes, no matter how embarrassing that is to admit. I'm an avid scroller and have been since the apps came out. I practically begged my mom to let me get an instagram account and once she finally said yes, there was no going back.

Within the past few years though, there has been a huge shift that i've noticed. From picture perfect, aesthetic photos to dancing videos to the infamous “get ready with me” our the media at our fingertips is constantly shifting.

So how do we navigate these shifts? How can we finally quit our jobs and become full time content creators?! I am nowhere near being able to consider that, but as a girl who’s ran numerous social media accounts, I like to think I know a thing or two, but in order to not sound like a raging narcissist, i've gotten the chance to chat with some of my classmates, as well as Reece Kilbey, head of the governor of Hawaiʻi’s social media and learned a thing or two more. Here’s what I've gathered.

Content

What you post is everything! After our discussion, my classmates and I decided that some of our favorite influencers and brands have an organic, visually interesting and conversational feed. Their posts catch our eye and never look too posed, they are simply cool to look at. They break that “fourth wall” (or I guess you could say screen?) and take us along with them, making us think we’re one of their BFFs. I think we're at the point in social media marketing where everything's becoming a little overdone. We're tired of being marketed to, we want to see how the product fits into our lives. As for influencers, we want to see what their lives are like. (even if it’s a shitshow… how relatable!)

Tools, Organization and Tips

If you've ever been a social media manager, you know that organization is everything. I asked Reece (@kilabey) who runs @govhawaii as well as @govjoshgreen (the instagram of the office of the Governor, as well as the personal instagram for the Governor of the state of Hawaiʻi, for some of his tips and tricks and he gave me some insightful feedback. For the governor’s account he said that since Josh is such a busy man, there's always SOMETHING in his day to day job that he can make a post about. But when there's not, he takes what's going on in the world such as holidays, community, and global events, and finds ways to create content around that for Instagram. To create the content, he uses tools such as Canva and Indesign, which are some of my favorites as well. For my clients, I am also a huge fan of CapCut, as well as Adobe software such as PremirePro and Adobe Express.

Some final tips he added for navigating the endless world of social media is to find your niche and see what sticks! Planning isn’t everything, especially when you are posting daily, not everything can be “picture perfect.” In our ever changing world, especially with times like the pandemic, and Maui wildfires, knowing your audience and being nice to them will be the ultimate best practice, no matter what.