As Social Media Editor of The Raider Voice, I’ve learned and been through a couple of obstacles to get the social media accounts to where they are today. It all started when I first joined The Raider Voice’s staff as a junior. Initially, I wasn’t going to be part of the staff, but after some convincing I chose to step out of my comfort zone and join the paper. Little did I know, I would be given the position of Social Media Editor just a month after joining. 

The whole process of being anointed with this position was very sudden for me. When the paper wasn’t getting the results they wanted on the social media platforms, the job to improve the accounts was given to me. At first, I was hesitant in taking it simply because I didn’t know how to run a school account or  If I even qualified for an important position like this. Now, I’m proud to say that I’ve fully embraced the position and I love what I do. 

When it comes to running a social media account, especially for a school newspaper, you have to focus on being consistent with school news as well as making your feed fun and pleasing to the eye. Looking back now, If I could give myself advice for when I first starting off, I would say to not stress about it. When I was stressed about what I wanted to post on social media platforms, I would often find myself in a mental block that didn’t allow me to brainstorm new, creative ideas. This is why it’s extremely important that you let these ideas come naturally. Eventually one idea leads to another and then on. 

When it comes to building a following, you need to be consistent and provide content that’s pleasing to the eye. Last year, The Raider Voice’s Instagram page was handed to me with less than 300 followers and the Twitter had less than 100 followers. 

This year, we finally hit 1,000 followers on the Instagram platform in just a couple of months. This is all because of consistency and content that people enjoy seeing. Whether that being fun multimedia packages or giveaways, being interactive with the school community is extremely important. 

You can’t shy away from actual important news though. Yes, social media can be full of fun and games, but you never want to lose the professional side to your page. This means it’s very important to promote daily articles that are posted as well as promoting in school activities that are taking place. 

Being able to have this position as Social Media Editor has opened many doors for me. Before, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study in college. After being given this opportunity and position, I found that my interests in fashion have expanded due to constantly seeing fashion ads and campaigns on social media. I later realized that these interests can be pursued with journalism as well. Working on social media opened my eyes to the different worlds of entertainment in journalism, which led me to discover my passion.