My content creations
Whether you realize it or not, everyone is a content creator. Content comes in both digital and physical forms. Some examples of digital content include social media posts, blogs, emails, texts and videos. Some examples of physical content include printed work or homework assignments, books, journal entries, paintings, drawings, CD's, notes and physical photos. Other forms of content we may not realize include ideas displayed in a manner to inspire, communicate or connect with others such as a food menu, written comedy jokes, music, performances, advertisements and more. Essentially, content is a form of expression that brings out our thoughts and ideas to the world.
As someone with a bachelor's degree in journalism and currently working toward a master's degree in interactive media and communications, the content I focus on the most is my digital content. In this blog post, I will break down some of the content I have created for both my personal life and career.
Social Media
Today, almost everyone has some form of social media. The platforms I post on the most are Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and VSCO. Each platform serves its own purpose and has different target audiences.
My Instagram is like a digital journal of all the positive experiences in my life. My posts primarily include me spending time with friends, travel photos, food captures and milestones. The audience is my friends from college, old friends from high school and family members. I apply a filter on all my pictures to maintain a consistent aesthetic. I find that using a common filter makes my Instagram look more polished and organized.
On my Insta story, I'll usually post something live in the moment such as a concert video, dinner with friends, etc. I'll also repost if there is a message I'd like to spread or news I find is important for others to know. If I decide to delete a photo, it's usually because it is no longer a part of the story I'd like to share.
Since my account is private, I only allow certain people to follow and look at my content as my Instagram is about my personal life.
LinkedIn is the platform I use to share my career news and professional work. I use it as a platform to network. Since LinkedIn is a professional platform, I don't post anything personal. I maintain my brand by only posting my work and using a header on my profile that says "Journalism. Television. Media." That way, recruiters or employers can know what to expect when they come to my page. I also pin important posts I want professionals to see such as my reel or projects I've worked on.
My Facebook following is much smaller compared to my Instagram page. The people who interact with my content are usually close friends and family. I don't post on Facebook as often since fewer of my friends are on the platform. However, I'll use it as an outlet to share milestones, birthdays or other celebrations and fun events to update family members and friends I don't see everyday. I keep the captions short and sweet.
Video Content
Since my concentration during my undergraduate degree was broadcast journalism, I created a lot of video content. Whether it was producing and editing news packages or creating TV commercials at my previous CNBC internship, I had to figure out how to create an engaging story that would target multiple audiences.
News Packages
While I was reporting for Q30 and Ability Media, I created a variety of news packages, some being more creative stories than others. To start, I would brainstorm the end goal of the story. Sometimes, the story would change depending on the facts I would find during my research. To do this, I would write down my questions to ask interviewees and consider what would be the most important aspects of the story.
After preparing my material, I would go out and shoot Broll, or video, for the story and conduct my interviews. As I would shoot Broll and record my interviews, I would consider what would stand out the most in my package.
After shooting for the video, I would then write my script. I would always write to the video and make sure my voiceover matched what would be shown to viewers. By doing this, it makes it makes it easier for viewers to follow the story.
CNBC Promos
While I interned with CNBC's On-Air Promotions Department, I was very fortunate to work on various promo projects. One project I produced, edited and delivered for air was "Shark Tank" promo. During this process, I started by choosing clips from the show through the company's AVID archive. I would edit the clips to find bites that would create one, cohesive narrative. I would then download the clips and organize them in a DropBox folder for other producers to see and retrieve.
After choosing the clips, I would then find music through NBC's Frequency music library. Once I found the music I thought would best fit the mood for the promo, I would have it approved by the creative director. Then, I would edit the music and soundbites together on Adobe Premiere Pro to create the promo. During the editing process, I added special effects to add subtle surprises to the video. As I was editing, I wrote the script according to the producers so editors could follow along while quality checking the project.
Radio
During all four years of college, I was involved at the student-run radio station WQAQ. My talk show "Trash Talk" that my friend and I hosted weekly was about our everyday lives. This show was targeted to college students. We would talk all things college chronicles, celebrity gossip, relationships and more. The show reflected my life in college.
To promote each episode, we would create Instagram posts to engage our audience. We would also post polls on our story to increase engagement and followers. By producing and hosting my own radio show, I understood how. to better connect with an audience. We would also bring guests on our show such as friends and professors to gain more listeners. We would then post the episode on Spotify, iTunes and other audio platforms.
Articles
As a journalism major, I've written and produced a bunch of articles for various platforms. Some media platforms I've written for include Ability Media, a non-profit media organization that sheds light on the disabled community, and Q30 Television, Quinnipiac University's student-run TV station.
Ability Media
When I wrote articles for Ability Media, I primarily wrote profile pieces. The goal of my articles was to educate those who don't know a lot about the disabled community and inspire readers. I would write an article per week, which would then be posted on Ability Media's website.
Not only did I write the articles, but I also chose the images that would be featured. I either took the photos myself or had the interviewee send me the photos they wanted featured. Choosing the images was an important part of the publication process. The more visuals in an article, the more inclined people will be to read it.
Q30TV
As a former associate and executive producer for the station's newscast, I always wrote breaking news articles to be posted on the website and featured on Twitter, or X. To do this, I used the lessons I learned from my undergraduate journalism classes and applied them to my writing. I also considered the target audience, the students.
While writing the articles, I would always consider which parts of the story are the most or least important. Then, I would stack the most important information at the top of the article and the least important information toward the bottom. After, I would read the whole article and make any cuts to extra information that wasn't necessary. This was to keep the articles as concise as possible. If an article is too long, people will quickly become disengaged.
Conclusion
As someone who studies and works in the communications field, I'm always creating some form of digital content. Each piece of content I create reflects different aspects of my personal and work experiences. The more content we share online and package together, the more we're creating our own brand whether we realize it or not.