Content creation is something we over look. Especially when
you get bombarded with pictures, videos, graphics and so forth scrolling down
your social media news feed. How often do you see a picture of smashed avocado
on toast in a day? Or a flat lay usually consisting of a few products to create
a feeling in the image #perthisok.
No matter who you are or how many followers you have, you
actually create content every time you upload something. Of course as part of
an organisation, your content is important to communicate and support ideas and
activities surrounding a cause.
What I’ve learnt so far in my internship is using
appropriate images to support up coming stories in the magazine that is yet to
be released.
There’s more thought and consideration in these images then one
would imagine. Like mentioned before, we see so many on the daily through our
own social media feeds. An image is just an image. But when you’re creating
social media content, your image has to be engaging, appealing and translate
the message across.
You think about the time to post, how many posts to posts,
what kind of filters you use to reflect the brand. Not to mention the
consistent hash tags for association. I’ve also downloaded a range of apps that
help with creating graphics. Not to undermine the laborious degree of smart
graphic designers, but these apps (yes to technology!) can give anyone a very very
short crash course in the simplest graphic design. If you can call it that.
One day, I spent 3 hours, walking around taking pictures for
up- coming and future social media posts. Apart from the many weird glares and
confused looked; I enjoyed scouting for content and thinking of how images
could be posted.
This internship has taught me that you definitely
have to get out of your comfort zone, even if it is walking up and down a
street taking pictures!
What have you done so far in your internship that has brought you out of your comfort zone?
2 comments:
Hi Isabella,
Although i agree with what you've said, i believe content creation is something that society in general is very aware about, maybe not consciously but unconsciously. On a daily basis one will upload a picture to social media, a video to soundcloud or set a wallpaper their laptop. And in doing this i think we unconsciously manipulate images to reflect ourselves and thus create content. We add filters here, crop photos there and enhance aspects of a image that may have not been prominent before. In essence every single person is a creator of content.
A lesson i have learnt from my intern is that an image can sell a story, even if the writing is rubbish. It is the photos that engage readers and create a setting. Without them your content would be extremely monotonous and boring.
This process of creating content and the way we cut away at it to create a image that reflects our organisation or us, is something i have learnt is also prominent in writing. This is what i chose to discuss in one of my blogs, so maybe check that out and let me know what you think.
Georgia
Hi Isabella
I totally agree with you, a picture is worth a thousand words. We are very visual creatures. A large percentage of the human brain dedicates itself to visual processing. Our love of images lies with our cognition and ability to pay attention. Images are able to grab our attention easily, we are immediately drawn to them.
I have read an article saying that a post on social media accompanied by an image is 10 times more likely to receive engagement. Visuals are one way of grabbing your audience’s attention and gaining interaction, especially on Facebook. With this in mind, you can use these images to drive users to research.
Also for twitter as an example, it only allows users 140 characters of text, which can sometimes make it difficult to convey a complex message. Other social sites like Tumblr, it only uses images to gain followers and likes.
Images are so important, especially in terms of social media content, images help us learn, images grab attention, images explain tough concepts, and inspire.
Hannah
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