Gloss:
My story was very much experimental for me, and sort of a way to just get a feel for writing social media posts from a different perspective. I had a hard time coming up with a focus for my campaign, and even when I did I had trouble fleshing it out. Basically, this assignment was a struggle for me. But in the end I was content with how my project turned out. I wanted to highlight not just the current Olympics we all know, but look back on what has made the Olympics such a world spectacle.
For my project, I decided to focus on a current and widely followed event-the upcoming Winter Olympics. This idea came pretty naturally when I began thinking of what I could promote and write for that has its own story built in. With hundreds of years of Olympic Games, there is plenty to work with. I feel that the Olympics is a wide-reaching topic that most audiences will want to get excited about and rally behind, and this social media story can work to enhance those feelings.
For my project, I decided to focus on a current and widely-followed event-the upcoming winter Olympics. This idea came pretty naturally when I began thinking of what I could promote and write for where it could follow a natural story. With hundreds of years of Olympic Games, there is plenty to work with. I feel that the Olympics is a wide-reaching topic that most American will want to get excited about and rally behind, and this social media story can work to enhance those feelings.
When it came to looking at how I wanted to present this story, I felt using Instagram was the obvious and best choice simply for the fact that the Olympics has so many iconic moments and photographs that would connect with long-tie audiences who had experienced them, or newer ones who had heard of them. This platform gave me the chance to combine both the visual and written aspects of social media into my story.
For the language I used in my story, I wanted it to be formal enough to convey the idea of prestige and importance, since that is the nature of the Olympic games. Since the captions are describing former/current Olympic moments and athletes, it would be in a way disrespectful to do so. The only time the voice changes or shifts is for the tagline/slogan: Experience history. Where the rest of the caption is long and descriptive, I wanted something short and direct that has that sort of “it says all it needs to” feeling.
One of the parts I struggled with the most in this story was keeping the consistent idea of a relatable hero. Olympians almost seem bigger or greater than the rest of us, so I really had to focus on the relevant challenge that humanizes them more. Whether it was being the underdog, facing personal tragedy, or realizing your dreams after years of hard work, these helped to make the stories and figures of these Olympians something audiences could connect to. While it is hard to make these situations relatable, it is the honest struggle of it that makes these situations more connectable. We have all at one point pushed through after an injury, loss, or some kind of bad odds or situation. Keeping all the posts and messages ending on a positive note helped enforce the message of the story-you will be rewarded for your perseverance and hard work, especially in the face of adversity.
Overall, I feel that my story was impactful and effective. The elements of the story we previously discussed were integrated into the people, events, and moments I portrayed. Choosing my moments and athletes, I wanted to mix memorable historic events/figures people would know, with those they may not to give the idea of just how big and wide-reaching the Olympics are. Those historic Olympic stories start not just with the famous athletes, but those everyday ones who have trained for years and finally get to see their dreams realized. I feel that is where the audience can do the most relating, and why it is so important to tell those stories as well.
Professional Uses of Social Media 