As an online publication, Ka Leo posts all articles through a website. In order to post, the staff learns about the backend process of posting through WordPress. This is how they learn basic web design skills, such as choosing appropriate media for the article and balancing written content with visuals. When I first started posting through WordPress, I struggled with choosing what visual content to include and where to place it. As I’ve gained more experience, I am able to assess the media I have in relation to the text I have and balance it appropriately.
This is the backend of our site, WordPress, which is where we post our stories.
My role as Social Media Editor is to curate content for our social media presence and to make sure I am posting consistently. As our staff reporters publish new articles, I am responsible for posting about them on our Instagram. This includes creating a post that consists of the article’s section and headline. I also write all the captions and hashtags for our posts. Being Social Media Editor doesn’t only mean posting on social media, but it also means that I’ve had to learn how to increase engagement with our followers.
In my first year as Social Media Editor, I used an existing template to create our posts. The article’s headline and “Read More” tagline were always on the second slide of the Instagram carousel, resulting in posts that didn’t quite grab your attention. I also tried tagging our staff members on the posts to get more engagement. However, the result was not always consistent.
This is an Instagram post from last year. The "Read More" tagline always appeared on the last slide of the carousel.
Now that I have more experience in this role, I know what works for our page and what doesn't. I observed my media-consuming habits, finding that when I come across posts, I tend not to scroll past the first slide of the carousel if the first picture doesn’t capture my attention. I changed the layout of our posts to include more information about the article that viewers can see at first glance. I include the article’s headline, section, primary photo, and our website link on the post. I also include the Sacred Hearts Academy Instagram account as a collaborator on the post. I have found that all these methods together have increased engagement on our social media pages, observed through increased likes and comments on each post.
This year, I changed our Instagram posts to include the section, the headline, and a "Read More" tagline on the primary photo of each post.