I wrote a column in the lastest issue of our school newspaper about my college’s lack of proper social media use (read it first if you haven’t already). I was pretty critical in it, admittedly. I was only hoping to eventually see some silent changes in how they conducted their social media strategy online. Tonight I saw a tweet that made my week.
I was completely shocked after reading that. A reply was even made after that to a mention on twitter indirectly referencing the @STLCC account. This was coming from an account that previously had just tweeted links with a few words describing them. I poked around on the blog I referenced in the column to see the comments had been disabled on the about page and the question about getting involved was finally answered. These are major, yet minor, changes from just a few days prior. I have high hopes for STLCC if they continue to refine how they interact on social media sites. I know it will take time, and they/we might not see results right away, but if they keep it up good things will happen.
Seeing change as a direct result of something you’ve written is really an incredible feeling, better than any award could give. Maybe it’s normal for something to change after you call it out, but I really doubt that. This was the first column I had ever written, and it was really a struggle to write with my voice as opposed to reporting. I still consider myself pretty new to the writing side of journalism, but I’m enjoying it more and more each time I write something. Dare I say, more than photojournalism? We’ll see.
I have some big plans for next school year. This column and my 1,400 word beast of a story on a new dining services contract at STLCC, also in the same issue, are just the beginning of a change in the direction I want to take myself with journalism. I can’t wait to share the rest.
Edit:
Confession: I Just started following @STLCC the account today. That said, I checked up on the account regularly, at least once a week, and the night I wrote the column. I’m not sure why I didn’t hit the follow button before, but my guess is because I never saw anything of interest on the timeline. That, however, I have a feeling will change.