For this second blog post, I have referenced my 3-2 short paper, case study. In order for social media to be a support for professional communicators, rather than a hinderance, it is also critical for communicators to use mobile technology and be aware of the changes to communication practices brought on by this. Communicators need to adapt to certain skills to adapt to an increasingly mobile environment. The three most important skills are effective storytelling, strong editing skills and a strong understanding of content creation.
One challenge that communicators face in this ever-evolving digital climate is now sharing spaces with Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content. While AI certainly makes writing and communicating easier, for example, you can simply ask ChatGPT to write an effective paper or story and it creates exactly what you asked for in a matter of minutes, it does not take into consideration the uniquely human art of storytelling. Story telling has been an effective mode of communication for centuries. When we look at great literature of the past, and at modern, contemporary art, we can see what makes it great is the story-telling aspect, the human element that AI has yet to grasp. In the Journal article, “The effectiveness of social media storytelling in strategic innovation communication: narrative Form matters,” authors Weber and Grauer conducted an experiment in which participants were exposed to messages about an innovation that varied in narrative quality. They also looked to message strategy and discussed basic content, message design, and concluded that “the higher an innovation message’s narrative quality, the better the innovation is understood by recipients” (Weber, Grauer, 2019). In other words, the better the storytelling within the content, the better it is understood by consumers.
As a self-proclaimed story teller (see other blog posts on this page), I will say this until I’m blue in the face: story telling is more important than ever before, especially as we see AI rapidly developing and changing the story-telling world. The image below is a real picture, not AI generated of me writing my own story.
With social media, how information is presented is also key. When we create content and share stories, we want it to be memorable. Weber and Grauer, 2019, also state “information that is presented more vividly leaves stronger traces in human memory, and hence, when information is recalled, vivid information is remembered better than nonvivid information” (Weber and Grauer, 2019). It is imperative that communicators are effective story tellers because there is so much information out there. Good stories are able to have more of an impact, and reach more people, and break through the noise in the digital information world.
The next skill that professional communicators must have and utilize is strong editing skills. Again, in this fast paced, digital world, communications professionals have to compete with AI and other people who are effective at editing. Why is this an important skill? Well, it ties back to story telling and the human side of sharing. Un-edited or poorly edited stories would likely not be taken as seriously as professional content. Effective editing can make a big difference with professional communicators, especially for journalists and News organizations. Loise Anter discusses how News organizations coordinate, select and edit content for social media platforms. Her study concludes “content is not generally softened on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Rather, news organizations develop strategies to balance their professional standards with social media characteristics” (Anter, 2024). The focus is on news organizations edit their content and how this informs their content production and discusses the differences between organizations. “There is a tendency for the outlets of commercial organizations to use more textual features such as exclamation marks or emojis and a more subjective tone…. [and] it seems that outlets have increased their platform orientation in terms of selecting and editing over the years” (Antler, 2024).
The third skill that can help communicators and benefit users of digital products is having a strong understanding of the content and how users interact with content. While social media platforms are pretty simple to use and anyone can post, it is a skill to understand how the algorithms work and how to use that skill to increase engagement. Great Content.com discussed the different kind of content creator types: Writer, speaker, visualizer, and the habits of successful content creators. The article advises that content creators “Read the news and updates, write every day, build your network, read other’s content and find your unique voice” (Marketing GC, 2022). Creating good content and promoting it effectively is key to more views. Great content.com goes on to say, “Creating digital content is a process, but it’s one that you can master with the right tools and strategies” (Marketing GC, 2022). And can make the difference between a handful of people reading or seeing your work and thousands.
If communicators can be successful in effective storytelling, good editing and implement a strong understanding of how to post content to get more views, they will have a significant advantage to navigate digital products and platforms. Their work will be seen by more people, remembered more and shared more. Using technology and digital information is critical in the communication field.
References:
Anter, L. (2024). How news Organizations Coordinate, Select, and Edit content for Social Media Platforms: A systematic Literature review. Journalism Studies, 25(9). https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2235428
Marketing GC. (2022, December 7). Content Creator – 5 Habits, skills, Trends, and more. greatcontent. https://greatcontent.com/content-creator/
Weber, P., & Grauer, Y. (2019). The effectiveness of social media storytelling in strategic innovation communication: narrative form matters. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(2), 152–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2019.1589475
Erin A Clark 