Social Media: Gilts and Glamour

            Everyone’s experience on social media is different. Most people explore the leisure aspect with Instagram, scrolling through reels of beautiful sunsets and selfies sitting comfortably on the toilet. Tumblr users as well, discover this voyeuristic attachment with re-blogging waving bears and six packs. My relationship with social media is more formal than most.

Being a YouTuber, there are certain obligations to maximize branding and marketing on these platforms. I tend to use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr as a quick form of communication when I post a new video on YouTube. Reason being, each social platform has its own unwritten rules. For example, I don’t repost the same description and link about my video to all of these; instead I selectively choose the best phrase for each. With Twitter, it’s all about being concise, witty, and original. Instagram is all about having that one shot that best sums up an entire video. How? Yeh, I am sure most people would agree it’s a bit much to ask, but that seems to be the status quo.

These platforms help me sell myself to those willing to click follow or subscribe. It’s a chance for everyone to build an empire from nothing but a few snap shots and ideas. This is my experience with social media. Most posts are thought out and meant for something. Like in films, everything has a purpose, and if it doesn’t, it gets cut. It’s a balancing act on some level, but for the most part it’s a chance to practice branding in the 21^st century. With nearly 200,000 subscribers on YouTube and 50k on Instagram, its safe to say I’ve ‘played the game.’  But to be honest, once you have a following it takes the person aspect away and that’s why I still have a Facebook dedicated to my close family and friends. It goes without saying that numbers aren’t everything (or anything) it's how you choose to use them, good or bad.