In an era where social media drives engagement and attention spans are shorter than ever, Emily Bloch, a national reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, encouraged journalists to rethink how they approach digital storytelling during her MediaFest 25 session, “Life’s Too Short for Boring Social Media.”
Social media should be tailored to its platform and audience, especially Instagram, said Bloch. She made it clear that she’s not a graphic designer — and that’s kind of the point. The typical journalist is used to reporting news, not making graphics. If you don’t have a graphic design or social media team, it’s hard to know where to start.
“Give people nuggets of news,” Bloch said. “On Instagram, you want your news to be digestible and shareable, something someone can reference or tell their friends.”
Journalists need to prioritize student perspectives and find creative ways to connect with readers, whether through Instagram carousels, collages and especially text. When an Instagram post is promoting a story with a still image without text, it’s not engaging, Bloch explained Readers should be able to share posts with friends and understand instantly what the story is about.
“You can still be professional while having fun,” Bloch said. “If it doesn’t make sense to you or feel like something you’d want to click on, why would your readers feel any differently?”
For example, Canva is a free resource and a crucial tool when making professional-quality posts and many universities offer Canva Pro for free. Social media isn’t just about posting stories to post stories, but making sure people are actually reading them. Look at the comments and see what the audience is suggesting and adapt your content accordingly, Bloch said.
Bloch looked through the Instagram accounts of panel attendees who signed up, giving live feedback on what worked and what didn’t. One example was The University Press’s controversial “Love Island” post, which accidentally spoiled the finale before most people had seen it. She suggested adding a “spoilers ahead” warning to the Instagram carousel.
“Social media is another way to build trust,” Bloch said. “If you make your posts worth scrolling, your audience will keep coming back.”
For long-term coverage, Bloch suggested wrapping up a series of articles with a post that ties together recurring themes. And each semester, she said, is “a clean slate” to experiment and try something new.
“Go hard or go home,” Bloch said. “This is the time to try weird stuff. You’re your own boss in college, that’s not gonna happen again for a while.”
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