Social Media: Art or Science?
Though confined to your mobile device or computer, social media is an enormous, intricate web that enlists both science and art to establish a creative universe.
There simply cannot be one without the other!
The science side of social media is carefully calculated. When posting on social media, you have to know who your audience is and who you want to engage with your content. You also have to choose the right time to post so you know that the largest portion of your chosen audience is receiving and engaging with your content at that given moment.
To collect this information, you can either learn about your audience with time or try online services such as Google analytics to keep you updated on who is interacting with your posts and when. By partnering with Google analytics you have immediate access to a plethora of information including daily and even hourly traffic to each and every one of your social media channels. Science helps you keep track of the success of your content, but the real importance is in what you’re actually posting and sharing.
What you create and post makes up the artistic side of things. To draw people in, you must have content. Whether that be writing, photographs, podcasts, video media, or graphics, there must be something to gather an audience. Once you’ve determined how to do this, you may have followers interested in your artistic journey for life.
Although social media was initially created to connect people, the opportunity for creative expression on a global scale has turned countless media channels into an electronic art form. People are creating what social media means to them.
Personally, the artistic side is my favorite part about the entire social media concept. I love to create, and being able to share my hard work with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers is empowering. For example, I run a blog called MI North, which is exclusively about Northern Michigan. In my blog posts I share tips and tricks on places to camp, hike, and stay as well as display my photography.
The beauty of social media is that people from around the world have access to something that I created. And, though it’s important when promoting a specific item or business, I’m not entirely worried about how many views and/or likes my content receives. For me, the amount of views on something I post may be exciting, but in the end, it does not determine its value.
Collectively art and science make up the social media sphere we’ve come to know and love. Both logic and creativity are connected, and they depend on each other to build the media universe that connects us all.
About Paige
Paige Koziol is a senior studying Advertising and Public Relations at Grand Valley State University. The 2017-2018 school year will be her second year with PRSSA and her first with GrandPR. Even though she is incredibly excited to graduate in April 2018, she can’t wait to spend her last two semesters in GrandPR. She is sure it will offer her valuable knowledge and experience that will not only prepare her for the real world after graduation, but guarantee she succeeds. She loves being outside, so in her free time she likes to travel around looking for new spots to hike, kayak, and camp!