Reflections from my experience as a former Social Media Manager (part 1 of 2)
From August 2021 to December 2022, I was blessed to serve as a social media manager for a local church in my area. When I began, I was a virtual member and assumed this role virtually. It wasn’t ideal to begin a new role this way, but we were still technically in a pandemic for one and two, most of my life has been out of the ‘norm’, so it totally made sense for me. I was able to serve and be a part of multiple departments, but to lead one was truly an honor.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and connect with God and my fellow brothers and sisters in such a unique way. To work with a group of creatives and to have our gifts embraced and cultivated in a 'church setting' was an experience I value and will never forget. I am grateful for the people who took me under their wing, taught me and helped me to develop skills and connect me with tools and resources that I didn’t even know were available.
That said, being the reflective woman that I am, I’d like to dedicate this post and my next post to sharing my experience through my retrospective lens.
Before I became a social media manager, I used Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and occasionally Twitter as a way to express myself, share my experiences, connect with people, be inspired and share my poetry. Through this, I was encouraged by others and inspired to continue writing poetry and to share my life experiences. All of which resulted in me self-publishing my first book of poetry and ultimately creating this website in 2020 now turned blog (August 2023).
At that time, I only shared when I felt like I had something to say. I did not pressure myself or allow others to pressure me into posting all day everyday, because ultimately that’s unrealistic. However, I did struggle with comparing my life to others on social media - to me, some people’s grass looked greener on their side of life. Like many, comparing my life to a stranger’s on the internet also exposed some insecurities that I had. I learned to see and acknowledge my insecurities and to do the work to deal with them. In time, the self work I did, became some of the content that I shared online.
I took pride and still take pride in sharing content that is reflective of who I am and where I am in life and of course sharing the in between stages, too.
I look back now and I realize that I didn’t necessarily have a posting schedule or content creation schedule. I’m glad that I did my best to make sure I took social media breaks and unplug as needed. Honestly, it’s a healthy habit to have if I’m going to thrive in my real life, let alone my life online. I wasn’t worried about the algorithm, it was all vibes for me. I simply shared what inspired me and when I felt inspired. When I didn’t feel inspired, well, I didn’t share. I did my best to create content that was “aesthetically pleasing” to me. My Instagram’s vibe reflected my life’s changes as accurately as I could portray them.
Moving on to my social media manager experience…
When I began, I ran on creativity, excitement for something new, my passion for people and an eagerness to please. I was the new person on the team, so naturally I wanted to prove what I could do and that I was worthy of being considered and chosen for the role. Never in my life did imagine that I could show my creativity and serve God and his people in such a unique way. As a millennial, this was major!
Just like the rest of the team, I had skills that were proven beneficial, such as - time management, organization, self discipline, verbal and written communication skills, the ability to collaborate, give and receive feedback and likely some other things that I can’t seem to think of right now.
What I Learned...
The lists below (the graphics) are based on my personal experiences and all information shown was compiled by me, #SimplyAriRenee for the purpose of this reflection. These items are not in any type of order besides the order I thought them.
Interesting enough, I wrote a rough draft of this between November & December 2022.
Note: I am not a 'professional' content creator or graphic designer, I'm simply a creative who was given the opportunity to be a social media manager and as a writer, I love to compile data and reflect on my experiences.
Whew! To be honest, even after putting this list together, I’m sure I left somethings out. Nonetheless, I believe that’s the gist and I'd like to end this post here!
Checkout part 2 of this in my blog section as I share what I learned about myself as a result of this journey.
Godspeed,
SimplyAriRenee
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