Web & Social Media
News is becoming increasingly more digital. Though the majority of my training has been in newspaper and yearbook work, I made it my mission to learn the ins and outs of online news. Website and social media are the two most timely ways to push news out. Their digital aspects also allow for creative design and interactive elements. When you push the envelope with web and design, the opportunities are endless.
Redoing the HHS Media Website
01.
Refreshing the front page layout
Before
Before the redo you can see we just had one story preview on the home screen. This was not pulling readers in or showcasing the range of our coverage.
02.
Adding a community/national news updates section
After
After the redo you can see we have a collage style to showcase multiple stories, photo galleries and live coverage. We also did this collage refresh with each section: news, opinion, sports and feature.
I decided to add live coverage to our website this year. It's quick news and is more applicable to the viewers from all across the globe. We work to localize state, national and global news in short informational blurbs posted in a timely manner.
03.
Adding an Arts and Entertainment Section
Despite the booming art scene in Harrisonburg, VA, we did not have an arts and entertainment section anywhere in our media. We created a new section on the website to place book, movies, TV reviews and anything arts related.
04.
Highlighting Sports scores
Sports are one of our readers favorite parts of the website. This year we added a "recent sports results section" for easy access to sporting events scores for viewers. Our online managing editor and sports editor work together to gather and report the scores of all sporting events.
05.
Increasing traffic through timeliness
Last year, there was a span of two weeks where we didn't post once. To me, this was completely unacceptable. Our readers and community members depend on us for news, and timely news at that. This year we have worked to post at least three times a week. Many weeks we have even exceeded our goals reaching a post everyday. This has increased our user session time and site views as shown above.
Graphics are eye catching. When someone sees information displayed in a unique or more palatable way they want to see and read more. Graphics have increased our viewership and contributed to the overall "look" of HHS Media.
Graphics
Website: Interactive Elements
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Polls are a great way to get viewers to interact with the website. We have found that an intriguing poll question may make someone stay on a page or story for longer. This year we did a refresh of our poll questions to make them fun to answer and think about!
Polls
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Not everybody likes or has time to read a full story. Short broadcast videos or photo galleries allow viewers to see what's happening in a faster and more visually appealing way.
Multimedia
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The past four years I have worked primarily with Instagram which has given me the space to experiment with graphics to see what is most appealing to viewers.
Social Media: Posts
Caption
Work:
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When I joined staff my freshman year (during COVID schooling), I jumped straight into online news, particularly social media. I made it my mission to take quality action photos and match them with equally strong captions. One of the major advantages of social media is the way news can be pushed out in a timely fashion.
Good quality photos and action shots are what we prioritize teaching our staff at the start. However, a good photo has little power if you don't know what's happening in it. I've spent the past two years really focusing on my captions. This caption held two quotes and numerous detailed sentences. A good caption should tell a story in just a few sentences.
Carousels
Carousels are the next big thing in social media. They provide quick information in a more polished graphic way. To the right you will see two of five of the carousels I created to share information about the local Virginia elections this past fall. You can click through the National Yearbook Week and National Eating Disorders Awareness Week decks as well!
Instagram Stories
Interaction is key. We have to know that our viewers are looking at our content and absorbing it. We regularly post polls on our instagram stories to hear from our readers.
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Promoting Web by Social Media
One way we have been able to unify our online platform is to use our social media to promote stories that are posted online simltaneously. This increases the traffic of both platforms.
Rebranding HHS Media: Social Media
My next project in the world of social media is rebranding for a more professional look. Many staffs have switched to adding their logo on every post for a more unified, polished look. See the right for my current prototype of the logo on a post. I hope to get this up and running by early March!
