An extra-credit opportunity with Lynn Walsh
By: Sidney Rayba
On November 17, 2021, I was lucky to have the opportunity to attend the Facebook for Journalists course hosted by Lynn Walsh. While we live in the age of information and technology, there is so much misinformation spread throughout our news feeds and timelines that it can often be hard to navigate if what we are reading is factual or merely a concept targeted toward our views due to the complicated algorithms that exist inside of social media.
While Facebook is a foreign land to me, (as i've only recently made an account & use it to communicate with family) Lynn offered insight on how to navigate multiple social platforms in order to find the most reliable information while still reading through the lines and being objective.
One of the tools Lynn had mentioned that really resonated with me was in regard to Instagram. Instagram was the first social platform I've ever had an "online presence" in.
With my degree running in digital media and content management, Lynn offered insight on how to speak to your audience in a way that actively invites them to engage with your content.
I found it interesting that the time of day in which you post is as equally important as what you post. After our discussions, I switched my main Instagram over to a business account in order to track analytics of my posts to see what succeeds and what doesn't, who my followers are, and the best time to "target" my audience.
I also found it insightful when Lynn had mentioned hashtags and maximizing use of the algorithm. This took me back to our in-class discussion on how to use hashtags in a way that would optimize our story and hit the audience it intends.
Lynn had mentioned that the Instagram algorithm is no longer based on chronology, but rather things that you like and similar influencers to that niche. So, in order to maximize your post viewership, using hashtags that follow your intended audience will place your "ranking" on Instagram's feed and show your posts to those with similar interest.
This concept also allowed me to think deeper on the information we see on Facebook. Lynn had mentioned that the stories fed to us through the Facebook algorithm are targeted toward us based on our data history. With this thought in mind, searching for other sources will change your data history, and offer a wider range of stories, pages, and topics for viewing offering a wider range of information.
I also liked the section where she talked about the difference between "pages" and "profiles". Being new to Facebook, I didn't really know that there was a difference. In order to keep profiles and pages safe, she offered a long list of tools that could be used.
For profiles, Lynn had mentioned that a double-authentication log-in process is crucial (so you and ONLY you can access your account). She also mentioned that there are different settings into who can see your posts, who can see what you are tagged in, so on and so forth.
In regards to pages, when using them for informative purposes, make sure the admin is a real person and not a generated robot. Using filters can also narrow down what you are seeing and who is seeing it. I also like the idea that you can "hide" comments from your page, and the person will not be notified that it was hidden from the rest of the world.
Overall, I really enjoyed the course. I found new ways to optimize my social media presence, and find sources that are reliable as a journalist. I will be taking these tools into my future profession in order to maximize viewership and my own personal safety in regards to private information.
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