Iowa Intern Insights

As a 20-year-old woman, I have been told for years that I am on my phone too much and that I am on social media too often. As a student studying public relations and a current communications intern, this makes me laugh. Yes, the majority of the time that I am on my phone I am talking to my friends or procrastinating on some silly video but social media is also where I stay up-to-date on my news, keep informed on campus club responsibilities and so many more practical things. Social media is the fastest and easiest way to inform a large amount of people and to get a message across effectively. It is important to recognize the impact that social media has in not only an organization’s success but also in how the organization's supporters form opinions. We are currently living in a 24/7 news cycle and social media is a big contributing factor to this.
While working in the communications department of AARP I realize that my target audience isn’t my typical audience of college students but instead, it is the 50+ community. Even so, my tactics haven’t changed. I still post on Facebook about every upcoming event as a reminder to our followers and post relevant content throughout the week. Of course,while this is very different content than I am used to posting about (healthcare, fraud, or healthy lifestyles) we all consume media in a fairly similar fashion. So, for the rest of the summer feel free to message me on Facebook with any questions you have, submit photos of Iowa to be highlighted each week, and share information for our events with your friends. While it may look like I am just staring at my phone and computer all day, I promise that I am working hard!