Life as an Intern: How Social Media Changed My Life (Kind Of)

There comes a time in every college student’s life where the overwhelming and crippling uncertainty associated with life after graduation impels them to act in one of two ways. The first of which is to have an anxiety-fueled breakdown and make some sort of irrational impulse decision (including, but not limited to, random piercings, impromptu road trips, and registration within some sort of protest movement). The other option is to buckle down and establish some sort of organized path toward a desirable future. As not much of a buck wild rebellious youth myself, I leaned toward the latter option, which led me to The Great Internship Search of 2013. There were ups and downs, hardships and triumphs, and a multitude of awkward interviews with random strangers. However, all of the nervous laughs and stuttered answers landed me a position as a social media-marketing intern for Social Werks Communications. Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of becoming a professional Facebooker. Though, my excitement was slightly misguided, the experience and education I have received during the past six months has been invaluable to both my professional and personal growth.

At Social Werks, I was taught how to utilize social media in a way that was entirely foreign to me. Tweets were expected to be professional and engaging (as opposed to my usual clever and slightly inappropriate), and Facebook posts were regulated by strict guidelines in terms of content, timing, and other relevant considerations. Then, there was Pinterest – a Goliath that I had not encountered prior to working with Social Werks.

The ability to embrace social media in a professional setting is not only an incredibly vital skill in the technology-reliant world of today, but it also caused me to have an epiphanic realization about society. Managing engagement and interactions on our client’s Twitter and Facebook profiles, marketing for nation-wide giveaways and competitions, and even attending and publicizing events held at our client’s locations collectively helped me quantify the sheer scope of human interaction. Social media has enabled so many people from so many places to engage in a way that is simultaneously distant yet intimately intertwined. It absolutely (for lack of a more professional idiom) blows my mind when I sit down and just contemplate how many people, who have never met and probably will never meet, have so much in common simply based upon their movements and interests on any number of their social media profiles.

Social media has revolutionized the way society communicates. It has truly made an impact on the lives of every individual; and that continues to amaze me to this very day. My internship with Social Werks Communications not only equipped me with the tools to harness social media, but also blossomed my unwavering appreciation for it as well. Without social media, it is frightening to imagine how much of society’s progress would cease to exist. This world is run by technology – there’s simply no use fighting it. All we can do is hold on tight, and enjoy the ride.

– Written and created by Lizzie Tao, Social Werks intern and socially, savvy writer.