Reflection

When I started this internship, I didn't really know what to expect. I was excited about being able to use and apply things I've learned through coursework and previous internship experience but was unsure if I could accurately predict what my time as a Digital Marketing Intern for a one-woman show would look like. Given my fields of study, I was also very keen to learn more about the kind of work that goes into the business of content creation and explore the ethical implications that might accompany this work. I feel very grateful to have been supported in this endeavour through the ASPIRE scholarship; the financial relief heavily contributed to my ability to perform as both, an intern and a student.

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Fueled by this interest and intrigue, I decided to explore the question of "what are the tools and skills needed for one to become an established content creator?" as part of my engaged learning experience and carried out interviews, collected secondary data, and unpacked my observations through various reflection activities. While I expected to learn more about the various formulaic techniques and approaches that one could use to 'tame' the algorithm, I'm surprised to note that the biggest lesson I learned through my work is that “overnight successes take 20 years”[1]. Engaging with content creation work has to go beyond simply creating and putting out content of some form - it requires an active effort on the creator's to not only execute the process of creating material but to build virtual communities. While one can learn how to best optimize social media feeds and algorithms to establish themselves in terms of numbers, the key to achieving sustainable success in this realm lies in the details - consistency, authenticity, and embracing change.

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Below, you can read more about how these revelations factored into my day-to-day work at Seek the Joy.

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[1] Quote from my interview with Lisandra Vazquez, Media Strategist and Creative Director