A Day in the Life

How does a student of social media spend his day checking in? Here’s a firsthand look of a day in the life.

How does the time of day influence your behavior? What’s the difference between, say, first thing in the morning, lunch and evening?

I check social media first thing in the morning with either Facebook or StumbleUpon. I use Facebook to see what people are up to or what is trending in the News Feed. StumbleUpon helps me get excited about the day. It has lots of creative compilations of content—such as funny dog gifs, cool artwork, productivity tips, ways to improve writing, inspiring quotes, or displaying the most brutal NFL hits of all time.

At lunchtime, I generally check Facebook and Twitter for any news that may be going on during the day.

Throughout the day, I will almost mindlessly flip open apps and scroll for a minute or two.

I use Facebook or YouTube at nighttime, watching the latest John Oliver episodes or catching up on Jim Gaffigan’s hilarious jokes and eating obsessions.

Do your devices differ throughout the day? How does that impact what you do?

I’m mobile pretty much the entire day until I am at home at night—then, I switch to my MacBook Pro. I essentially use my iPhone 6 for capturing most of my social media use. Apps are really helpful for me. I don’t know what I would do without them.

Does the day of the week, real-time events (like breaking news, sports or shows on TV) or seasonal trends affect how you use social media?

I don’t participate in social media like most people seem to do because I generally don’t have the time to sit down and watch a game or show, while posting simultaneously. I usually post strategically every day if I can with something that will really engage my fellow users (e.g. the Facebook post seen above). I almost always post original content. I see great value in this approach. I would like to begin posting more about what is going on during the day, but time is a precious asset that certainly hurts my social presence.

I post photos, videos, or links to articles and engage people’s responses on Facebook. I use StumbleUpon to discover new content and inspire creativity, not to grow my social network. Twitter is helpful to ascertain happenings in the day. I do not post much on Twitter, unless I have a specific reason or campaign. I loathe LinkedIn, and therefore, avoid it at all costs. Snapchat is great for connecting with close friends by sending them a funny photo or video that plays on an inside joke. Vine is growing on me. I don’t use it often, but it does have novelty in its brevity and creativity. I don’t use Google Plus.

When do you switch between social media platforms?

I switch between platforms throughout the day, as indicated above. I use Facebook the most because it is the most versatile and so much new content is available almost immediately. That is the advantage of strength in numbers.

Twitter is interesting because I forget it exists, while in the Facebook zone. I really like Twitter though, and would love to spend more time digesting its content. Its wealth of information is almost too much sometimes.

Snapchat depends on my friends’ use of the app. Many friends used to play around with it, but now they don’t anymore.

What are some examples of brands that succeeded with a timely post that caught your attention?

The Super Bowl Oreo ‘You can still dunk in the dark’ Twitter post from a few years ago certainly qualifies.

Another great post is the one below about Ohio U Coaching Education. My biggest career aspiration is to coach Division 1 college football. Being a senior college student interested in coaching, having an ad like this one seriously piques my interest.

And there you have it. Hopefully, this post gets you thinking about how you use social media every day, and what it means to you.