Taylor Link’s Online Persona
Taylor’s online presence spans every mainstream social media channel — Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, his presence is most active on Twitter.
On Twitter, Taylor has developed his personality by sharing articles he’s interested in. He’s clearly passionate about sports, retweeting articles and memes on his favorite teams. While most of his activity consists of retweets, on occasion, he offers his own viewpoint about an article or in a Tweet. I think this is a great way to actually take part in the conversation about these subjects and to position himself as an enthusiast, and maybe one day, influencer.
Taylor keeps his follow list on Twitter very focused, following only 36 accounts, and his account is open. A look at his Twitter roster includes sports publications, writers and teams like Sports Illustrated, Shea Serrano, and the San Francisco 49ers. He also follows many publications that aren’t focused on sports (The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and more), which shows other interests like society, entertainment and politics. I think it’s smart for him to focus on a small niche that he’s interested in — this is a great way to connect with people he admires and stay on top of the news in the industry.
I like that Taylor posted a link to his personal blog on his Twitter profile so followers can keep up with his thoughts on a variety of subjects. It’s a great way enhance his online persona and for followers to learn more about him.
On Facebook, Taylor’s activity is less robust — his last post is from more than a month ago. His posts on Facebook are more personal — photos with friends, personal thoughts, but with the occasional sports link. Taylor said he mostly uses Facebook to keep in touch with friends, and since he uses Twitter more actively for news and sharing, I think it makes sense to keep Facebook more private.
Taylor’s LinkedIn account is less complete than his other accounts. It’s great that his work history is filled out, but descriptions of the work he’s done for each job would give employers a better idea of his capabilities. Adding a professional headshot would be a great way to enhance his profile, since his account looks unused by not having one. Just a few simple tweaks would make his profile stand out more so he can network with other media professionals for internships, mentorships and jobs.
Taylor uses Instagram exclusively for friends, but has an open account so anyone can follow his photo adventures. He doesn’t post regularly with only 26 posts in the six weeks that his account has been active. While he doesn’t post a lot, I think his posts are interesting as he focuses on scenic photos around Los Angeles and New York. I like the simplicity of his captions, a photo of the Empire State Building for example, just says Empire. However, I think using hashtags would be get his photos more likes from the Instagram community. Many of his photos don’t have captions, which would would lend more context and tell a better story.
SnapChat is mainly used to keep in touch with his friends, and Taylor says he likes sending snaps of what he’s doing to make his friends jealous.
Taylor definitely has a presence online and it’s great that he already used all of the major social media channels before this class. As he develops his presence as a journalist, I think he can incorporate sharing sports information on his Instagram, too, as well as making his LinkedIn more robust.
