I Think I Found my Niche: Social Journalism
Using my writing to connect with others has always been a passion of mine. Growing up, I used to write about my own experiences and as I get older, I realized that a lot of people who are within my same community (Latinx, women, women of color, etc.) also share some of those same experiences.
I eventually came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a journalist, to continue to tell my stories and connect with others with aspiration to help and influence them. The only thing was that I wasn’t sure what this kind of journalism was called because to be honest, almost all kinds of journalism consist of connecting with people in order to tell stories.
Last week, my class had a discussion about social journalism and community engagement. And that is what I want to do. I want to be a social journalist.
To be a social journalist, you must listen to your audience, connect with them, and see what are the issues they are facing and even listening to the good things that are occurring that aren’t being portrayed by the news and media. These stories need to be told and they all should start with knowing your audience and/or the people being targeted by the story.
To be a social journalist means to keep connecting with your audience — especially through social media. It’s one thing to post your content, but it’s another to engage with your audience. Responding to comments, whether its a simple statement or a question — your audience will always appreciate you answering their comments.
Thinking back to our conversation last week, I already do most of these things using my own platforms, my blog and social media profiles. When I curate content, I always like to interact with my audience. There have been times where I ask my audience what they would like to see on my platforms or even ask them their opinions on certain topics, sort of like crowd sourcing.
After a couple of years of not knowing what exactly I want to do with my area of study, I have finally found my niche.
