This week was exciting as I was lucky enough to attend a social media workshop at the SAG/AFTRA LA Headquarters. Two professionals in the industry delivered this lecture on social media and the digital age: Ben Whitehair and Ryan Walker. They both have larger scale media presences and know quite a bit about being social media influencers and getting work and connections through their online presence. You know how important online presence is, and we at My Acting Site have always put a huge emphasis on your media presence, so I thought this would be a very important and educational discussion to attend!
Here are the main ideas I got out of this seminar:
-There are rules of social media. Think of social media as a megaphone, but turned around the other way, so that you are listening to everyone. If can be a great tool for self-promotion, but in order to really catch people’s attention, you have to engage with them and the only way to do this is to LISTEN to what they are telling you!
-Don’t use social media as a way to only get favors from people. If you are going to ask people to donate to your funding for a project you are producing, it is completely acceptable and even welcomed, but you must be a helpful member of the society first! Give people suggestions; show them things you like, contribute to the movement of the online presence. This makes people feel more inclined to help you because you have helped them too.
-Reserve your Facebook name for a business page even if you aren’t going to use it right away. You don’t want to end up on a TV show needing to buy the rights to your page from someone because they reserved it before you did!
-Create a general feeling for your Instagram and push it. Are you funny? Dramatic? What is your favorite color? Decide what you want to inspire in people and show it to them.
-Your social media should be about 80% serving your community and 20% self-promotion. This is a good method of staying on track and not seeming too showy. It also makes you more relatable and friendly as a person and a presence.
-Be someone others would LOVE to work with!

      The bottom line of all of this is that you want to be yourself on social media. You want to show industry professionals that you are dedicated to your craft and your career and that you are a contributing member of the creative society. Make friends online and get your name and your image out there. Make sure people know what is you do and how much you love it and be there for your friends and colleagues when they need support, congratulations, and advice! Most of all make sure your social media experience is fun. If you aren’t having a good time curating your images, texts, and whatever else you are planning on posting, then you aren’t doing it right. Enjoy!