As a PNM, I religiously stalked my current chapter’s social media accounts; I never imagined that one day I would be the person behind them, and I never imagined that it would be such a daunting role at times.
I am the public relations chairwoman for my chapter – I not only oversee the social media accounts for my chapter, but also all of our brand collaborations. I love this role that I have been given more than I can explain, but there are definitely times where I wish the members of my chapter knew what was really going on behind the scenes.
Here are 4 things I wish others knew about being a social media officer:
Social media is taken very seriously by both Panhellenic and the chapter.
I am guilty of believing in the past that running a sorority’s social media accounts was not a daunting task and that it didn’t have any guidelines. I quickly realized that social media has become the ultimate resource for presenting your chapter to the world in a positive light. Because of this, there are many guidelines present to keep social media officers on the right track.
I regularly attend roundtables collaborating with other social media officers, collaborate with the president of my chapter to make sure our social media is representing us well, and have a committee of 3 other girls that help me do my job. There is a lot more that goes into running social media than meets the eye.
I wish that I could post every single photo that is added to the PhotoCircle so that everyone feels included.
Keeping everyone happy in a chapter of 465 women is really hard sometimes. My biggest fear when going into this role was accidentally hurting peoples’ feelings, because it is a common challenge as a social media officer. Because there are so many members in my chapter and only a 20 slide limit on Instagram, every picture is not included in every post. I wish my chapter members knew that I always try my best to include everyone, and I am never intentionally hurting feelings.
Sometimes it is hard to get members to participate in social media activities. Whether it is filming a TikTok, or gathering photos for a post, sometimes members choose to not participate. It makes all of the backlash fall on me for not keeping our social media up to the best standards.
I completely understand being camera shy, especially because I am too at times, but social media officers can not do their job without you! I am especially experiencing this during the summer; living in separate places for 3 months does not make for a lot of photo or video content. I am having to work with what I have in the photocircle, and blow up our group chat constantly asking for photos. Members: we need your help!
I’m busy just like you- student, intern, small business owner, chairwoman- you name it.
Another challenge of being a social media officer is members having this idea that your job is easy, which is a common misconception, and that you can drop everything to build the social media every day. I wish that members knew that social media officers have internships, run small businesses, and are full time students just like them. We keep busy and do our absolute best when we have time to spare!
Being the social media chair of a sorority oftentimes feels like very big shoes to fill. You may go into the role feeling like it will be easy and not taken seriously, but you will quickly realize that the world of sorority social media is constantly growing and changing.
We have a large duty to fulfill and a platform to use for the better! With that being said, the role is extremely fun, allows you to be creative, builds your love for your chapter, and even gives you experience for future careers.
