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Penn State alumna gives talk on social media and analyzing user trends

Students Teaching Students

In coordination with an undergraduate-run organization called Students Teaching Students, CAS department faculty members mentor exemplary students who develop and teach 1-credit courses on a variety of subjects that advance expertise in communication and its role in public life. This semester, Associate Teaching Professor Lori Bedell is supporting undergraduates Kara Miller (who was in Lori’s RCL course a few years back) and Jess Strait as they teach a course titled “Period Talk: The Impact of Stigma on the Menstrual Equity Movement.”
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Penn State alumna gives talk on social media and analyzing user trends

Lauren Boyer, a 2009 Penn State alumna and CAS minor who is currently senior manager for social media analytics at National Geographic, visited CAS Associate Teaching Professor Ellen Taricani’s CAS 483 via Zoom to discuss how she and her co-workers use social media and analyze user trends. Boyer previously worked as a social media editor for U.S. News and World Report. Some key points Boyer discussed with CAS 483 students included how to leverage data and ways to create a high-quality social media presence: post at a regular cadence, create updated benchmarks for key performance indicators (KPIs), and use KPIs as a reference for determining whether certain types of content are resonating above average. “Most important is to know your audience,” Taricani said, reiterating Boyer’s advice to students. “If you are sending a message that is not liked by your audience, then you are getting very poor results.” Boyer took several CAS classes to assist her in learning more about how communication integrates with emerging technologies and business ventures.