How My Internship Changed the Way I Look at Social Media

For the longest time, my relationship with social media was purely passive. I'd mindlessly scroll until something caught my eye. I would treat ads as nothing more than attempts to sell me a product or service. That was my entire perspective on the digital landscape. That was until I began my internship at POWER.

My name is Alexandria Pickel, and I am a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh studying marketing with a certificate in digital media. I am an intern on the digital media team at POWER, focusing on organic social.

The main project that I worked on during my internship was content calendars. In a nutshell, for the content calendars, I would create graphics and captions. The process of creating those two assets involved research into the client's tone of voice, the products or services they provide, and their overall brand identity. Lots of thought goes into whether a graphic aligns with the brand or whether a caption matches the client's tone of voice. My experience creating these calendars has changed the way I consume content on social media.

Before this internship, I never stopped to think about why a brand chose a certain image or wrote a caption a specific way. I simply consumed what appeared on my feed. Now, I find myself analyzing almost everything I see online. Whether it's an advertisement, a Reel, or even a simple graphic, I automatically start thinking about the audience, the strategy behind it, and the goal the brand is trying to achieve. Social media has gone from being something I casually scroll through to something I actively evaluate.

Social Media Is More Strategic Than It Appears

Before my internship, I never put much thought into the process of how content was created. I thought of it as random. I learned that that is not the case. At POWER, we take specific aspects of a client's brand and goals and try to incorporate them into every piece of content we create.

For example, one of the graphics for our client Pittsburgh Mortgage Guy, the personal brand of mortgage loan officer Aaron Miller, included a picture of a young couple outside of a house. I did not choose that picture randomly; I chose that picture because the primary audience for Pittsburgh Mortgage Guy is young couples who are looking to buy their first home. The text on the graphic reads, “Serving people first. Loans second.” Aaron’s mission is to help individuals get the best deal on a mortgage that fits their needs. He is personable, reliable, and confident.I strategically picked both elements so that the picture attracted the target audience and the text communicated the values of the brand.

As for captions, at POWER, we utilize ChatGPT's custom GPT feature as a tool to assist us in writing captions and copy. Each client has a custom GPT that we train to ensure that any copy is in the tone of their brand voice. AI is not perfect, so any output given to us is edited thoroughly before it is used. Some of the common ChatGPT quirks that we look out for include phrases like “whether this or that,” referring to the company in the third person, or the now infamous em dash. After creating and editing these captions, I can easily spot when a caption on social media was created by AI.

Posting Is Only Half the Job

Before joining POWER, I assumed that managing a social media account mainly consisted of creating and posting content. I quickly learned that posting is only half the job.

Another task during my internship was engagement. Engagement involves interacting with users by liking, commenting, responding to messages, and following community members and businesses. At first, this seemed like a simple task. However, I quickly realized that engagement plays a significant role in building relationships with followers, creating a sense of community, and growing B2B connections.

When people interact with a brand online, they want to feel like they are talking to a real person. Consistent engagement helps create trust and keeps audiences connected to the brand. It also helps increase visibility and encourages future interactions.

Now, when I see a brand responding to comments or interacting with its audience, I understand that those interactions are not accidental. They are part of a larger strategy designed to strengthen relationships, build community, and get their name out. In the past, I looked at an interaction from the brand as just that. Now I can see the purpose and intent behind the engagement. 

I'll Never Scroll the Same Way Again

Before my internship at POWER, social media was simply something I consumed. I never stopped to think about the strategy, planning, research, and analysis that happened behind the scenes.

After spending the summer creating content calendars, writing captions, engaging with audiences, and learning how brands use social media to achieve business goals, my perspective has completely changed.

I now understand that successful social media marketing is much more than posting a graphic and hoping people like it. Every image, caption, interaction, and metric serves a purpose. Behind every post is a team of people making thoughtful decisions about how to best connect with an audience and tell a brand's story.

Not only am I conscious of the strategy behind the content when I scroll, but I am also looking for inspiration. I now have a folder on Instagram where I save content that inspires me or sparks ideas that I can adapt for my clients.

What once felt like a simple scroll through my feed now reveals the strategy, creativity, and planning behind every piece of content. Thanks to my experience at POWER, I no longer see social media solely as a user. I see it through the lens of a marketer.