Hannah Pullen

Hello Travelers,

The goal of academics who use social media, specifically those in the humanities, is to draw attention to the subjects and research we are actively working on, as well as to previous projects we believe should receive more attention and awareness. But to do this effectively, we must have a strategy to ensure people not only receive the message (the posts) but also understand and engage with them.

For my project “The Woman in Bronze,” the story of Kelli Ann Cox, a student who was kidnapped from her university campus and later found murdered, the goal for social media would be to spread awareness of her case and help people understand how dangerous the world can be. The hope for this is that I make a long-form video essay/documentary that gives an in-depth analysis of not only the case but also how it affected the community around it. All other content, such as short form, would be with the goal of driving more viewership to the long-form (YouTube) video.

My preferred method for short-form content is what I call the “snippet” method, where I post different snapshots of the research (e.g., a 5-second portion of an interview, a 1-minute talking-head video about the case, etc.). By doing it in small portions, this will grab the attention of the viewer, in hopes that they will be interested and go to the long-form video.

The audience for this type of project would not only be those who love the true crime genre, but also college-aged women who could learn the story and remember that the world can be eager to hurt them. By using a mixture of both long and short form content, this would interest both the busy college student who does not have time to sit down and engage with the story, while the dedicated crime junkie would be able to get a deep dive into the case.

How do you guys feel about social media? Do you think historians and academics should use it to promote their active projects more? Let me know!

Happy Traveling!

Hannah ❤