One Organization I Follow - Beth Wolf Blog Post #3

 Anyone who knows me, knows that there are a few things in my life that define my personality (not including my family, of course). They are:

1. Books

2. Cats

3. Cruising

My husband and I with two of our friends on our cruise to Canada and New England in October 2024!

Whenever I get a chance, I love to take a break from life and hop on a cruise ship to a different destination on the water. It doesn't really matter where it is, I love it all. Since our first cruise in 2019, my husband and I have been on 12 cruises to various destinations in the Caribbean, Alaska, as well as New England and Canada. And part of the fun of going on cruises is planning them!!! It was in learning about cruising during the pandemic and dreaming of travel starting back up again after the shutdown when I found my outlet - people that talk about cruising on social media. One such group is a company that I follow called Royal Caribbean Blog.

Royal Caribbean Blog, according to their website, "is an unofficial fan blog written for other fans of Royal Caribbean International." While their website is a social media platform of a sort in and of itself (it is an active blog that allows for commenting, has message boards, etc), they also have several social media profiles, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter/X.

I can not really speak to the effectiveness of their TikTok profile or their Twitter/X profile. While I do have both platforms, I am never on Twitter/X and I have basically abandoned that platform since its usefulness to me is nonexistent. As far as their TikTok, I could have sworn I was following them on TikTok, but I just went to check and I was not. I was going to complain that their content never shows up for me on my For You page. It is possible that my algorithm has not picked up on my love of cruising yet. I don't post on TikTok and most of the content on TikTok that I engage with is related to my other two interests that define my personality.

If I had to pick which platform they use the best, I think it would be their YouTube channel. They post engaging, interesting content that helps visually explain as well as organize their thoughts into cohesive topics for videos. They post things like ship tours, changes to policies, latest news, ways to make your trip better, answers to questions that newer cruisers would ask, and even host live question and answer sessions weekly.

Where I think they could use some work is their Facebook profile. Even though this is the platform I engage with the most, it mostly just links to their blog posts on their website. The amount of original content on their Facebook profile is lacking. I don't know that I would check their blog without the links on their Facebook profile (which is the reason I engage with it the most, as it is the lowest time commitment and easiest way for me to receive updates), but seeing as the overlap in demographics between cruising and Facebook are pretty similar, I think that they would benefit from engaging more with their Facebook followers. 

However, I do understand that the push to short-form content, like on Instagram and TikTok, with younger viewers aligns with the cruise industry's push to engage the younger demographic as well. And while I do desire to engage more on Instagram and TikTok, I have also been trying to lower my own personal screen time overall and push myself to more creative pursuits as well as more reading. I like to have a physical representation of my accomplishments at the end of the day, whether that is getting further in my book or a physical creation as a result of time spent not on my phone. Life is a constant balancing act!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Social Media for Libraries: Training for Library Marketing

Image
How can libraries prepare staff to communicate effectively in a fast-paced digital environment? Library marketing requires a broad skill set. Staff need to possess strategic thinking, visual communication skills, community awareness, and a strong foundation in professional ethics. Training builds these capacities. Training also strengthens confidence, improves consistency, and supports a unified message across all platforms. Effective marketing development begins with purpose. Staff must understand how outreach supports library goals. Staff must also grasp how promotion reflects library values such as intellectual freedom, equity of access, and community service. Workshops on tone, accessibility, privacy, and message clarity help create shared expectations. The American Library Association provides guidance on accessibility   through its Code of Ethics . Libraries benefit from structured learning in practical skills. Tools such as Canva ,  LibraryAware ,  and Meta Busine...
Read more

Libraries Reaching Rural Communities Through Social Media

Image
How can libraries serving rural areas use social media to bridge the access gap? For many rural communities, the library is one of the few public institutions that provide free internet access, educational programs, and reliable information. Yet the people who most need these services often live far from the library building itself. This is where social media can serve as a critical connector. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube allow rural libraries to reach patrons beyond physical walls, sharing resources and programming with people who may not be able to visit regularly. Social media also helps highlight the unique role rural libraries play. A Facebook post about a new audiobook collection or a YouTube video tutorial on how to use the library’s digital catalog can make resources more visible and accessible. Even sharing photos from community events creates a sense of connection, reminding patrons that the library is more than just a building—it’s a hub for learnin...
Read more

A Missed Opportunity? - How libraries could use YouTube to increase visibility - Beth Wolf Blog Post #1

Image
After my undergraduate degree, I am ashamed to say that I fell into a huge book slump for years. If you don't know what a book slump is, I am very jealous of you. Personally, I didn't have a term for what I was going through until I became an avid consumer on, what I affectionately call, BookTube. I was an English major during my undergrad degree and, while I loved most of the books that we were reading, consuming so many books that I did not personally choose for myself, the opposite of what the BookTubers I now regularly watch call "mood reading," really burned me out on reading for a while. Flash forward to a couple years ago. I was facilitating the book club of a (now previous) job and looking for books to recommend to my book club. In my Google search, I found some videos on YouTube of book recommendations for book clubs. This was pretty interesting but hold that thought. I wasn't obsessed yet. I was still falling into the same traps of reading books that are...
Read more