NUR KHALIESAH BTE MOHAMED H

our department:

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Meeting with Japanese Delegates

Moving on, we were also tasked to craft content to be posted on both social media platforms, Instagram (IG) and Facebook. Prior to our attachment, there were already a few guidelines for us to craft content from previous internships. However, we decided to work forward from there and instead create new content that we could find from our research. For the IG posts, we had 2 categories of posts. One of them being 'Did you know?' and the other being trivia posts with polls for the public to vote on their thoughts for certain statements. Both categories were in relation to STEM topics. For example, one of our 'did you know' posts were on the use of lasers in science, not only in movies. For the other type of posts, one of them was on asking the public if they thought a concrete bathroom could be printed under 24 hours. This was then followed by a post which explained the statement. Adding on to the IG posts, we also crafted a selection of drafts to be used for future reference in posting the two types of posts.

Instagram Posts

In posting the Facebook posts, we learnt that we would have to tweak the content we delivered and the approach in doing so. This was possibly because the audience on the IG and Facebook platforms differ. Not only that, since both of us weren't too familiar with the layout and type of content posted on Facebook, this was also a learning opportunity for us. Besides the write-up for the Japanese visit, we also spent some time researching on content to be put up as posts. However, this was slightly tougher than the content for the IG posts and did require tweaking for their length and formats. One such example was on our finalised post of drones being used to tackle deforestation, such as that caused by the Australian bushfires. Initially, we had planned for our post to be on the extinction of our local butterfly species due to deforestation and the use of drones to tackle this issue. However, we were advised that it may have been controversial for a government organisation to cover such a topic and would have to edit it in a less specific manner. From crafting such posts and getting help from our mentor, we also learnt how to make our posts more interesting and appealing to readers.

Facebook Post

ISawtheScience Articles

Besides the postings on social media and general website housekeeping, we also had a larger deliverable, 2 articles to be published on ISawtheScience. For this task, we were left on our own to decide on topics to craft content on, so long as they were STEM related. We had no prior requirements and it was an interesting process to be able to brainstorm ideas that we were passionate and had interests in. At the same time, it also encouraged us to look at the 'sciencey' aspect to our interests. After researching and looking more into our shortlisted topics, we finally decided to work on the topic of science behind geological sites for our first article. This was especially since the both of us enjoy travelling and felt that it would be an interesting aspect of STEM to cover. Once done with our discussions, we crafted a draft with 5 sites that we had decided to look more into. However, we then had to cut down on our word count and remove one of the sites in our final draft, the underground river of Puerto Princesa. After multiple drafts and feedback from our mentor, we then settled on the final article, 'Sites that will rock your world', to be published soon. Below are the four sites that we managed to feature.

For our second article, we decided to focus on sustainable food alternatives that can be adopted in the future. We felt that this topic would have been of relevance seeing that food security may be a concern in the future. Initially, we had planned on shaping our article around the topic of GMO and adding other alternatives as fillers. However, we were given feedback that GMO may not necessarily be a popular topic lately and that we should try crafting our content differently. After greater research, we were particularly interested in the use of 3D printing to produce food and decided to touch on that as well. As a whole, the crafting of these articles for publication allowed us to be more creative in creating content which may interest others and we also learnt how to be more adaptable in our production of work!

Content/skills learnt:

1. Throughout this experience, I have been able to learn to be more readily adaptable daily, even in small matters. Although we may have spent time and effort in drafting and creating content, we have learnt that there may even be huge changes required in our work and learning to do so efficiently is important as well.
2. Next, we have also learnt that the skill of communication is crucial in the workplace. Not only is it important that colleagues in the same office communicate well with one another, those out of the office and in different departments will have to do so as well. This is to ensure that there are no gaps in understanding and that work can be produced with good quality and efficiently.
3. Lastly, I have learnt and understood more on the back-end maintenance of websites and how digital archiving may work in some circumstances. Although it may have been time consuming, it was a new skill and learning experience for me, and truly an interesting one.

2 Interesting aspects:

1. Firstly, I learnt that the content and delivery on different social media platforms may differ depending on the audience and content intended. This was especially apparent in the difference between content delivery on IG and Facebook. As we were more frequent users of IG, we weren't as familiar with the use of Facebook and how content is usually crafted on the site. After feedback from our mentor, we were able to shape our content accordingly. To conclude, Facebook relies on more wordy posts with fewer photos, while Instagram users usually have their content delivered in more visual and interactive ways, with younger audiences.

2. Besides that, I also learnt that being in the department of media and communications, it's important not only to communicate with colleagues in the same office, but also those in other departments of the Science Centre itself. I thought this was fairly interesting, since my initial assumption was that the department was able to function independently on it's own seeing that it was a different body of the organisation. Not only that, I also learnt that those working in this department connect a lot with other organisations outside their own for outreach and publicity.

1 Takeaway for life:

From this attachment, what I felt was the most important takeaway is the mindset that we need when working with other people, especially in jobs that require cooperation and communication. As mentioned by our mentor, in such cases it's important to be able to adapt and take initiative when one feels that there is more that can be done to progress. This ensures that the time spent at work is more meaningful and that our efforts will not be put to waste easily. Besides that, I have learnt that is also important to have an open mindset towards those you are working with, especially since they may not have similar opinions or even working styles as you. It's important to be professional and be able to handle work accordingly in order to produce that of the best quality, efficiently.

As a whole, I feel that I have indeed gained a lot from this experience and it was truly a meaningful one for me.