Amanda Hsu: Social Media Manager is a role on RubicOnline tasked with handling everything on The Rubicon social media platforms, from teases to TikToks to Instagram stories. I’m Amanda Hsu, and in this podcast episode, I talk to senior Mariam Malik, who has contributed to staff as Social Media Manager since her junior year.

Hsu: What is your role on staff this year?

Mariam Malik: This year and last year, I was a social media manager, so I manage everything social media for The Rubicon. So I’m constantly posting on our Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, and I present data to my staff, and I lead different workshops and teach them social media literacy. And I definitely spent a lot of time creating content for our own social media platforms and find ways to keep viewers and readers engaged.

Hsu: And why did you decide to become Social Media Manager?

Malik: I think I’ve always been very passionate about social media, and I’ve always enjoyed creating content and sharing different information and, you know, learning about different people through social media. And so I found that becoming the Social Media Manager for Rubicon would be the perfect next step for me. Yeah.

Hsu: And what’s your favorite part of your role right now?

Malik: I think my favorite part of my role is probably getting to interact with all of the people that I get to meet through creating content. I think I’ve definitely become friends with people through my [work on] Rubicon, you know, social media, and I think that’s always the most rewarding part and the most fun part.

Hsu: And what would you say is your main responsibility as social media manager, and which responsibility do you like the best?

Malik: I’d say my main responsibility is creating a place where our staffers can report ethically and without any bias. And I know that, you know, social media is usually not a very trustworthy place, but I’m working to change that, at least for The Rubicon social media. I want people to feel confident in the information that we are providing them, and I want people to trust our site, online and in-person. And I’d say my favorite responsibility is probably just managing everything, managing the TikTok account, managing our Instagram. I love posting other people’s teasers and seeing all of the interesting ways that they’re getting creative and crafty with social media. And I like to see people kind of taking advantage of the wonderful resources that we have as a student publication.

Hsu: And how did you come up with the idea of Stop That Spartan?

Malik: It was in 10th grade. It was my first year on staff; I was the opinions editor, and I was looking for something to do for my beat, and I wanted to do something a little bit different. I didn’t want to have to write a different story each month, knowing that, you know, I maybe wouldn’t be the most interested in that topic, or, you know, I just had to deal with whatever was assigned to me. So, I decided to come up with something, and I was thinking a little bit outside of the box, and I was like, what if I do something TikTok-related? And I tried to, you know, think about different ways I could combine journalism and TikTok, and I landed on Stop That Spartan. So I decided to go around and interview different people at school, you know, students and teachers, and ask them different questions and post videos of that monthly.

Hsu: And did you talk to your own beats manager at the time [and] kind of propose the idea to them?

Malik: I did. I remember the day that I proposed the idea to them I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t think that they were going to say yes [but] she did. Her name is Allie Brown, and she said yes, and she loved the idea, and so I took it and I ran with it.

Hsu: And what is your filming or editing process for Stop that Spartan?

Malik: I’d say it’s definitely– it’s evolved over the years. At first, I would solely edit through TikTok, and … my videos weren’t really edited; they were just kind of like strung together. But now I use CapCut, and so I add different sound effects, and, you know, I add different visual effects, and I’ll spend like, 30 minutes tops, stringing together a video, you know, making sure that it’s watchable, not too long, and then I’ll just upload it to TikTok.

Hsu: And usually you have a cameraman with you, so who do you like to bring?

Malik: You know, this may be a secret, but my cameraman changed a lot, and sometimes it was a camera woman, you know. In 10th grade, when I started, Marius Morse was my cameraman, but once he left staff, I had to improvise and find someone new. And so all of last year, I kind of had different people filming for me, even students, people who weren’t even on staff, would ask if they could film my videos, and I’d be like, yeah sure, I’m kind of in need. But this year, Andrew Lipinski has been filming all of my videos, and I think they’ve been the best that they’ve ever been. He’s so tall, and we film in point five, so it makes me look really short, and I think that just adds to the video and it’s really funny.

Hsu: Do you ever look at your likes count or comments on your videos?

Malik: Yes, I religiously check my likes and my comments, I think that’s the most fun. And sometimes my videos will get a few 1000 views, and I think that’s always exciting for me because I know that I’m reaching people who don’t go to SPA. And you know, my dream is to go viral before I graduate.

Hsu: What is the most memorable comment you’ve ever read?

Malik: I remember for my first video, there was a comment that was like, what, your school doesn’t have lockers? And I thought that was just … it was the comment that made me realize that other people are seeing these videos too, you know. This was a random person who was shocked that our school doesn’t have lockers, which is fair. Yeah, it’s crazy that we don’t have lockers, you know, throughout our halls. But I think that was just the most memorable because it was one of the first comments I had received, and it was one that just made me realize that, wow, you know, I don’t know this person, and they’re watching my video, and this is getting real.

Hsu: What’s your most watched video to date?

Malik: I think my most watched video would be my first one. I think so. My first one, you know, I just feel like there was, a sort of excitement and magic in that that I couldn’t really replicate. Or it was … my homecoming video. That video was so fun to film. I was running around the carnival, and I even got to interview the Spartan– I literally stopped that Spartan. Yeah, I think those are probably my two most-viewed ones.

Hsu: And how do you come up with your topic ideas or what events you want to cover?

Malik: For my topic ideas, I usually just kind of use a question that I’m wondering and run with it. Sometimes, I’ll ask my staffers and see, you know, what kind of questions do you guys want to see on Stop That Spartan, or I’ll go and ask other people around school, and that usually helps me kind of gauge the interests of my audience. And for different events, I think I’ve always wanted to cover a dance. I think that would be so fun, you know, interviewing people who are all dressed up, maybe getting a fit check. So who knows, maybe I can film Stop That Spartan at prom.

Hsu: Who do you choose to stop?

Malik: It’s very random. Some people will call my name out and will ask me to stop them. So, you know, those are always fun stops because I know they’re excited, and they’ll answer any question I throw at them. A lot of them are random, though, and I think that’s those are the best answers that I get when people are caught by surprise or a little caught off guard because they’re the most genuine and authentic answers. And so I usually try to catch people when they’re in the middle of something or walking to class.

Hsu: Who was your favorite person to interview ever on Stop That Spartan?

Malik: I think Ken Jaffe, our past interim principal, was always very fun to interview. He was always up for it too, which I find to be difficult with some teachers, but he you know, he was into it, he gave good answers. So I really enjoyed interviewing him.

Hsu: And what is your favorite part of your beat?

Malik: I think my favorite part is getting to see the reactions of everyone. I think I’m kind of known as the face of The Rubicon or the face of our TikTok or social media. And ever since I started, people have been like recognizing me or coming up to me and saying, hey, you know I sent your video to my family group chat or my parents watch Stop That Spartan. And a lot of different teachers will come up to me and talk to me about it. So I think just getting to talk to people and have conversations about Stop That Spartan and see how it brings people together is really fantastic, and it’s something that I didn’t expect it to do. But I’m so glad that it, you know, has become that.

Hsu: What is your least favorite part of your beat?

Malik: I think my least favorite part can sometimes be finding good interviews or finding interviews that are usable because a lot of the time people forget that, you know, I’m filming them and I’m making Stop That Spartan to post on a school publication, so sometimes they’ll say things that aren’t necessarily appropriate or, you know, okay for me to post online. And so I think that can be hard because those interviews are usually some of the funniest, but no one can ever see them.

Hsu: From filming to editing, how long does the whole process take?

Malik: It really doesn’t take that long; I’d say maybe 30 minutes to an hour. Filming I can get done pretty quickly, I’d say like 15 to 20 minutes. And I, you know, usually have a lot of interviews I can use, and then editing can take anywhere from like 15 to 20 minutes, maybe 30 if it’s a really long video, but yeah. I’d say, honestly, the most time-consuming part is waiting for the video to upload on TikTok and Instagram because it’ll take like 30 minutes doing that. But it’s not a very time-consuming process.

Hsu: What Stop That Spartan has been the most memorable to film, or which one has been your favorite?

Malik: My favorite one to film that actually was never posted was one that I filmed at … I believe it was Delano High School. I was there with a reporter to report on the football game, and I grabbed my mic and I started interviewing some students. And I didn’t realize at the time, but these students were not SPA students, they actually went to Delano high school, but that was the most fun for me, because I was interviewing people that I literally never seen before and never spoken to, and they were so excited, and you know, some of them still DM me and they’re like, when are you gonna post that video? And so I think that was the most fun video that I’ve ever filmed.

Hsu: And what was the reason you couldn’t post it?

Malik: The reason I couldn’t post it was because there were no SPA kids, so it wasn’t really Stopping That Spartan. But, you know, maybe I’ll post it just for fun before I graduate.

Hsu: You should do a one last post that’s all your drafts.

Malik: I was gonna [do] bloopers, maybe. I have so many bloopers that I’ve accumulated throughout the years, so I think I’m gonna do that as my last Stop That Spartan.

Hsu: What do you wish you could improve on or do better?

Malik: I wish that I could post more. Sometimes it’s hard because I don’t have the same free periods as my cameraman, or, you know, I’ll go during my free period, but then I end up interviewing the same people every time, and I want there to be variety, I don’t want just a few people to be covered, I want to interview a whole lot of people. And so I think that can sometimes be difficult, and I’d like to get better at finding some time throughout the day to go out when everyone is out, whether that’s tutorial or x period, and yeah.

Hsu: And what advice would you give to future social media managers or people looking to get into multimedia?

Malik: I would say, have fun with it. In order to do your job well, you have to enjoy working with social media, and you have to enjoy, you know, creating content. And you have to have some sort of digital literacy, which I think can sometimes be difficult for some people. I know not everyone has a vast experience with social media– content creating specifically. But I think you just cannot take it too seriously, you know, it’s not that deep, it’s not that serious, and I think that is what I struggled with last year. But this year, I’ve really let loose, and I’ve had fun. I’m mentoring Audrey Peltier this year, and together, we’ve just had so much fun, and I think our social media has been the best that it’s ever been this year. And so I’d say for anyone looking to do that sort of job, you really got to have a passion for it, and you got to enjoy it.

Hsu: You can take a look at Malik’s latest Stop that Spartan on Instagram at therubiconspa. We will be back with more behind-the-scenes stories from staff. See you then!

(Music: “Lightness of the Moment Instrumental” from Wevideo Music Library)