It’s a Wednesday night. There’s a pandemic going on. You have to stay home. What do you do? Well, there’s a bunch of Salt Lake Community College students who hope you’ll join them at #SMCNights on Facebook Live, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
It’s the brainchild of Matt Merkel and his COMM 2400 students, who wanted to do something to keep the “community” together at a time when people miss being with each other. “They really were excited about the opportunity to connect to the college community at large, helping keep people connected during this difficult time,” Merkel says.
The class is Social Media Tools and Strategies, where students gain real-world experience in the social media ecosystem. Merkel’s class works in coordination with The Globe student newspaper at SLCC to distribute stories and craft posts on Facebook for the Student Media Center (SMC). Students learn to create podcasts and video PSAs and work with social media tools to craft and create content in digital media spaces. “They learn to spot trends and craft messages targeted at audiences,” Merkel says.
The shows #SMCNights and its cousin #SMCMornings are part of the students’ grades. Each of Merkel’s 21 students pitch in. You can find the first show, hosted by Merkel and students Nancy Perkins, Darlie Leung, Briana Franco and Morgan Clawson, by clicking here. The Nights show is less formal, where people can talk about movies, memes, personal lives, services available to keep people connected, getting together for virtual games and more. The Mornings show hosts will be talking about how news is affecting us, how we get our information, COVID-19 topics and also how to access resources like virtual museum tours, how to stay busy and how people are coping.
Matt Merkel kicks off #SMCNights' first show on Facebook Live.
Merkel set up the virtual rooms for the shows and keeps the hosts on track, but it’s mostly the students talking to each other and coming up with content. It’s also interactive for viewers, who can respond to “prompt points” and share opinions and ideas. “The goal of each show is two-fold,” Merkel says. “It’s to give the students an understanding in social media production, but I think they really want to let the community know that we are all in this together. They want to give our community a space where we can support each other, to really let SLCC students, faculty and staff know that we are not alone going through this really remarkable time.”
On a bigger scale, Merkel hopes his students find a fulfilled sense of purpose through the process of these shows. “I hope they are learning that they can make a difference, even if it’s just one person who tunes in,” he says. “I hope they see that they have the potential to really affect their community in positive ways through this platform and method.”
Merkel also has a COMM 2200 class where students are creating pandemic “vlogs,” where each week they submit a video log of their week. He anticipates those students will soon be sharing that content via Facebook. Those interested in the more news-focused #SMCMornings, tune into Facebook Live at 9 a.m. on Mondays.
