Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to have an experience of a lifetime when I was chosen as one of 50 people to watch the launch of CRS-5, the SpaceX rocket to resupply the International Space Station, as a member of NASA Social.
Never heard of NASA Social? I hadn’t either, until I came across a tweet about how to apply for a chance to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. Basically, NASA Social participants are selected to view the launch, take behind-the-scenes tours of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), meet astronauts and attend televised press events. While I could go on and on about geeking out at NASA, I want to highlight a couple of my observations during the trip—how NASA embraces social media and the dichotomy between traditional press and the social media influencers who were handpicked to spread NASA’s message.
First of all, the creation of NASA Social is one of the best social strategies I’ve seen thus far in my career. The team, led by Jason Townsend (@jtowns), accepts applications from space enthusiasts worldwide from a variety of industries who have a strong social following. On my trip alone, there were children’s book authors, professional photographers, fashion designers and even a grade school principal. The reason NASA assembles this eclectic group of people is to reach a wider diversity of audiences, not just those with a “high Instagram or YouTube following.” By using this strategy, NASA is able to reach a massive and varied demographic nearly free of charge as NASA Social members provide their own transportation, room and board. Doing some napkin math, I expect that news of this launch garnered hundreds of thousands of impressions just from the 50 NASA Social attendees tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Vining… well, you get the point.
Along with its volunteer social influencers, NASA naturally invites traditional media to watch the launches. This creates a unique situation where one can clearly see the differences between how traditional media operates and the “citizen journalism” style of the NASA Social participants.
I first noticed the difference during the press conference welcoming Orion back home to Kennedy Space Center. As you’d expect, the press were standing “behind the marked line,” taking photos, video and copious notes throughout the mission leaders speeches. The NASA Social participants were rapid-firing tweets and Facebook posts with cell phone images and quick facts about the mission. It was clear that the press were crafting ideas about long-form stories with the narrative that this mission was the start of our journey to Mars. By contrast, the NASA Social attendees were focused on immediacy—getting the information to followers within seconds of the NASA execs saying the words, rather than waiting until the next day’s news cycle.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Another difference between social and traditional media was the use of video. Before the launch, both traditional and social media were invited to go to the launch site to set up cameras from well beyond what’s considered a safe distance (fun fact: if you’re closer than two miles away from a launch, you’ll be . . .let’s just say it’s not a great way to go). Traditional media leveraged the opportunity to prep for taking up-close videos of the launch. The NASA Social participants primarily took close-up shots of the rocket, capturing short-form video, taking selfies and “light scribing.” Again, the social images and short videos were immediately uploaded for the world to see, while traditional media waited until the rocket launched, and then their videos were edited for quality and eventually appeared on the 6 p.m. news.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In comparing quick-form posting of bite-sized statements, images and videos vs. the longer form writing and video, you might think I’m favoring social over traditional media. This is not the case. These are my observations about how social media provides information quicker than traditional media, albeit not in the context of a larger narrative. NASA used each to its best advantage—something I very much respect. In the end, both tactics—traditional and social—worked together to help spread NASA’s vision: “To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.”
If you’re curious what my experience was like, check out the video my friend put together.
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