Pre-Day Promotion
In the lead-up to the event, I coordinated a small team and obtained permission from Facility Management Services to create chalk art and spray-painted messages across campus. We strategically placed “Read Distorter” on the walls in front of the Student Alumni Union and various locations on the Quarter Mile, ensuring students would see the promotion first thing in the morning, building anticipation for the release the morning of April 1st.
Website Changeover
In preparation for the event, I oversaw our System Administrator and IT Manager to handle the complete changeover of our website interface, transitioning from Reporter Magazine branding to The Distorter. I conducted incremental checks with them to ensure the branding update was seamless, and the content related to the Distorter issue was uploaded correctly. The switch over of content occurred at 12 a.m. on April 1st.
Within 24 hours of the switch, we saw strong engagement across the Distorter site:
7.1K events
2.9K views
837 active users
773 new users
Social Media and Promotion
In addition to the physical distribution and pre-event promotion, I managed our Instagram and Facebook strategy. I collaborated with an external organization to produce three teaser posts leading up to the event, as well as a short video displayed on the promotional screen in The Student Hall of Exploration.
On April 1st, I coordinated a full-day release plan on Instagram and Facebook where fake articles were posted every two hours to maintain engagement. We used hashtags like #AprilFools and #FakeNews to signal satire and drove users to the Distorter website. Our team also promoted the issue on the RIT Reddit, a high-traffic community platform.
Within 24 hours of our campaign launch, our Instagram account saw:
22,160 total views
1,690 interactions
986 profile visits
50 new followers
Credits
Project Manager: Emma Dooley
Pre-Social Promos: Technically Speaking
Article Post Designs: Marissa Hura
Distorter Website Creation: Jack Sherlock, Elijah Gallagher
Magazine Creation & Event Volunteers: Reporter Magazine Staff