Engaging With EJ

Well friends,

We have come to the end of an era. This blog marks the last weekly blog for engaging with EJ. However, I am inclinde to upload biweekly, even monthly blogs over the summer. In the spirit of global and Latin American news, like my previous blog about the Dominican nightclub roof collapse, I thought exploring technological challenges in Cuba would be in interesting topic to close on.

A little over a month a go, Cuba faced a major power outage leaving many kids out of school, adults out of work, and people relying on air conditioning to cool their homes, out of luck.

“The massive blackout is the fourth in the last six months as a severe economic crisis plagues the Caribbean country. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, in a statement on social media, attributed the latest outage to a failure at a substation in the suburbs of Havana, the capital,” AP news reported.

Funnily enough, one local restaurant in Havana has embraced technological advancements despite the unreliable electricity and heavy sanctions on the island. Doña Alicia, a restaurant and bakery has created an automated ordering and service experience for their customers with the addition of a robot waiter to their staff. With both human and robotic manpower the restaurant seems to avoid the recipe for disaster the technological difficulties would pose to the technologized establishment.

While you can find online ordering and digital menus almost anywhere, globally…

“Such automation is a complex feat in Cuba due to the island’s frequent power cuts and a lack of modern technology,” AP Journalist Andres Rodríguez said.

From a PR standpoint, low tourist traffic, inconsistent electricity, and strained economic conditions pose big threats to small businesses on the island, but with over thirty-thousand followers on instagram and consistent engagement, Doña Alicia has popular and quality cuisine (according to online reviews) that keep customers coming. Additionally, the restaurant has a consistent and appealing online presence that shows they prioritize trendy, seasonal, and people-facing content.

Read more about Doña Alicia and Cuba here:

Doña Alicia

Cuba power crisis

A BIG thanks to everybody who kept up with my blogs and engaged with me, EJ. I hope you enjoyed learning about new topics and growing more technologically savvy with me.

Finally, drop the title of your favorite one of my blogs in the comments below.

It’s been real,

EJ

Everybody recognizes this guy…

And most likely this guy…

But this guy…

He’s bad luck.

This is actor Alberto Mateo, who assumed the Mala Suerte character for nearly a decade, had the mission to influence more hispanic people to prefer Allstate insurance and increase their coverage from the minimum they were used to purchasing, the basic amount needed to legally be able to drive a car.

My classmate and I endeavored to do a case study on Allstates Mala Suerte insurance campaign. Their ads were placed all over the U.S. and internationally in the 2014 World Cup. We had a chance to speak with this guy…

Javier Osorio, the lead creative director for the campaign allowed us to interview him, learn about his professional career from acount management to freelance creative direction, and about the insights behind the campaign that made it so successful.

Please view our 1) case study report and 2) Mala Suerte campaign highlights presentation:

1) Report

2) Presentation

Sincerely,

EJ

Headlines about the tragic events in Santo Domingo are surging. On Wednesday April 8, 
BBC, AP, and several other news outlets released articles about the Dominican nightclub 
roof collapse. Over the course of 24 hours I have seen how Jet Set has responded to the 
crisis, how news outlets have been updating their reports as more information becomes 
available. 

In the early hours of Tuesday morning during the Rubby Pérez’s merengue concert for unknown reasons, the roof came crashing down at the Jet Set nightclub, resulting in, now, over a hundred victims and injuries. Shortly after the first news stories were published, the nightclub issued a public statement on their instagram, and had not yet turned off the comment feature on their posts, nor indicated anything happened on their website. 

Today, April 9, the news coverage about death tolls and information about involved victims shares greater detail, Jet Set had communicated their closure, and have taken more action towards the relief and recovery of the disaster through facilitating blood drives and limiting contact with the public as they respond to the crisis.   

“It is not clear how many people exactly were inside the popular venue but estimates range between 500 and 1,000 people,” Buschschlüter said in her article “Despair as death toll from Dominican Republic nightclub collapse rises.” 

I commend Jet Sets quick response from leadership, and expression of sympathy and lament for the tragic events. The disastrous situation not only “affected politicians, athletes and a fashion designer that were among those at the nightclub,” according to AP. The events additionally impacted Jet Set employees, and the impacts certainly transcends the local Santo Domingo community with over 124 people, including the headline artist, killed from the roof collapse. 

From a PR standpoint, prompt, transparent, and empathetic communication, emphasizing speed, clarity, and a commitment to providing updates as more information becomes available, while maintaining control over the narrative, is crucial crisis key messaging that helps a brand maintain relationship with their audience.

Jet Set’s public announcement accomplishes just that, and acknowledges their continued cooperation with authorities, transparent and swift updates. During other kinds of crisis, turning off comments may come across as a lack of transparency or two-way communication, but as Jet Set employees, patrons and their families are grieving and addressing more pressing matters, I think deactivating the comments is a prudent move. 

“Nearly 12 hours after the top of the nightclub collapsed onto patrons, rescue crews were still pulling out survivors from under the debris, shushing those around them so they could listen for faint cries for help. Firefighters removed blocks of broken concrete and used sawed pieces of wood as planks to lift heavy debris as the noise of drills breaking through concrete filled the air,” Alcántara and Dánica Coto said in their AP article “The roof collapses at a Dominican Republic nightclub, killing at least 98 people.”

AP Article

CBS Article

BBC Article

Hello, Hola, Salve,

Last week on Thursday, March 27, I met an impressive influencer. This influential person is not only an accredited chef, winner of season 3 Next Level Chef, a digital content creator based around culinary sustainability, seasonality, and nourishment, with a following of over 85K, I might add. She is also a former Nittany Lion, who graduated from Penn State in 2016 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish. Her name is Gabrielle Chappel. 

The former New York-based chef made her way back to Penn State from Los Angeles, to 1) visit her family, and 2) receive the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award presented to her by both the university’s College of the Liberal Arts and Bellisario College of Communications. 

On Thursday, myself and two classmates studying world languages, joined Chappel at a luncheon hosted by faculty of the Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese Department. We had the pleasure of welcoming Chappel back to Happy Valley. Chappel shared her love for travel, her behind the scenes experiences from the Next Level Chef competition, and her passion for farm-to-table cooking. Chappel’s culinary roots stem from her upbringing in Jersey Shore, PA and her Polish and Czech background. Often surrounded by local farms and shaped by home cooked meals and family dinners, Chappel learned the importance and health associated with the seasonality of ingredients and eating where your food is sourced. 

One of Chappel’s many appointments during her visit to campus included presenting a guest lecture in the Spanish and Spanish-speakers in the US class. She addressed the the importance and benefits being a Spanish major had on her career. She also shared how she connected on a deeper level with the people, food, and culture, she encountered while traveling the world for her culinary career because of her bilingual abilities. Chappel said learning a second language leads to emotional vulnerability for others who don’t speak your language. 

On a trip to Cuba for her broadcast journalism major, Chappel joked, she was worried her career had peaked in 2014 after she got the amazing opportunity to cover news and sports in another country. Chappel said she uniquely unlocked socio-cultural insights about the sports culture and people she interviewed for her stories because she was the only student on the trip who spoke Spanish. Chappel said she broke into deeper narratives because she overcame the language barrier. Going to work for the local beat of a small town newspaper just seemed mundane to Chappel, after traveling internationally to cover sports. 

According to the Cuban women she interviewed, Soccer was actually a favorite sport on the Island over baseball. Once stateside again, Chappel reconsidered her career in broadcast journalism. She explored many creative avenues, switching from journalism to advertising, then to creative production, to becoming talent for Epicurious cooking entertainment series on Youtube. The fascinating cooking environment then led Chappel to go from “home cook” to cooking like a chef in culinary school.

Although Chappel’s transition to cooking professionally was a sharp pivot from advertising and freelance creative production in New York City, she said she fell in love with the capacity to storytell with food, just as much as one can with an article or video, maybe even more so with food. Just like journalism Chappel found herself connecting with people, uncovering narratives that inspired her, and allowed her to travel the world.

Chappel said she would have never have guessed she’d be a winner of a top cooking competition after graduating from Penn State. From serious home cooking to graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education’s Health Supportive Arts program, and eventually becoming the winner of Next Level Chef, Chappel has acquired a quarter-million dollar prize for Next Level Chef, a new and robust social media platform to share her passion for culture, unique recipes and ingredient combinations, and receive mentorship from top celebrity chefs and restaurateurs, like Gordon Ramsey. 

This mentorship and next level opportunity brought Chappel to places like London, Hawaii, Mexico, Italy, and Spain. Most recently, Chappel shared her Next Level Chef mentorship has moved her all the way from New York to Los Angeles, where she now resides. Chappel said she was excited to take a step of adventure and discovery towards a whole new climate and to a whole new variety of seasonal ingredients at her fingertips, she previously didn’t have access to. 

Chappel dreams to continue educating consumers on sustainable and plant-based eating, publish a cookbook with her unique and flavorful recipes, as well as open her own restaurant in the near future.

Gabrielle Chappel’s website

“Gabi’s Next Course” miniseries

Hello again, 

Time to delve into another interesting technological topic––”DOOM”scrolling. 

Dun dun DUNNN!!!

Imagine you spend 20 seconds replaying a short video about a recent bank robbery in a major city near your hometown on your instagram feed. Then you scroll to the next post, which is a highschool classmate posting their flicks from spring break. After contemplating whether you want to unfollow them or not you end up liking their post 5 seconds later. Next, you automatically switch to your “for you page” and and end up seeing a bunch of headlines, from The Shade Room to National Geographic talking about a diseased pod of whales that washed up on the shore of a beach in Australia. Next thing you know, one post after another, you’re deep down a rabbit-hole of unfortunate news making you feel helpless and hopeless, and you just lost 60, precious minutes of your time. 

Doomscrolling is defined as:

Mariam Webster dictionary definition: “to spend excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry [or other negative emotions].”

Urban dictionary: “When you keep scrolling through all of your social media feeds, looking for the most recent upsetting news about the latest catastrophe. The amount of time spent doing this is directly proportional to how much worse you’re going to feel after you’re done”

Our time is precious and screens take a huge portion of where our attention and cognitive resources go daily. 

The article “The True Cost of Screen Time: A Wake-Up Call for Our Digital Age” by Ghulam Mustafa illustrates what the average portion of a 90-year-old life span is spent on a screen. 

“An average adult life is divided into periods spent sleeping, working, eating, and attending to personal hygiene, leaving only a fraction of our time—about 334 months—for everything else,” Mustafa said. “This is where we are supposed to chase our dreams, explore our passions, and build relationships. How we choose to spend these months profoundly shapes the quality of our lives and the people we become.”

“Yet, in today’s digital age, there’s a troubling trend: the average 18-year-old in the United States is on track to spend 93% of their remaining free time staring at screens.”

An article in the 700 Children’s – A Blog by Pediatric Experts, “Doomscrolling and Brain Rot: What Are They?,” addresses the negative impacts of our digital dilemma caused by excessive screentime.

“Brain rot, on the other hand, refers to a decline in cognitive abilities such as attention, memory and mood. It happens when we overconsume low-effort, unchallenging content—basically, when we zone out in front of our screens instead of engaging in more stimulating, meaningful activities,” said Ashley Ebersole, MD.

For more ways to overcome the addicting and convenient habit of digital media overconsumption, read my classmates and I’s student lecture report on doomscrolling.

Doomscrolling report:

Screentime illustration article:

Fairwell for now,

EJ

Type your screen time report in the comments below, if you dare…

Dreams Do Come True at Disney – A PR Story

Penn State Alumna, Elise Bingaman’s Career at Disney

Between Orlando, and Los Angeles, Bingaman’s work is all about marketing products that bring our favorite Disney characters to life. She got her start with Disney as an consumer products intern, Fall 2019, after graduating from Penn State. She used her wide variety of experience in PR/marketing to work on product launches, pitching to various media sources and outlets for coverage, organizing influencer boxes/mailers, and creating media and activations for the launches of Star Wars Rise of Skywalker and Frozen II movies. Bingaman started her internship before the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic, she mentioned how her team pivoted quickly to different in-person PR strategies. From partnering with pizza shops across the country to make Donald Duck inspired pies, to bringing Minnie Mindfulness Moments online during the pandemic. Bingaman’s broad range of projects show her career at Disney is a “glass slipper” fit. 

From PSU to Princesses

Bingaman was enthusiastic to share how her time at Penn State prepared her well for a full time position on the Disney franchise team for consumer products. She said there’s a lot of group work, and collaborations with people on and off her team. Bingaman’s classroom experience at Penn State helped her gain a strong foundation to build opon at Disney. She said all the group projects for building and researching ad campaigns, managing digital PR deliverables for several accounts, and learning to build staff and faculty connections, helped bring her career dreams to life. 

Bingaman’s work also has a global focus; her team partners with Disney licensees, Asian, European, and Latin American regional offices, and their retailers. Bingaman said social strategy: adaptability, brand awareness, relationship building/management, all contribute to maximizing her team’s meetings with regional departments and pitching ideas to licensees across the globe. Over Bingaman’s 5 years at Disney, she’s dedicated to developing memorable brand activations for the Disney princesses.

On one hand, Bingaman said her team of three people manage all things Disney Princesses. Her team birthed the Little Mermaid live-action Mattel doll. Disney fans were able to purchase singing dolls that looked like the actress and singer Halle Bailey who played Ariel. Bingaman noted that it was older demographics that knew the mainstream actors gravitated toward purchasing the live-action dolls over younger ones who only know the animated princess characters.

On the other hand, Bingaman said one other challenge her team often faces is with social media. All posts face a thorough review process with senior managers and the legal departments before they get released. She said this presented some hoops to jump through for trendy or time sensitive ideas, like the “Little Miss” trend they wanted to add a princess spin to. Overall, Bingaman spoke very passionately about what she does. My takeaway is that any challenge she encounters, she faces it head on with some faith, trust, and pixie dust. From managing bringing the Disney princesses to the TikTok platform to creating meaningful product launches to engage young Disney fans, with Bingaman there’s no telling how far she’ll go.  

Overall, hearing about Bingaman’s experience was insightful because she highlighted how all the elements, skills, and aspects of public relations she acquired during her undergraduate years could be utilized, activated, and expanded upon in a professional setting. 

Truly,

EJ

P.s. Props to you if you can spot my Disney princess puns. Let me know how many

in the comments.

Hey everybody,

EJ here. As a primarily Apple product user, I was tickled to see what others thought about their newest product releases on Tim Cook’s “X” comment section…

While having the world at your fingertips sounds like an enticing sell, Apple’s customers are not impressed with yet another reinvention of the same product. On February 19, Apple launched its newest member to the iPhone16 family, the iPhone16e available for purchase February 28. Its biggest changes since the 15 are Apple Intelligence, powered by A18 core processing, iOS 18, and affordable pricing.

If you parooze the comment section of Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, you’re met with remarks like “You can get much better spec Androids for half the cost that has many more features,” from @android educator, “I’m worried about Apple. They are falling behind on new innovation with Trillions to spend. Elon is charging ahead while it seems like Apple is too bloated to get out of their own way to innovate. They can’t even make their own AI. It’s a head scratcher,” from @TodayIWorkOn, and my personal favorite “Let Him Cook -> (le) Tim Cook” from @Neon (pun intended). 

*More comments to show the resounding dissaproval for the iPhone16e*

iPhone16e features: 

– Change in display sizes

– Has 40% faster processing

– Apple Intelligence associated with information privacy/protection

– Quicker access to/interface with ChatGPT

– Apple Intelligence available in more languages

– Action button feature, quicker access phone capabilities

– 2-in-1 camera with 4x the resolution, better zoom-in qualities

– Light/night mode with new camera

– Ceramic shield tougher than any smartphone glass

– 4x better drop protection

– Two color options: white and black

Despite the release and product video sharing the smartphone’s features, other comments show concern for privacy and planned obsolescence. Comments also show, spectators and customers aren’t impressed with the level of innovation, because they feel it’s the same new features with every upgrade. 

“Meet iPhone16e, the newest member of the family which is not actually *new*. Apple has failed to innovate since Steve Jobs and we’re noticing,” said @Reviews on Reviews.

If I was on Apple’s PR team, I would address why, if there was a reason, each upgrade is so similar to the last. I would make a more user focused advertising message that implies the world runs on apple, and clarify the features users know and love have been improved upon, with a few new innovations like Apple Intelligence which combines Siri and ChatGPT. 

Here’s a good article to read more about the biometric features and future innovations the iPhone might take on: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/28/on-iphone-16e-fingerprint-security-is-gone-but-the-thumb-will-be-back.html 

Let me know which Apple generation was your favorite in the comments.

Until next time,

EJ

Hey!

EJ, here, again… 

At this point you already know to expect it haha.

As I continue engaging in the world of digital PR and social media, I had two representatives from Southwest Airlines’ digital strategy and insights team engage with my classmates and I about how the they manage the brand’s online presence and interact with customers and employees. 

Let me ask you this… How many people do you think it takes to manage social media and digital PR for an airline with the fourth-largest global, commercial, airline fleet? 

Bet you didn’t guess only ELEVEN!

Through a Hub-and-spoke organizational model the eleven-person media team works to 

• Define, identify, and advise on enterprise social media strategies and best practices
• Govern social media policy, platforms, technology, tools, and training
• Promote innovation, digital disruption, and test and learn for new and emerging trends
• Measure and analyze communication across traditional and social media to deliver actionable insights

Southwest’s Senior Digital Strategy Specialists, Kara and Cheyenne shared that revisiting their brand objectives like, making Southwest Airlines the most loved airline on social media, plays a huge role in choosing the appropriate approach to make that goal happen. One major way, Southwest’s team targets that objective is through the use of influencers. The influencers help to humanize the brand, offer testimonial credibility, and highlight the priority hospitality is for the airline. Their influencers ranged from people already working for Southwest on a “quid pro quo” basis to educational influencers, and influencers in the deaf community to show Southwest’s commitment to accessibility.

Evolution is important to Southwest. The strategy team often test drives new platforms to find the best ways to leverage their existing content, establish a meaningful brand voice, and grow their online presence. For example, after pitching their interest in joining a new platform, negotiating the terms and conditions of use with their legal team, and developing a content strategy, Southwest dedicated three of their internal teams to generating content for TikTok. After a six-month run, they reevaluated their need to be on the platform and found it was worthwhile to stay engaged.

My strategic method takeaway that helps the brand achieve its goals are their efforts to give their customers a voice and champion that two-way communication approach the industry is calling for today. Southwest seeks to grow a vibrant online customer community across multiple channels. The guest senior specialists shared that while their team focuses on building engagement with customers, their scope of work is building/generating good will and highlighting customer engagement to affirms that. It is a whole other team that engages with customer complaints, allowing ample focus and attention on each aspect of the different customer digital interactions.

Additionally, Southwest recognizes the goal is not to be the most talked-about airline online because that tends to indicate a negative experience with the brand that is creating the buzz. The strategy team shared the dashboards they have that track and visualize messaging about them online, supports their effort to gauge where in the market they are with competitors. A unique fact was that Southwest tends to have lower response times compared to other airlines, but customers are guaranteed support by a human representative, not just a chatbot that promptly/automatically replies, but not always effectively.

In total, I think a really valuable trait that Southwest possesses is their emphasis on connection and hospitality, in a digital space that can weaken human connection. 

Let me know your favorite Southwest digital strategy tactic in the comments.

Best,

EJ

Evidence shows current presidential administration changes are driven by money, excuse me, I meant “economic reform.” With the president’s background being in business, threat of a federal wealth fund to buy TikTok, the onset of heavier tariffs, and renegotiation of international business deals to bring more revenue to the government, but not necessarily to pay off debt, has my head spinning. In addition to those changes, the issue of the executive order removing federal funding from companies that have DEI policy surrounding hiring practices, etc… consumers aware of their buying power, are looking for ways to respond and reform the quickly shifting political landscape.

One way, U.S. citizens are responding is not by using words to protest, but their wallets. According to USAToday.com, many social media accounts are spreading the message about a 24-hour consumer spending blackout planned for Feb. 28. 

“Consumers are encouraged not to spend money in stores or online for the day, and if they have emergencies or essentials they need, they are encouraged to support a local small business,” USAToday said.

People are becoming aware that the way to make change is by hitting the corporations and politicians “pockets”. While historically, boycotts have been pretty impactful, I wonder how the day-long initiative will affect the change U.S. consumers want to see and I wonder how the corporations will respond. 

On the one hand, I like the idea because I understand if I divest from companies receiving federal funding and shifting their equitable policies/practices because of that, it may make them pay attention to who really makes their business run. On the other hand, I worry if it will anger companies to retaliate or provoke them to be more inflexible, or that the use of social media to promote the message could be mean future efforts/posts could be thwarted and censored easier. 

“Some of you might say one day won’t make a difference and that’s exactly what they want you to believe,” the video said. “If enough of us participate, they will feel it and if they don’t listen, we escalate,” “TheOneCalledJai,” a concered citizen mobilizing his audience said on his Instagram Reel.

Throughout reading the article, my concerns were addressed. The escalation entails to community leaders, pastors, and influencers, to get others to participate in a strategic calendar year of scheduled boycotts each being longer than the last. Target, Watmart, and Amazon are some of the few brands that changed their DEI policy in response to preserving the federal funding they receive. In light of Black History, a boycott seems fitting to end the month and continue the year.

 Additionally, Black-owned/business owners of color, partners with these companies would be negatively impacted by the boycott too. The consumer boycott movement posts have included preparing ahead of time for the periods without spending, and if you must buy, buy from Black-owned businesses or your small, local businesses. 

Historically the Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first examples I heard of as a child. It was a 381 day boycott that resulted in the demands of the people being met after choosing to walk, arrange carpools, and taxi drivers lowered their fare to 10 cents. The boycott sought to change the “Alabama, city ordinance to sit in the back half of city buses and to yield their seats to white riders if the front half of the bus, reserved for whites, was full,” “Montgomery Bus Boycott” article by History.com said.

“On June 5, 1956, a Montgomery federal court ruled that any law requiring racially segregated seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, adopted in 1868 following the U.S. Civil War, guarantees all citizens—regardless of race—equal rights and equal protection under state and federal laws,” History.com said.

If you decide you’re willing to adjust your spending habits for the cause, here are the following 3 tips. 1) research what local, small businesses you can purchase your essentials from. 2) plan the duration you are boycotting ahead of time and for a time that works best for you. 3) Pre-order, buy what you need for that period of time ahead, so the concerted impact is greater.

Read “Consumers are boycotting major retailers. Here’s what they plan for ‘blackout’ on Feb. 28” to learn more about the movements and ways to prepare to demonstrate your power and impact on corporations that don’t reflect your values.

“Kia has collaborated with over 100 top brands, including Nike, Adidas, Ray-Ban, Nordstrom, H&M, the Gap, Puma, and HP, showcasing her versatility and deep expertise in bridging fashion, beauty, and tech. Her sold-out Amazon The Drop collection set a new standard for accessible, versatile style, and her Signature Pick, a biodegradable hair pick modeled after her iconic silhouette, exemplifies her commitment to sustainability and community-focused design,” as stated in Marie’s bio on The Notorious Kia website.

Marie is active on almost all social media apps, but her content varies widely on each platform. That may be because of the demands and purpose of each platform as well as the variation of following on each of her platforms. While she has a smaller following compared to other mainstream influencers, Marie stands in a category on her own because her brand is tightly connected to taking care of her NYC community. Marie prides herself on being a proud New Yorker, a hardcore sneakerhead, and authentically connecting with her audience. Kia’s brand as an influencer is strongly centered around making fashion functional and sustainable for herself and her audience.

“That short form [content], having to sum up your thoughts in 30 seconds, a minute, 90 seconds? That’s not possible. There is so much nuance in conversation and bing able to express yourself; and the fact that we (being influencers) have to put it into bite-sized versions is still such a big adjustment for me,” Marie expressed two weeks ago in her recent “New Hair, HUGE House Update & Life Reset” vlog on YouTube. Marie has had a pretty unproblematic career, although she reports uploading posts with audio issues. Marie also shares influencer industry trends, issues, and offers mentorship on her podcast Kontent Queens that she co-founded.

 

Her instagram and TikTok are mostly aesthetic photos and short reels about styling tips, recap videos of fashion or philanthropic events she’s attended, and content about her wardrobe/enormous sneaker collection. Oddly enough, many of Marie’s posts have the like count turned off, but her posts receive anywhere from 30-500 comments, and she is very responsive. Additionally, she includes family members and product reviews from time-to-time in her post content. Between those two platforms she averages 2-3 posts a week on each, and the two platform’s content varies, but only slightly. Marie’s X and Facebook accounts seem to be mostly for personal use, as her X account is private and her FaceBook has 64 times less the following than instagram. That account is mostly populated with family photos, updates about her personal life, and gets way less engagement.

Platform	Post Type	Likes	Comments	Year	Engagement Rate
Instagram	Resizing Blue Jeans with Shoelace Hack Reel	41.5K	565 Collaborative comment section vibe	March 2024	18.44%
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSLuqs0teyw&t=1s	VLOG Decorating My Loft & Apartment Tour! #LoftLivin	24K 369K views 584 Comments	Affirmative and celebratory comment section vibe	2020	7.6% but highest viewed

*Table of engagement metrics of top performing posts on Instagram and YouTube

I personally resonate with Kia because of her industrious take on fashion that doesn’t include buying a bunch of new items all of the time, but engineering your closet to cater to your personality, aesthetic, and budget. One of her hallmarks is styling outfits you never would have put together using oversize and layering techniques, which is clearly demonstrated in her very first YouTube videos from 13 years ago all throughout her content that she has posted up until now in 2025.