‘A Constant Barrage’: Social Media, Non-Stop Crisis Comms, and Mental Health

In the inaugural relaunch episode of Higher Voltage (formerly the Hashtag Higher Ed podcast), we explore the emotional stress and mental health issues that higher ed social media professionals are dealing with after months of non-stop crisis communications brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the urgent calls for redressing institutionalized racism.

Our Guests

• Jon-Stephen Stansel is a digital and social media specialist at the University of Central Arkansas, and is also the co-host of the Thought Feeder podcast.
• Krista Boniface is a senior social media strategist at the University of Toronto.

Our Host:

Heather Dotchel is our host; she is a Philadelphia-based higher ed marketing professional who most recently led two area colleges as their chief marketing officer.

Here are some notes and links to references and additional information from this week’s show:

• The University of West Virginia’s report about the mental health challenges facing social media professionals right now.
• The University of Toronto’s wellness hub.
• Jon-Stephen’s blog post and observations on this topic.
• A lockbox similar to what Krista puts her phone into every night before she goes to sleep.
• Jon Stephen’s summer obsession: Animal Crossing.
• Krista’s summer obsession: gardening.
• Heather’s summer obsession: The Great, on Hulu.