National Geographic was the first brand account to surpass 100 million followers on Instagram in the beginning of 2019. But maintaining that status has not necessarily been a steady ride thanks to the rapidly changing social media landscape.
As TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts feed the appetite for short-form vertical video among social audiences, and the appeal of raw, personality-driven content becomes all the more alluring, a media brand like National Geographic has to grapple with how that fits with the high-resolution, visually stunning imagery and video that it’s been known for over the past 135 years.
After laying off its entire staff of writers earlier this year, that task has been left to svp and editor-in-chief Nathan Lump to figure out, along with his entirely freelance network of photographers and writers who have been assigned to create more organic, less polished social content on behalf of National Geographic, while on assignment to create highly produced magazine, website or documentary projects.
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