You talked about “repeatable formats” and “good content.” What do you actually mean by good content?

I think there’s a lot of pressure on social media to post all the time, especially when you’re a small team. But pushing out something just to fill space usually backfires. For me, good content is something you’ve had time to think about and shape properly. I also don’t get too hung up on rules like the perfect time to post. My philosophy is that a strong piece of content will perform regardless. It’s more important to feel confident in what you’re putting out than to obsess over every optimization trick.

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How did you decide on your audience persona? Was it based on research?
It started as a creative exercise with our small launch team. We walked through a “day in the life” of our ideal reader—from when she wakes up to when she goes to bed. The Globe wanted a younger, more diverse audience, which is very broad, so we narrowed it to people under 35 who are budget-conscious and hungry for things to do. We were also coming out of COVID, when people in their mid-20s had missed key social years and wanted connection again. So the persona came from that mix of strategy, intuition, and understanding what people in that age group were going through.

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Legacy media often worries about using humor or memes because of credibility. How do you balance that?
That concern is totally valid. But the audience on social media is usually much younger than the audience paying for subscriptions, so you have to talk to them differently. I don’t think it means you abandon trust or seriousness. You just change the tone. There are great examples of institutions doing this well without becoming silly. You can be creative and funny while still being accurate. It’s about dipping your toe in rather than jumping all the way in if you’re nervous—and making sure the information itself is still solid.

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Influencers aren’t always trusted, but you’ve leaned into becoming one yourself. Why?
Younger generations don’t really feel loyalty to institutions the way older ones did. They trust people they like and recognize. That’s just the reality. So instead of fighting it, I think media organizations need to learn how to play that game. If we can “walk and talk like an influencer” but still be rooted in real reporting, that’s powerful. People don’t want a relationship with a brand—they want a relationship with a person. That’s why putting a face to B-Side has helped drive subscriptions and membership.

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TikTok rewards frequent posting. How do you manage that with such a small team?
We’ve definitely repurposed content, especially for seasonal topics. But I really don’t believe you’ll be punished for not posting constantly if what you do post is strong. We’ve gone through phases where we posted three times a week, and other times when we didn’t post for over a week. When we came back with a good piece of content, it still performed. So I try not to panic about volume. I’d rather believe in what we’re making and trust that the algorithm will follow—if we’re lucky.