Digital Storytelling & Social Media Internship
The Dallas Way is a nonprofit organization dedicated to gathering, organizing, storing, and presenting the history of the Dallas LGBTQ+ community. We are seeking an undergraduate or graduate student to develop and manage a four-month social media campaign using materials from our digital archive. This internship is 100% remote and open to applicants throughout the United States.
The selected intern will work with digitized photographs, oral histories, audio recordings, documents, ephemera, and other archival materials to create engaging stories about Dallas LGBTQ+ history for contemporary audiences.
Rather than simply maintaining a social media feed, the intern will develop several campaign themes highlighting topics such as Dallas LGBTQ+ nightlife, activism, community organizations, Pride events, or other areas identified through archival research.
This paid internship provides hands-on experience at the intersection of public history, archives, digital storytelling, and social media.
Responsibilities
The selected candidate will:
- Explore The Dallas Way’s digital archive and identify materials suitable for social media storytelling.
- Propose and execute four campaign themes in consultation with The Dallas Way.
- Create 64 social media posts over approximately four months.
- Publish posts promoting upcoming Dallas Way events in consultation with the supervisor.
- Produce content in multiple formats, including photographs, carousels, graphics, oral-history clips, short-form video, archival documents, and historical ephemera.
- Conduct supplemental historical research when needed to provide context for archival materials.
- Create engaging, historically accurate content appropriate for public audiences.
- Monitor basic social media analytics and help evaluate campaign effectiveness.
- Conclude the internship with a brief campaign summary and recommendations for future digital outreach.
Preferred Qualifications
Applicants from all academic disciplines are welcome. Preference may be given to undergraduate or graduate students studying:
- History or Public History
- Communication Studies
- Library & Information Science or Archival Studies
- Marketing or Advertising
- Journalism or Digital Media
- LGBTQ/Gender & Sexuality Studies
- Graphic Design or Visual Communication
Strong applicants will demonstrate some combination of:
- Strong written communication and copywriting skills
- Historical research experience
- Familiarity with archival research and digital database navigation
- Digital storytelling
- Social media content creation, campaign development, and post scheduling
- Graphic design and/or video, image, or audio editing
Previous professional social media experience is not required. Relevant coursework, student organizations, volunteer work, independent projects, or creative work may demonstrate appropriate experience.
We strongly prefer interest in LGBTQ history, public history, archives, or community-based storytelling. Applicants should be comfortable approaching LGBTQ historical materials with care and nuance and distinguishing documented historical evidence from interpretation or speculation.
Compensation and Academic Credit
This is a paid independent contract opportunity, not an employee position. The selected intern will complete IRS Form W-9. Compensation: $1,000 total honorarium. We will agree on final specifics before the work begins.
The Dallas Way will also work with students seeking academic internship credit through their college or university when possible. Academic credit is optional and does not replace compensation.