The Save Summer campaign gets the attention of young adults through creative content
States across the country have started to reopen non-essential businesses including North Dakota as Governor Doug Bugrum will allow businesses to reopen on May 1 with certain guidelines. Despite the reopening process starting to take place, the movement, Save Summer, continues to encourage young adults to practice social distancing in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Save Summer is a community movement started by local entrepreneurs, community builders and story-tellers as stated on their Facebook page, “Save Summer Now.” Not only does the movement urge young adults in the F-M area to stay home, they also share daily updates, news and other content on their Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat platforms.
Max Kringen, the founder of Tellwell, is a team member of the social media movement. Kringen spoke about how Save Summer started along with the messages they’re spreading.
When COVID-19 became a threat in North Dakota, Kringen said that Mayor Timothy Mahoney reached out to creatives in the F-M area with the task of creating a campaign targeted towards younger generations.
“The fear at that time was if younger folks don’t take it seriously, we’re screwed,” Kringen said.
Kringen said the audience age range differs depending on the social media platforms used. On Facebook, Kringen pointed out that the age range is around 20 to 34-year-olds while Instagram and Snapchat attract younger demographics.
Kringen mentioned that the original intention behind their campaign was to appeal to an audience that could relate to the creators. “That way, it’s more of a peer-pressure to stay home,” Kringen added.
“The goal was to create content that was so sharable that people would want to be putting it out.”
When asked whether he thinks the Save Summer movement is encouraging young adults to practice social distancing, Kringen pointed out that statistics have shown the Fargo metro area has less contact spread through young adults than other metro areas.
Statistics showing the number of cases in North Dakota are posted on their Facebook page as well as daily video updates which breaks down the number of positive cases confirmed that day.
“Just anecdotally, the Mayor has identified several times that it seems like the campaign is being seen and heard by lots of folks,” Kringen said.
Other than sharing daily updates and news, Kringen talked about the content being created. “You’ll notice the graphics are a little sassy. They have some curse words in them because they’re meant to get your attention and startle you a little bit.”
“The goal was to create content that was so sharable that people would want to be putting it out.”
Max Kringen, founder of Tellwell and a team member of Save Summer
Save Summer also has a YouTube page where young adults can share their stories. “There’s a whole bunch of testimonials, words of wisdom and words of hope from fellow students,” Kringen said.
“So a lot of students are sharing their own messages about how they’re staying safe during this crazy time and how they are kind of coping as well.”
With North Dakota starting to reopen businesses, Kringen said that they are going to continue their campaign.
“We’re going to continue to spread that message as long as we need to,” Kringen said. “We’re not a political group, we are apolitical, we believe in science and facts so we’ll not be swayed by politicians.”
Kringen said they will also continue to follow what the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and health care providers are recommending.
To check out more about the Save Summer Now movement, go to their website (https://savesummernow.com/) or check out their Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat pages.