Starting From Scratch

Created and led new social strategy and community engagement for The New York Times Games, translating daily gameplay and internet culture into engaging, platform-native content across social channels. Focused on growing and activating a highly engaged player community while driving users back to their Games subscription.

The New York Times Games Social Media

Solution

Launched The New York Times Games on Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok. Delivered a consistent and playful social presence that made Games feel timely, community-led, and approachable. Used our puzzle editors as "talent."

Earned 3M+ views on TikTok in under 6 months and grew WhatsApp channel by 1M+ followers in less than 3 months.

Also wrote monthly newsletters and articles based on Games and its community.

Process

–Developed a social strategy and content calendar centered on community engagement, UGC, habit-building, and product education/updates

–Identified cultural moments, memes, and community patterns that could be adapted to the Games' social audience

–Actively engaged with the community in real time via social media, editorial comments, and newsletter responses

–Partnered with editorial, product, engineering, and audience teams to align social content with broader Games initiatives

Challenge

The New York Times Games social channels needed to drive daily engagement for evergreen products while keeping content fresh, timely, and culturally relevant.

Industry

Games & Subscriptions

Brand

The New York Times Games

Key Information