Santiago Ortiz is a current Temple student with two semesters left before his graduation. During his gap year between high school and college, Ortiz created the NoShorts media brand. Today, NoShorts has a combined following of 383,600 across TikTok and Instagram. In his own words, Ortiz describes NoShorts as “a brand focused on showcasing the Philadelphia area and Pennsylvania as a whole in a fun, entertaining and positive way.”
When Ortiz first had the idea for the project, he already had some experience creating social media content.
“I had a lot of social media experience with NBA meme pages and a Star Wars facts page, but this was back when Instagram was basically just pictures,” he said.
Even so, Ortiz has learned a lot from the process — about content creation and himself.
“I think it took about three months to break 100 followers. Even once I kinda figured it out, it took years for me to make really great videos that consistently went viral,” he said. “I’ve had to learn how to push myself to be a self-starter and advocate for myself,” he continued.
For Ortiz, the NoShortsmedia brand is something he looks forward to continuing after he graduates. “I will 100% continue NoShorts. No Shorts will always and only be Pennsylvania content. I absolutely love doing it, and I can make it my career,” he shared.
Although he has a large following now, Ortiz said he wouldn’t change the way that he found success.
“I’m very happy that I’ve grown on social media slowly and steadily, because it’s allowed me to learn a lot of things along the way in a low-stakes environment — as opposed to a creator who skyrockets to mega-virality and is now scrutinized intensely,” he said.
He likened his social media journey to that of any other career, one that takes work and time. “You don’t just shoot a basketball for 3 months and get a college scholarship or go to the NBA. Same goes for content; you have to be willing to have fun with it and improve over the years of work. Sure, there are some exceptions to this, but generally the biggest creators have been around for five to ten plus years,” he said.
For Ortiz, Temple has been essential to his success in the past few years. He credits the friends he’s made and the true Philly experience for the opportunity to create content.
“I’ve met incredible people here at Temple. The guys I met the first week of school are my best friends and roommates now four years later. Also, going to school in Philly has opened up so many opportunities to connect with people, create content, and have fun,” he shared.
Ortiz may not be a student of Temple forever, but he will always carry the university’s pride with him. As he stated in his final thoughts, “Go Owls.”