By Christine Mears
I first created a social media account on Facebook. I thought it was a great way to stay in touch with family and friends. I would post about 1-3 times a week, mainly photos or status updates on my life. However, I would interact with other posts more than I would post myself.
I then got Twitter, and saw there was a variety of content to choose from, and it was very entertaining to scroll through my news feeds. When I got these accounts, I made sure I never shared my personal information or political opinions on controversy topics, as my parents taught me to use the internet responsibly when I was in high school. It is fairly common for people to troll you through a computer. I did not really care about the reactions I got to my personal content (whether someone liked, retweeted, or favorite my statuses or tweets). It wasn’t until I got Instagram, that I became a little bit more serious about what I was posting, by using popular filters and making sure my content was artsy.
My social media use started to feel more “professional” when I began my own blogging. I was using hashtags, and tagging clothing companies to share my outfit of the day, helping to extend my reach out to a wider audience. I also took editing of my photos more seriously, rather than just using an Instagram filter, I began using an app called “Priime” that offers hundreds of presets. My Instagram began to look and feel more professional because I was creating a certain aesthetic, and focusing on the content rather than posting just because it was nice photo.
Now, not only do I run my personal Instagram and blog, along with my other social media accounts, I also run the University of Mary Washington Cheerleading Instagram and I am also an intern for University Relations. As such I run UMW’s Instagram and Snapchat.
Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about how to strategically think about using social media. Obviously, what works differs across platforms and depends on what I’m trying to promote. But I have gathered some universals on what people generally would like to see, based on what the page is promoting. It’s not as simple as capturing and posting a photo. Quite a lot more that goes into posting on different social media accounts.
My Personal Instagram
I have some general rules for the posts I make; I never edit my photos unless I have red-eyes, or a blemish, which are the two things I am a bit self-conscious about when taking a photo. Other than that, I like to keep my posts as natural as possible. I never use a filter at 100%, but rather adjust it to about 40% - 60% of the filter being used. This leaves the photo still natural looking. I do not do any of editing within the Instagram either. I have several applications that I use for my Instagram dedicated in one spot. I do not use applications for any other social media.
I am currently in the process of changing my aesthetic back to a bright look (specifically whites, pinks, and blues), as it fits more with my personality. For me, it is fairly difficult to keep my aesthetic bright during fall and winter months because the colors are darker in general. This photo that I recently posted on Instagram, from my “darker/autumn” aesthetic period, is a photo of my friend and I at a Downtown Bar. Below is the original photo (left) for comparison to the one I posted (right). As you can see, no changes have been made to the public, but the photo has been cropped to square, and the image has been significantly brightened (due to it being such a dark area).
If you were to search my personal account, you would find that it is public, has over 1,800 followers, story highlights that help show off my sense of fashion and lifestyle and a feed that contains pictures of me, my friends, family, and attractions. Out of all of my followers, I only know a little over half of them. The rest are followers who probably follow because of a hashtag I use, or being attracted to my blog. No one can see my analytics, and I focus on how well I am doing based off the number of reaches I get per week. My reach (refers to the total number of unique accounts that have seen your post) is always around 1,000, and my impressions (measures the total number of times users see your post) are around 2,500. I also have a follower base that is a majority of women (62%). This is fairly good analytics for the kind of blog I have; and although I would love for it to improve, I am not entirely worried about it growing. I take this Instagram fairly seriously, but it is more of a hobby for me, rather than a job.
The UMW Cheerleading Instagram
About three years ago, I started the UMW Cheerleading Instagram. My captains reached out asking if I would be interested in creating and starting an Instagram account for our team, and ran it my sophomore year. When new captains came into position for my junior year, I only posted a couple times, as they enjoyed posting material themselves, but I resumed control of the feed this year. This account has the fewest of followers of my three Instagram accounts, with a little more than 300 followers. Most of the followers are current or past cheerleaders, UMW sports teams and clubs, and other university cheerleading pages.
The analytics for the cheer Instagram is lower than my personal Instagram because it has fewer followers. The accounts interactions is around 94, and the reach is around 230. Most of the page’s followers range between the age of eighteen and twenty-four, and 79% of the followers are women.
The UMW cheer Instagram does not really have an aesthetic. For this Instagram, I mainly focus on the hashtags. For example, once a week I post about one of the cheerleaders, and use the hashtag “#cheerleaderoftheweek”. I try to post at least two to three times a week on that Instagram, so I do not worry as much about keeping a decent aesthetic. Most of the posts generally are either of stunting or tumbling, game day announcements, or cheerleader shout-outs. These posts are to show the skills of the UMW cheer team, as most of the school does not know what we do, and some do not even realize that there is a cheer team on campus. This Instagram is to help our name grow through campus.
The University of Mary Washington’s Instagram
When I was first offered a position as an intern with University Relations, my main task was to get footage that was suitable for the Instagram and Snapchat stories, and would post for them from time to time (my boss usually posted, until I became comfortable to post). Being a student it’s easier to make time to go to events, or get everyday photos on campus. Once my boss left the university, they asked if I would be interested in continuing posting on the stories, and also post on the Instagram feed as well.
Since being asked, I have made five posts. The first was about the Men’s Soccer CAC championship. I used a photo from a student photographer, and it gained a lot of attention. The other four posts have been taken on my iPhone Xs, and have also attracted a decent amount of attention. For editing, I do not do anything except pick a filter that helps keep to the theme of the feed. Most of the work that is put into these posts is getting the actual footage rather than the editing. I tend to critique myself a little bit more harshly than with my other accounts as the follower base is much larger, and I have supervisors watching what I post.
The UMW Instagram has over 7,000 followers. It reaches over 3,000 people weekly, and leaves more than 17,000 impressions per week. The followers generally are people between the ages of 18 and 34. The follower base is 76% women and 24% men. Unlike my personal Instagram, the aesthetic of the UMW Instagram is mainly different shades of blues and greens, and I have stuck to this aesthetic for the most part. This is a fairly easy aesthetic to stick with since those colors are two of the most popular colors seen in scenery. I feel as though this was an intentional aesthetic as it the colors that are seen throughout campus, and the colors of our school.
When capturing photos for the university, it tends to be easier to get campus shots rather than student shots. The main reason for this is that I must be sure students are dressed appropriately, acting appropriately, and shows diversity within the post. For a campus shot, I just make sure that there are no people walking in front or out of the building. When getting student shots, it is also harder for me as the students sometimes find it hard to believe that I am actually the person behind the Instagram account for UMW. It was a little nerve wracking in the beginning, as I had to go up to strangers a lot to ask to take their pictures (which can easily come off a bit creepy, until I explain why). However, I have gained quite a bit of confidence from this internship, as I am very comfortable asking people for photos, and knowing what is right to post.
I always make sure that the posts I make are friendly for all audiences. For example, showcasing diversity and inclusiveness and writing friendly captions. Although this job is the most exciting I’ve had in my career, it can be difficult for someone who tends to be a perfectionist in the social media aspect.
Social Media in Society
Professor Zach Whalen, director of the Digital Studies program at UMW, and I discussed how social media is always changing, whether it is the aesthetic of someone’s feed or the actual application itself. What I mean by that, is that social media is becoming a more picture-perfect rather than posting something just to share it with your follower base. Furthermore, the applications for social media are always changing; improving and adding new features. We discussed the advertisement methods that are shown on the University’s Instagram, such as how we post picture-perfect shots on the feed, and everyday photos on the Instagram stories. Professor Whalen said he prefers to follow brands on Instagram, rather than Facebook, because the advertisements and visuals are better in comparison to Facebook.
We discussed one issue that constantly comes up in discussions about the UMW feed, which is the diversity issue. Many students have stated in the past that the university falsely advertises that the university is diverse. They school does want to appear diverse, but it’s not for purely marketing reasons. It’s also to make all students on campus feel included when posts are made. Professor Whalen made a point that people would be equally upset if only one race or gender were the focus, or if it were always the same group of students in the pictures. Although this may come across as false advertising, it is one of the only ways for the students to feel included.
Over time, social media will change again, and there will either be a new application that is even better than what we have now, or there will be significant updates to the existing ones. Anyone working in this field has to be adaptable to changes, and ready to take action when these changes occur. I have gained a lot of confidence through social media marketing, and am more comfortable obtaining footage for the Instagram accounts I run. I also have become more careful with what I post as well, trying to please all audiences. This kind of job can be fairly stressful, as one has to think about a lot when making a post, however, it is a job that I love to do and would like to continue as a career post graduation.