presents

SOCIAL MEDIA

NEWSLETTER

March 2024

INTRODUCTION

We're all social media professionals here, right? So you know exactly what I mean when I say the world of social media moves FAST. It seems like every day there are new trends to try, features to incorporate and emerging platforms to explore, plus with all the events, activities and initiatives in HigherEd – the planning and executing cycle never ends. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job. 17-year-old me who logged onto Facebook for the first time in 2005 with her fresh.edu address would have never imagined that a career in social media could even be a possibility.

But as someone who has seen every iteration of social media (they call us 1st generation social media users), these changes can sometimes feel overwhel­ming. This is why taking intentonal moments to pause and reflect is so important to put things into perspective and keep my creative strategy juices fresh and flowing. Sometimes, this looks like taking a walk for some fresh air and observation or heading to a new location like Cabell or the ICA to work for a fresh visual perspective. Lately, it's been making a caramel latte using our team's espresso machine. There's something about taking the time to grind the beans and steam my oat milk to create my latte of choice that forces me to slow down amidst the hustle and bustle of day-to-day in social media.

When was the last time you paused to take a minute for yourself and what did you do? I'm curious to know what self-care looks like for you! If you haven't been pausing lately, no worries! Our keynote speaker at next week's social media summit has you covered! Don’t forget to register at the bottom of the newsletter and tell a friend to tell a friend that March 8 is the place to be for connection and community for communicators across VCU!

-Kenda Boone, Director of Social Media Storytelling

Enterprise Marketing & Communications, VCU

The FB spam problem has become worse over the past year and bot accounts posting suspicious links are not helping the problem. Protecting our audience has become more important than ever, but at the same time we cannot censor due to first Amendment Rights. So how do you manage this problem?

FB has a tool called Moderation Assist, you can access it through your dashboard and learn more about how to manage it HERE. Accounts posting clearly suspicious links trying to take advantage of unsuspecting users by stealing their information may be deleted, and this tool can help you hide and address those comments. Unfortunately, you still cannot block these users. Combine this tool and my tip in the last newsletter about spam messages to help you control and manage the spam. Review your activity log at least once a month for 15 minutes to see if Moderation Assist may have hidden something that it shouldn’t have and unhide it to ensure proper compliance.

However, users posting their opinions, whether they are crude, hurtful, discriminatory, etc., cannot be hidden, deleted or blocked, as they are protected under First Amendment Rights. The best thing you may do in this situation is to use the reporting feature on the platform to report the comment or message so that the platform may review and possibly remove it from your page. If the comment or message is threatening, please report it to VCU Police immediately. If the comment or message has to do with a current student, faculty or staff member, then you may report it to the following various resources:

• VCU Police
• VCU Human Resources
  
• Title IX
  

Have questions to ask our resident VCU Social Media expert? Submit to our feedback form!

CONTENT TIPS & TRENDS

Want to build a more intentional and deeper connection with your community? Take advantage of Instagram’s Story feature with interactive stickers! Using interactive stickers in Instagram stories allows you to engage with your audience beyond your feed, by making your content more interactive! - Loan Nguyen & Jaleelah Harris

These are the four top interactive stickers you should consider when creating Instagram story content:

EMOJI SLIDER:

Emoji sliders add a playful element to your stories, allowing followers to rate something using emojis. This feature allows you to ask more nuanced questions and find out how your community feels about something by dragging the emoji to the left or right to make your decision. This provides a visual representation of audience sentiment.

ASK A QUESTION:

Question stickers invite your community to ask you anything, fostering a sense of connection and dialogue. Responding to these questions also benefits the wider community by providing valuable information about commonly asked questions, or offering an opportunity to shine light on a lesser-known topic!

Emoji sliders add a playful element to your stories, allowing followers to rate something using emojis. This feature allows you to ask more nuanced questions and find out how your community feels about something by dragging the emoji to the left or right to make your decision. This provides a visual representation of audience sentiment.

Question stickers invite your community to ask you anything, fostering a sense of connection and dialogue. Responding to these questions also benefits the wider community by providing valuable information about commonly asked questions, or offering an opportunity to shine light on a lesser-known topic!

LET’s TALK DESIGN

It’s important to stay up to date on the various size restrictions, cropping requirements and formatting of your social visuals in order to best optimize your posts, maintain aesthetic integrity and communicate vital information with our audience. That’s why I’ve put together a new Social Media Size Guide with a comprehensive overview of all current social media image sizes! You can find the guide HERE and see a general overview of social image sizes below! - Abby Giuseppe

BOB’s BRANDING BUNKER

THUNdErhouse QuicK tips:

Thunderhouse is a vibrant, fun font, introduced as part of our new "UN" branding (VCU campus only, not for VCU Health). A few precautions when using it:

Don’t use Thunderhouse for long sentences (no more than 3-4 words max), names, locations, events, holidays, or for “VCU”.

Never set wide kerning or tracking (space between letters) on Thunderhouse; it works best when tightly spaced.

Be aware that readability suffers below 24px, so size does matter.

Always keep in mind that a little Thunderhouse goes a long way! - Bob Saydlowski

If you have branding questions or want feedback on your designs, email identity@vcu.edu.

Helpful links

Request photo library access

Social Media Guidelines

Model release form & terms

Social Media Acceptable Use Policy

• No, your student intern should not be an admin, aka a manager of your social media accounts. However, they may help you create and post content. Only full-time employees should be registered admins. Update admins here.
  

How do I make sure my social media posts are accessible?

• Take the VCU social media accessibility training via Talent@VCU to learn tips for each platform.
  

What are the first things I should do when a social media admin leaves or changes?

• Change the passwords to your accounts and put in a ticket to Jira to update admin contacts for your social media channels.
  

Missed a monthly meeting or newsletter?

• Check out our social admin Google Drive here or our monthly newsletters here.
  

UNcommon branding update:

• Reminder that starting in August 2024, any content that does not meet brand standards will not be shared or reposted to the main VCU accounts. Check out the brand website to log in and download logos, letterheads, templates, social frames and more. For branding help, fill out the form here.
  

SAVE THE DATE!

REGISTER HERE

VIRTUAL SUMMIT AGENDA:

RSVP for the Networking event HERE

MEET THE SUMMIT KEYNOTE:

Dr. Kasandrea Sereno has worked in higher education for more than 20 years and is a strong advocate for the college experience. She is an alumna of the University of South Florida, holding a bachelor's degree in business management and industrial psychology, an M.B.A. and a master in education in college student affairs. She completed her doctorate in higher education organizational leadership & policy at Vanderbilt University where her research focused on first-year student retention, and she currently serves as the dean of retention & engagement at Tulsa Community College overseeing the offices of Orientation, Testing, Career Services, and Academic Advising.

Sereno is passionate about increasing college access by leveraging emerging technology and social media to improve student success for underrepresented populations; particularly first generation and former foster youth.

Outside of her campus work she is the founder of HigherEdSocial, the world’s largest professional society for social media professionals in higher education, and enjoys collaborating with colleagues to help universities better leverage social media to increase their student retention and satisfaction. She has spoken at professional, higher ed and technology conferences around the world and regularly presents on using technology in advising, Gen Z and how to build an educational brand.

Join the VCU Social Media Admin group on Facebook!

Visit our website!

Official VCU Social Media:

President Rao’s Social Media: