Michigan Tech Social Media Blog

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Social Media Accessibility Guidelines

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Guidelines and Best Practices on Social Media Accessibility for Michigan Tech Social Media Administrators (SMAs)

An image that states, “Social Media Accessibility Best Practices and Guidelines”. The background image is a table with icons related to social media laying about. One person is holding a cellphone.

Why Social Media Accessibility Matters

Michigan Tech is committed to making its digital communications accessible to everyone. These guidelines aim to help MTU SMAs ensure their content is accessible, enhancing inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.

  • Legal Compliance
    •  Following the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ensures we meet legal requirements.
  • Inclusivity
    • It broadens the reach of our content and ensures all audiences can engage fully.
  • Institutional Commitment
    • Promoting diversity and inclusion is a core value at Michigan Tech.

Alt Text for Images

What is Alt Text?

Alternative text (alt text) provides a written description of an image for people using screen readers. It should be concise yet descriptive enough to convey the key information.

Best Practices for Alt Text

  • Be concise but informative (100 characters or fewer).
  • Describe the image’s content and context.
  • Avoid using “image of” or “picture of.”

Instead of “Image of students on campus,” use “Students walking in front of Michigan Tech’s Husky Statue.”

Images with Text or Graphic Elements

If the image contains text or important graphic elements, this content should be included in the alt text.

  • Text in Images
    • If the image includes essential text (e.g., quotes, event details), provide the full text in the alt description.
    • Example: For a promotional image with text that says, “Join us for Winter Carnival, February 8-10,” use alt text like: “Join us for Winter Carnival, February 8-10, with ice sculptures and winter sports.”
  • Complex Graphics or Charts
    • Provide a concise summary of the key information or findings, especially for charts or diagrams.
    • Example: For a pie chart showing departmental funding distribution, alt text could be: “Pie chart showing 40% funding to research, 30% to education, 20% to outreach, and 10% to administration.”

In cases where the image is too complex to describe succinctly in alt text, include a brief alt text description and provide a link to a more detailed description.

Alternative text or ALT tags are imperative in ensuring that our photo content is accessible. Many social media platforms now allow their content creators to add alternative text to the images they post:

Closed Captions for Videos

Why Use Captions?

Captions make video content accessible to people with hearing impairments and those who prefer to consume content without sound.

Best Practices for Captions

  • Always provide accurate captions, not just automatic ones.
  • Include all spoken dialogue and relevant sounds (e.g., [laughter], [applause]).
  • Use punctuation and capitalization for readability.

Video Without Audio or With Minimal Audio

For videos without audio or with minimal audio (such as background music), a descriptive transcript is required to ensure accessibility. According to WCAG guidelines, this type of content is referred to as “video-only.” The transcript should describe any visual elements or text that appear in the video but are not conveyed through audio. This is particularly important if the video contains text that is not read aloud.

For more details, refer to the WCAG guidelines on video-only content.

Use of Hashtags

Why Hashtag Accessibility Matters

Screen readers read hashtags without spaces, making them difficult to understand if not formatted correctly.

Best Practices for Hashtags

  • Capitalize the first letter of each word (CamelCase) for readability.
    Example: #MichiganTechHuskies, not #michigantechhuskies.
  • Limit the number of hashtags to avoid clutter.

Descriptive Links and URLs

What Makes a Link Accessible?

Links should give users an idea of where they will be directed. Avoid generic phrases like “click here.”

Best Practices for Links
  • Use descriptive language for hyperlinks.
    Example: Instead of “Click here to read more,” use “More about Tech’s Research.”
  • Shorten long URLs, and include meaningful context.

Avoid Text on Images (if possible)

Why It’s Important

Text embedded in images is not readable by screen readers, and it can be challenging for those with visual impairments.

Best Practices
  • Use text overlays instead of embedding text in images.
  • If text must be part of an image, provide the same text in the post description or alt text, clarification is included in the section, “Alt Text for Images” Section.

Color Contrast and Readability

Why Contrast Matters

Color contrast impacts readability for individuals with visual impairments, including color blindness. For additional information on accessibility standards for print and digital assets please contact UMC by emailing umc@mtu.edu.

Best Practices for Contrast

  • Ensure high contrast between text and background colors (e.g., dark text on a light background).
  • Always be sure there is sufficient contrast between colors and type. For black and white type, use the following combinations below as a guide.
  • Avoid relying on color alone to convey meaning (e.g., don’t use red to indicate importance without additional indicators).
  • When in doubt regarding proper color contrast, reach out to UMC or utilize a free color contrast analyzing tool. 

Recommended Free Color Contrast Analyzing Tools

Primary Brand Color Palette

See Michigan Tech’s Full Style Guide for more information about our brand. 

The official colors of Michigan Tech are black and gold.
gold swatch

PMS 116
CMYK: 0/18/100/0
RGB: 255/206/0
HEX: #ffcd00
black swatch

Black
CMYK: 40/40/40/100
RGB: 0/0/0
HEX: #000000

Secondary Brand Color Palette

The secondary color palette provides additional options when working on publications. These colors ensure University publications share a cohesive and unified theme.
PMS 7549 C deep gold color swatch.

Orange, PMS 7549 C
CMYK: 0/36/100/0
RGB: 251/173/24
HEX: #fbad18
PMS 423 gray color swatch.

Grey, PMS 423
CMYK: 48/39/39/4
RGB: 138/140/140
HEX: #8a8c8c
PMS 310 C teal color swatch.

Oxidized Copper, PMS 310 C
CMYK: 66/0/26/0
RGB: 62/192/197
HEX: #3ec0c5
PMS 717 C copper color swatch.

Copper, PMS 717 C
CMYK: 0/70/90/10
RGB: 220/102/45
HEX: #dc662d

Accessible Color Combinations for Large Type Above 18pt Yellow: Black text is accessible when placed on a yellow background. Black: White, gold, orange, oxidized copper, and copper text are accessible when placed on a black background. Orange:  Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an orange background. Oxidized Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an oxidized copper background. Copper: Black and white text are accessible when overlaid onto a copper background. Grey: Black and white text are accessible when overlaid onto a grey background. Accessible Color Combinations for Small Type Below 18 pt Yellow: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a yellow background. Black: White, gold, orange and oxidized copper text are accessible when overlaid onto a black background. Orange: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an orange background.  Oxidized Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an oxidized copper background.  Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a copper background.  Grey: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a grey background.
Accessible Color Combinations for Large Type Above 18pt
Yellow: Black text is accessible when placed on a yellow background.
Black: White, gold, orange, oxidized copper, and copper text are accessible when placed on a black background.
Orange:  Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an orange background.
Oxidized Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an oxidized copper background.
Copper: Black and white text are accessible when overlaid onto a copper background.
Grey: Black and white text are accessible when overlaid onto a grey background.

Accessible Color Combinations for Small Type Below 18 pt
Yellow: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a yellow background.
Black: White, gold, orange and oxidized copper text are accessible when overlaid onto a black background.
Orange: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an orange background. 
Oxidized Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto an oxidized copper background. 
Copper: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a copper background. 
Grey: Black text is accessible when overlaid onto a grey background.

Plain Language

What Is Plain Language?

Using simple, direct language makes your content easier for all users to understand, including those with cognitive disabilities.

Best Practices for Plain Language

  • Use short sentences and common words.
  • Avoid jargon, or define technical terms when necessary.

Use of Emojis

Why Be Cautious with Emojis?

Screen readers will read out the name of each emoji, which can disrupt the flow for those using assistive technology.

Best Practices for Emojis

  • Use emojis sparingly.
  • Place them at the end of sentences rather than mid-sentence.
  • Avoid using strings of emojis that could be read aloud unnecessarily.

Emojis and Evolving Meanings with Screen Readers

Emojis often carry emotional or cultural meanings that can evolve over time, depending on how society uses them. This variability makes it challenging for screen readers to accurately convey the intended tone, especially if the emoji’s meaning shifts.
For instance, the nail polish emoji (:nail_care:) might be used to express relaxation, sassiness, or nonchalance depending on the context. However, a screen reader will simply read this emoji as “nail care” without interpreting its implied meaning.

Because emojis can hold multiple interpretations, especially across different generations or platforms (like Instagram), their meaning may not always be clear to all audiences. What might signal confidence or nonchalance in one group could be misunderstood by others, leading to confusion for screen reader users. It’s important to be mindful of how emojis are used and consider their evolving meanings to ensure your content is inclusive and clear for all users.

Emojipedia Unicode Descriptions 

Emojipedia is the world’s No. 1 emoji reference site providing up-to-date and well-researched information. They are also a member of the Unicode Consortium. The UMC Social media team will often refer to Emojipedia’s emoji descriptions to learn more about emoji meaning and cultural context surrounding an emoji. 

When in doubt of what you think the meaning of an emoji may be, err on the side of caution. Do you need to be posting the emoji that is in question and is there another emoji that fits better in this situation?  

Test Your Content for Accessibility

Why Testing Is Important

Testing your content ensures it meets accessibility standards before publishing.

Tools for Testing Accessibility

  • WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool): Useful for testing contrast and alt text.
  • Screen Readers: Use built-in screen readers like VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android) to review posts.
  • Social Media Platform Tools: Use built-in accessibility features (e.g., Facebook’s Accessibility feature).

Continuous Learning and Improvement

Stay Updated

Social media accessibility standards are continually evolving, and Michigan Tech is committed to staying compliant and inclusive.

Resources for Continued Learning

Making social media content accessible is a shared responsibility. By following these best practices, Michigan Tech’s SMAs can help ensure all individuals have an equitable experience, regardless of their abilities.

If you have questions regarding social media accessibility please reach out to social@mtu.edu.

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Artificial Intelligence AI: Social Media Trends in 2024

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The MTU Social team knows how difficult it is to keep up with the ever changing landscape of social media. We’re here to help! In this article series we’re going to touch on what is trending and declining in the social media space. We’re also going to answer, “Where are your various audiences in 2024?”, “What social platforms are on the way out?”, and “What kinds of content should I consider spending time to create?”. In this first article we are going to touch on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for social media content creation, customer support and editing in 2024.

The Future of Social Media: Hootsuite 2024 Trends Report

One of the MTU Social teams’ favorite places to go for updates in the social media space is Hootsuite. Being both a tool for social media managers and a source of reliable and data based social media tips, we can’t say enough good things about the company. Each year Hootsuite does a “Social Media Trends Report” based on data collected from their various surveys throughout the year. For the 2024 Trends Report, they made a fun video recapping their findings. We’re only going to cover the use of artificial intelligence being a trend in 2024 but their report is worth a read. Check out their video below.

Play Social Trends 2024: A Glimpse into the Future video
Preview image for Social Trends 2024: A Glimpse into the Future video

Social Trends 2024: A Glimpse into the Future

Hootsuite’s Youtube video “Social Trends 2024: A Glimpse into the Future”

The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

From an editing, content generation and customer support standpoint, the use of AI has increased exponentially among social media marketers. Although most marketing professionals are excited to adapt with AI, the various audiences they’re marketing to are not without hesitation. According to Hootsuite’s 2024 Social Media Consumer survey, 62% of consumers are less likely to engage with and trust content if they know it was generated by AI. From the MTU social team vantage point, this distrust rings true across our platforms. For the first time ever on MTU social, we have received comments asking if social media captions were generated by AI. Although the captions our audience was commenting on weren’t generated by AI, this distrust has been an interesting concept to observe.

Hootsuite's 2024 Social Media Consumer survey graphic. AI: Social Media Trends in 2024
Hootsuite’s 2024 Social Media Consumer survey graphic. AI: Social Media Trends in 2024

Trust Issues with AI Generated Content

Something else to note on this ever changing content creation journey is that there are varying levels of trust in AI based on age demographic. For example, one of our primary audiences is Gen Z and they are more likely to engage and trust AI content as opposed to Baby Boomers. Since MTU social has a younger age demographic on student centered platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, that allows us more flexibility in experimenting with AI content on those channels.


MTU’s AI Generated Content

On MTU’s social accounts we have posted content using AI and there have been mixed reviews–but the feeling of audience distrust with AI can lurk in the comment section. We generated and disclosed that we used Chat GPT to create a poem about Bridge Fest, and then posted it on Instagram. We then received a comment that said,

“Wow, definitely better than a poem written by a human person with emotions and feelings about the natural beauty of a landmark, or better yet one of your students.”

MTU Instagram Commenter

Ouch, right? But, this comment really does communicate a lot of feelings in a few words. Although we now have AI as a tool in our marketing tool belts, there are mixed feelings on how and when it’s appropriate to use it. It’s important to know how your audiences feel about AI across social platforms when posting content.

Here are some more examples for how MTU Social has used generative AI on social media content with Instagram and TikTok.

A man created with generative AI tool DALL•E stands wearing an orange shirt, pumpkins for hands and is holding a pink broomstick. The social media caption for the image states, "What's spookier than an AI-generated image depicting a 'broomball Halloween costume'? Nothing. There's nothing more spooky than pumpkins for hands."
Instagram post on Michigan Tech’s account. A man created with generative AI tool DALL•E stands wearing an orange shirt, pumpkins for hands and is holding a pink broomstick. The social media caption for the image states, “What’s spookier than an AI-generated image depicting a ‘broomball Halloween costume’? Nothing. There’s nothing more spooky than pumpkins for hands.” AI: Social Media Trends in 2024 Series
@michigantech

#duet with @Sophia Lada #Duet

♬ original sound – Ian Asher
@michigantech

What do you think, Huskies? #artificialintelligence #michigantech #mtuhuskies #college ItsGreatOutdoors

♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

Chat GPT, an Affordable Virtual Assistant

Now that we’ve covered a bit of using AI for content creation, we’re going to quickly touch on using AI for strategy and content ideas. We like to think of Chat GPT as a virtual assistant. It can be there to help but will not generate final copy or replace the nuance of writing for Michigan Tech’s brand. Some ways to use Chat GPT as an assistant would be brainstorming content ideas, helping simplify your thoughts, writing first drafts for captions, or suggesting content ideas. Leave the final editing and social media strategy up to humans.

Artificial intelligence is already broadly found across social media platforms in 2024–it’s up to brands to use the tool with intention and ethics. It’s safe to say using AI for social media content is here to stay.

Additional Resources on AI:

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MTU Social Media Channels Ranked No. 3 Overall for 2023 Higher Ed Engagement Report

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According to Rival IQ’s 2023 Higher Education Social Media Engagement Report, Michigan Tech’s social media was ranked No. 3 overall for the Top D2 Overall Higher Education Institutions on Social category. This is Tech’s first time making it on the Rival IQ report.

Rival IQ’s Michigan Tech section in the “Higher Education Social Media Engagement Report 2023“

The report assesses colleges and universities based on their overall engagement and engagement rates. The criteria for engagement on social media involves quantifiable interactions such as likes, comments, favorites, saves, retweets, shares, and reactions. To calculate engagement rate, divide the total engagement by the number of followers. High engagement rates, coupled with average or better-than-average audience size and posting volumes, are the key factors that distinguish the best-performing colleges and universities on social media.

Collaborations across teams within Michigan Tech’s University Marketing and Communications department has played a key role in our high engagement on social media platforms. Working together, teams shared their expertise and knowledge to create better campaigns, content, and strategies.

For example, the social media team worked closely with the content team to develop compelling stories that resonated with the audience. The studio team provided visually appealing graphics, photos, and video that grabbed attention. Similarly, the data gathered using analytics provided valuable insights into what type of content resonated with the audience and what didn’t. Tech’s social media team has been putting an increased effort on using engagement rate to decipher content direction. Utilizing insights gathered from engagement rate helps with understanding the relationship between our brand and our audience.

The report touted Michigan Tech’s social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. “The Huskies love science, and are proud to show it through their social media content, featuring everything from research to science-related student activities to faculty achievements,” it stated.

You can follow Tech on social media @michigantech.
Take a look at some of MTU’s most engaged posts from the past year.

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Artificial Intelligence on Social Media in 2023: Takeaways and Observations by the MTU Social Media Team

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Image of three snow statues created by Artificial Intelligence DALL·E Mini

Takeaways and Observations from the Social Media Today article, “AI Creation Tools Will Change the Way We Create, Engage and Interact in 2023”

It’s official, we’ve made it to the point in human history where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a main topic of conversation in the marketing space. For better or for worse AI technology, such as DALL·E or Canva’s newest AI image generator to name a couple, are gaining in popularity. Social Media Today‘s article highlights four main topics centered around AI and social media marketing – content creation, image production, AI Tweets, and AI generated 3D models. Don’t be mistaken, we didn’t copy and paste part of the “Back to the Future” script hoping to fool you. Each topic reviewed by Social Media Today brought to the surface some thoughts from the MTU social media team – we’d love to share.

Content Creation & Image Production:

If you haven’t used any AI tools before reading this, I’d recommend checking out the free AI image generator tool DALL·E Mini. It really is incredible how specific you can get with generating an image (peep the header image for this article – it was created with AI image tech). On Michigan Tech’s social media accounts we have played around with using AI image generators for mostly humorous content.

(MTU TikTok AI Image Generator – MTU Instagram AI Image generated post)

@michigantech

What do you think, Huskies? #artificialintelligence #michigantech #mtuhuskies #college ItsGreatOutdoors

♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

AI Copywriting

Continued growth of AI copywriting technology could be an advantage for content creators. More mundane content online could help brands stand out on the copywriting front if they have a dedicated crew of writers.

AI SEO Writing

AI copywriting could be a useful tool for SEO content. Using AI copywriting to help with cutting down on writing time is something that seems to be a bonus for SEO marketers.

“But if SEO is your goal, and you want to cut down on time, then this [Artificial Intelligence] could be an option.”

Andrew Hutchinson, Head of Content and Social Media at Social Media Today

Copyright Concerns

As of now, the copyright remains in the creator’s hands (i.e. the user, who prompted the creation of the AI images or writing). Copyright with AI images does however, seem to be a slippery slope pertaining to artists’ work. Individuals can prompt AI to create a piece of work that looks like it was made by a famous or well known artist. An example of an image prompt for AI would be, “create a painting of a dog eating an ice cream cone in the style of Banksy”.

As AI technology advances and learns more, it may be harder for content writers to stand out. It’ll be interesting to see how usage with AI technology evolves in the social media space. 

:robot_face:

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Instagram Live 101

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Person smiling while holding their phone vertically with their hand up as if saying hello to someone.

Instagram Lives allow you to share the excitement of important events in real time. If you don’t delete it, it stays up for 24 hours.

The ideal duration of an Instagram Live depends on the event. You can broadcast for up to an hour, but typically viewership falls off after the first 10 minutes.

Why Use Instagram Live

  • Capture the excitement of “being there.”
  • Reach current and prospective students.
  • Interact with existing followers and grow your audience.

What Makes This Platform

  • Include plenty of faces.
  • Keep it short and fun.
  • Share instantly to Facebook Stories.
  • Monitor comments in real time.

What Breaks This Platform

  • It will go away unless you save it to your camera roll to repost.
  • Typically low engagement for new accounts with few followers.
  • Bad internet connection.
  • Background distractions.

Pro Tip

Search for helpful blogs and videos to learn new techniques that make posting easier and more effective, like this Instagram expert. Also, learn from the app itself — Instagram Live instructions from Instagram.

Examples

  • Human ice bowling
  • Broomball drop
  • Campus life
  • Career Services Q&A

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The (Linked)Ins and Outs of Posting Jobs on Social Media

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Students in this 2018 Career Fair photo are able to go straight to employers to talk about job listings. University positions, however, follow a format outlined by our HR department.

Michigan Tech’s main social media platforms are used for marketing, public relations, and communications for prospective and current students and alumni as well as partnering funding agencies, governments, and industries who support our research mission. 

Individual departments and other campus units have listed/advertised open positions on LinkedIn Jobs previously with permission through Human Resources. Job listings are an entirely separate function from what our social media team does and more like using Indeed or other digital job listing services.

Here’s an article about the job listing and recruiting functionality LinkedIn offers on its platform. Our Michigan Tech Alumni LinkedIn group frequently posts jobs and other opportunities, as do Alumni networks on Facebook — most of those options are private groups and you need permission to join. You can check with them to see how the groups are administrated and moderated.

We have seen many folks post the links from Human Resources job listings on their personal or departmental accounts to help get the word out to quality candidates about job openings. Sharing the HR link is a solid idea because it ensures the listing is in compliance with legal requirements and University hiring procedures.

Keep the social media questions coming to the University Marketing and Communications editorial team at social@mtu.edu. We’ll get to as many as we can as fast as we can.

For more tips, check out our social media field guide.

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Anatomy of a Social Media Post: Get to the Point

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A Michigan Tech Twitter post populated from Instagram uses three hashtags and lets the visual do the heavy lifting.

Your social media posts won’t always be brief. But they should always start with the most important thing you want to share, whether that’s “Sound on!” for a video (because people tend to consume social media on their phones with the volume off) or a simple “Huskies win.” The amount of characters visible at the beginning of your post (as well as the amount of characters allowed) is different on each platform. But short and to the point is always the best way to begin, sharing your main message in the first 125 characters. Here are the latest allowable character lengths for posts on different platforms. Remember that just because a post can be this long doesn’t mean it should be: 

  • Facebook: 63,206, cuts to “see more” at 477 characters. 
  • Instagram: 2,200 (30-hashtag limit), 125 characters before it cuts to see “… more.”
  • Twitter: 280 limit including links, no cutoff but 71-100 characters gets most engagement.
  • LinkedIn: 700 on Company pages, 1,300 on personal accounts, 140 characters is the “… more” cutoff. 
  • Pinterest: 500 character limit per pin.

Check out more on character limits and other details about post length including tips for blogs and videos and keep the social media questions coming to the University Marketing and Communications team at social@mtu.edu. We’ll get to as many as we can as fast as we can. For more insights, check out our social media field guide.

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Get Your Social Media Icons and Connect

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Now that you named your account something with Michigan Tech or MTU in it so your community can find you, it’s time to go for a social media icon. 

Find social media-sized icons in UMC’s brand resources. If you want a custom icon with your unit’s name, email social@mtu.edu and we’ll submit a design request.

Your platform banner should be a sharp, impactful photo. It’s best to avoid pasted-together collages, poster-style imagery or photos that aren’t high-quality.

All of the University’s active social media accounts are listed in our directory. Take a look and take the time to follow University accounts. Those moments you spend exploring other University accounts (those of us who tend to fall down the rabbit hole set a timer) will pay off in the long run. Because you’ll find excellent shareable content and see posts that inspire creation. See something you like? Do that.

We’ll take a look at the anatomy of a strong social media post next time. In the meantime, keep the social media questions coming to the University Marketing and Communications team at social@mtu.edu. We’ll get to as many as we can as fast as we can.

For more tips, check out our social media field guide.

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Administrators, Page Roles, and Not Getting Left in the Lurch

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Ever been locked out of your department’s Facebook Page? It’s happened more than once at MTU. As a best practice, because Facebook is tied to personal accounts, it’s important to have one to three full-time permanent employees in your office as administrators, so that when a student graduates or an employee moves on, transitions can be handled smoothly. Having a core team of admins is also vital in emergencies. If the person who posts to your social accounts isn’t available and there’s a problem you need someone you can depend on to fix the issue fast. University Marketing and Communications has key leaders on both our communications and digital teams for just such social media situations. 

Some people don’t want to use their personal account for a department or organization Facebook. We understand. But you can’t make up a fake account for an administrator. If and when Facebook follows up—and the platform has become more vigilant about verifying identities—they’ll take down the page if the administrator is not a real person tied to an authentic account. That’s happened at MTU, too.

In the case of all the admins being shut out or if the only admin is no longer with the University, a person listed as an editor can try to get admin privileges if there is no administrator. This will require searching around in a morass of often unhelpful Facebook Help pages to find the correct form—the platform doesn’t make it easy! Here’s a WikiHow that may be helpful. This help page on Facebook might also lead you to somewhere useful.

Bottom line: the time has long passed when a social media account can simply be handed over to a student intern. A recent survey showed that 82 percent of your digital interactions with prospective students and other people you want to be in touch with will be on social media (Cision, State of the Media 2021). Having a fail-safe backup system for account administration is essential.

We’ll talk about icons and more getting-started tips next time. In the meantime, keep the social media questions coming to the University Marketing and Communications team at social@mtu.edu. We’ll get to as many as we can as fast as we can.

For more tips, check out our social media field guide.

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How to Choose a Social Media Account Name

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Michigan Technological University 1885 with a Husky on a boulder sign with soft-focus trees in the background shows MTU's logo.

When you’re naming your social media accounts, make it easy for folks to find you by using your actual name.

Bands are a good example of why that makes sense. Unless you’re a super fan or the group is Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, remembering individual band member names is nowhere as easy as simply knowing the name of a solo performer who goes by their actual name. 

Sure, we get that your department or organization’s full formal name is usually too long for a social media handle. You can include the formal name in your About section and choose something more abbreviated for your account name. What do the people you already interact with call you? Go with that. Examples include @michigantechhumanities (Instagram) and Michigan Tech College of Business (Facebook). 

Avoid symbols, acronyms, numbers and any other choices that aren’t intuitive to the audiences you want to engage with—for example, @AASMM_1885 doesn’t have the same search capability or user-friendly qualities as @MineralMuesumofMTU (the Facebook Page for A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum of Michigan Tech).

If it’s a University account, make your Michigan Tech affiliation clear, using MTU or Michigan Tech. Please follow MTU’s editorial guidelines by not using Michigan Tech University in social media or anywhere else. It leads to confusion about what kind of university we are.  

If you can, use the same name across all platforms where you have a presence. If you might join other social platforms in the future and want to ensure the name is reserved, as well as preventing others from unofficially nabbing the name, it’s a good idea to set up an account under your preferred name. You can activate it when you’re ready.

If you have the resources, it can be useful to set up a brainstorm with others in your unit to narrow down name choices. Once you settle on a name, head over to the Michigan Tech Social Networks directory and submit your account using the handy-dandy button in the right navigation pane. 

We’ll talk about account administrators next time. In the meantime, keep the social media questions coming to the University Marketing and Communications team at social@mtu.edu. We’ll get to as many as we can as fast as we can.

For more tips, check out Michigan Tech’s Social Media Field Guide.

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