Michigan Tech Social Media Blog

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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Zoom Webinar 101

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Zoom is an audio-video cloud platform for conferencing, chatting, and interacting that feels like a real gathering. It’s relatively easy to use.

Use of this platform is very flexible. The duration is up to you.

Why Use Zoom or Other Webinar Platforms

  • Interactive space best suited for exchanging ideas.
  • Reach niche audiences and use in direct marketing campaigns.
  • Easily recorded and shared on other platforms.

What Makes This Platform

  • Interact with polls, chat, emojis, and breakout rooms.
  • Stream on Facebook Live simultaneously.
  • Mute-all feature, waiting room, and other participant controls make presenting and facilitating easier.
  • Rehearse screen shares.
  • The webinar host is the only one who can stream it to Facebook. Make sure they have the proper permissions and know how to share to your page in advance.

What Breaks This Platform

  • Bad internet connection.
  • Extra security makes logging in more tedious.
  • Not spur-of-the-moment; participants must download and prepare beforehand.
  • Facebook Live shares don’t include some interactive features like polls.
  • Once you hit share on Facebook, you’re sharing. Make sure it’s the last think you do before moving Zoom to be publicly viewable or your Facebook audience will get a glimpse of you getting ready.

Pro Tip

Lighting is important—and you can also add Michigan Tech Zoom backgrounds to up your presentation game.

Examples

  • Design Expo 2020
  • CTL and IDEA Hub discussions
  • VPR Zoom Q&As

Questions?

Feel free to reach out to our University Marketing and Communications social media staff at social@mtu.edu with any questions.

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What is Facebook Live?

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Up-close image of a person holding their cellphone. On the screen of the phone is the login page for the app Facebook.

Facebook Live allows you to interact with your community by broadcasting video in real time from your phone or computer. Answer questions about campus life, take viewers on a lab tour, or share a special event, like Winter Carnival kickoff.

The ideal duration for a Facebook Live is 20 minutes. Lives are limited to four hours on a mobile device, and eight on other kinds of media set-ups, but unless you’re streaming a webinar or other programming, plan your event to be long enough to get people watching but not so long it bores them.

Why Use Facebook Live

  • Feature events and show spaces, people, or equipment.
  • Reach alumni and student families.
  • Build up your Facebook page.
  • Embed videos on department and project websites.

What Makes This Platform

  • Engage with a real, live audience.
  • Promote early across all your social media.
  • Frame your shot.
  • Do a dress rehearsal.

What Breaks This Platform

  • Bad internet connection.
  • Too long, viewers drop off.
  • Rude comments (enlist a team member to monitor in real time).
  • Be aware of ambient noise in your surroundings.

Pro Tip

Repurpose successful Lives by posting them to your YouTube channel.

Examples

Questions?

Reach out to University Marketing and Communications social media team for help at social@mtu.edu.

Instructions on Facebook Live from Facebook

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