黑料吃瓜

For institutional or departmental social media accounts at 黑料吃瓜, being emotive usually means evoking some sort of positive emotional response. Simple, effective tactics to do so include:听

• Using emojis, GIFs and exclamation points (sparingly).听
• Including positive and encouraging language, tone and words.听
• Referencing community members, partners and tagging them if able.听
• Incorporating eye-catching visuals.听

Example 1

In this post, we highlight Tamia, a sophomore psychology major, in a series called #ScreaglePOV. This post includes encouraging language, references who makes us special (our students), incorporates a short, GIF-like video to catch and keep attention and uses emojis to keep followers engaged.

听

Example 2

Homecoming is a big deal, and we wanted to make sure we put the spotlight on the 2023 Coronation Ceremony. To do so, we included positives from the day (Homecoming Coronation and a new attendance record), included photos of Court members, utilized fitting emojis and referenced our community who helped us celebrate.听听

听

Example 1

Just because 黑料吃瓜 is an institution for higher education does not mean we have to write like a corporate entity on social media. We have a distinct personality, and it鈥檚 important we show it off because it鈥檚 what makes us special.听

Here are some ways you can do so:听听

• Reply to, engage with and encourage others.听
• Tag or mention accounts.听听
• Like, share and comment on content relatable to your account.听

听

Example 2

Ryan Reynolds, Editor-in-Chief of the Evansville Courier & Press, has 鈥渃ommitted to the bit鈥� of hating on the "Screagle" term (although he admitted he doesn鈥檛 hate it but is too far into his bit now to go back). We often engage back and forth with him on the topic of "Screagle" versus "Screaming Eagle." As you can see above, he poked some holiday fun at us, and we had to make a comeback. As you build personality through your account(s), you鈥檒l notice there will be individuals who engage frequently, and you鈥檒l learn more about them. If you鈥檙e able to engage in a friendly manner, do so. It adds to your personality and will likely keep that individual engaged in the future. 听

Example 3

Sometimes, there are opportunities on social platforms where it鈥檚 appropriate to insert yourself in a conversation. In the example above, 95.7 The Spin, 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 student-run radio station, tweeted a callout for TV show recommendations. This was the perfect opportunity for us to engage and plug our episode of The College Tour and provide a link to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Look for these opportunities where it鈥檚 appropriate to shine light on your offerings.听听

This is a hard concept to achieve, but if you鈥檙e able to hone in on your specialties and showcase them with effective, engaging content, it will be worth the work.

Use relevant, appropriate humor, style and personality to stand out in the overcrowded social media landscape. Focus on your audiences鈥� interests and showcase the specialties you offer. Lean into content that makes you, you鈥攚hether that鈥檚 archival materials from David L. Rice Library, faculty research, student work, or something else, ensure you鈥檙e highlighting what鈥檚 most important for your area and distinct audience.

On the 黑料吃瓜 masthead account and at 黑料吃瓜 in general, we鈥檙e big fans of the Cone, and we know it鈥檚 a unique, eye-catching landmark that sets us aside from other institutions. We use that to our advantage.

Example 1

We quickly hopped on the opportunity to show off The Cone when the "It鈥檚 Corn!" trend was popular on TikTok and found this performed very well for us. Instead of "It鈥檚 Corn," of course we had to use "It鈥檚 Cone." An employee helped and gave us several fun clips to work with, and we ended on a call-to-action encouraging students to apply to 黑料吃瓜 for free during the College GO! Campaign in September 2022. Not only was this video on trend, but it also captured attention and ended on a relevant, important action item.

听

Example 2

We often pride ourselves on the warm, welcoming environment we provide at 黑料吃瓜. Two individuals who are well-known on campus in doing so are Donna from Starbucks and James the Bus Driver. In the two TikToks here, we used current trends and incorporated Donna and James related content. To this day, these two videos are two of our best performing on TikTok. 听

听

Example 3

Like we said, we really love the Cone around here (so much we had to include it in a Valentine鈥檚 post). For Valentine鈥檚 Day in 2023, we created our own spin on the cringe-worthy Valentine鈥檚 memes. In the example above, you can see how we put a unique spin on our iconic landmark.听

听

Tap into current trends and happenings, but make sure you鈥檙e not trying too hard to be 鈥渢oo cool.鈥� Speak the language of your followers without using jargon that鈥檚 too obscure for the majority to understand.听

Example 1

On TikTok/Instagram, a common saying in 2022 was adding "weapon" following a word (i.e., "academic") to signify you're in the zone, dedicated to a particular task or doing. In this video, our students considered themselves 鈥渁cademic weapons鈥� to prepare for midterms. Our following on TikTok/Instagram is made up majorly by current students and prospective students, so we engaged in language they are familiar with on both platforms.听

听

Example 2

If you鈥檙e not familiar, BeReal is a social media app that asks users to post unfiltered photos of themselves once a day. It makes users take a photo on their front and back camera and has a two-minute countdown to do so. It goes off at random times every day. Users cannot see their friends鈥� posts until they post (i.e., say they miss the two-minute deadline鈥攖hen, they can post a "late BeReal." Until they do so, though, they will not be able to see their friends鈥� post for the day). BeReals disappear day after day. When the "It鈥檚 time to BeReal" notification goes off for the day, the photo from the day before will disappear and be replaced.听

Though it doesn鈥檛 make since for the University to be on the BeReal app, we still want to take advantage of what it has to offer as our current and prospective students are frequent users. We asked followers on our Instagram Story to submit their BeReal campus photos for a chance to be featured on our platforms. They DM鈥檇 us photos, and we posted them on our Instagram feed. We utilized the same emojis used when one gets a BeReal notification to catch attention, as well as incorporated 鈥淏eReal鈥� in the caption. This post performed 95% better than our other posts.听听

Example 3

If you鈥檙e on Instagram, TikTok or Twitter, you know 鈥淟ittle Miss鈥� and 鈥淢r.鈥� posts were very popular in Fall 2022. These memes, using colorful, emoji-like characters from the children鈥檚 book series, Mr. Men, were popular as social media users shared their defining characteristics. Of course, we had to hop on the trend to show off the Little Misses and Mr.鈥檚 of 黑料吃瓜.

Always keep your distinct audience top of mind. What do they need, want or expect from your presence on social media? This is important to keep in mind when preparing content for any platform.听

Ideally, your account鈥檚 primary goals鈥攚hether that鈥檚 raising the visibility and reputation of the institution, communicating important information on behalf of your college, department, etc.鈥攕hould align what your audience鈥檚 needs. 黑料吃瓜 jargon and acronyms (i.e., UC vs. University Center, HRL vs. Housing and Residence Life, etc.) should be spelled out and explained to resonate with a broad audience.听

Know your audience and create content that鈥檚 valuable to them.听

Example 1

Our audience on LinkedIn is primarily comprised of 黑料吃瓜 alumni, and they like to stay informed on University updates. This post, although not super colorful in terms of personality, utilizes a straight-forward voice/tone that is appropriate for the platform and message and keeps alumni engaged with what is happening at 黑料吃瓜. Our audience on LinkedIn is not looking for creative, decorative language (compared to our audience on Instagram who looks for this)鈥攔ather, they鈥檙e wanting quick, easily-digestible information to stay in the loop.听