Telling Your Story Through Social Media

Some general tips:

• Firstly, review the Digital Estate Working Group Policies around social media above (note in particular the Social Media Policy; Social Media Procedure (for setting up) Other Accounts)

• By tagging @UCC on Twitter or @University College Cork on Facebook, you will notify the official UCC social media platforms who can then retweet or reshare your information. The UCC/national Students’ Union is also worth tagging (@UCCSU and @TheUSI on Twitter; @Collegeroadie and @USI.ie on Facebook).

• An internal social media mailing list is also available. Over a hundred of social media administrators of different accounts across the university are on this list, sharing content as it comes in where appropriate. Joining this list is another way to reach a wider audience, as you can ask colleagues to share your news across their social media presences, and reciprocate where appropriate. To sign up (and to be listed in the full list below), please email D.Twomey@ucc.ie

• Also consider which high profile/high follower accounts in the wider community you should be targeting who could re-tweet your message to your target audience – e.g. if looking for young professionals/mature students for a business/tech course, consider @Irish_Biz @irishbizparty @siliconrepublic @idaireland @thejournal_ie etc.

• Create a unique #hashtag for your course/service/event that will over time build up its own following e.g. see #UCCFarmleigh or #UCCChasingIce Use it! If in doubt as to a #hashtag, feel free to email decomms@ucc.ie

• Encourage engagement/ community/fun spirit using various hashtags – e.g. #youcc #sUCCess #jobfairy #UCC #irishbiz #Tweesis  

• Avoid generic or ‘corporate speak’ across your social media presence – all content should be compelling, colourful and accessible to your target audience. Examine competitor accounts and the more popular social media accounts generally to get a sense of this approach.

• One size does not fit all - ensure that your content is tailored across your social media platforms e.g. if you run a Twitter and Facebook account, your followers on either platform are likely to differ somewhat (age, gender etc), and so then should your content accordingly. Tools like Hootsuite can be a great help in scheduling posts to social media out of hours or to cover leave, but are often overused to share the same content across multiple networks (this often fails on Twitter in particular, where a message that makes sense on Facebook can be cut off due to the 140 character limit per Tweet.)

• If students are your target audience, think of optimum times throughout the year when students will be considering their options – the weeks and months in the run-up to CAO, Change of Mind etc – these are times when you should be more active, but you should have a daily presence on social media (several times a day ideally) to be more effective.

Other UCC Social Media

Many individual UCC departments and groups have a presence on various social media platforms. To connect with a group or department that you are interested in, please check out the following links: