Posted on May 01, 2020
The UP Library social media team started the year off bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with exciting plans for the library’s social media presence; but like everyone around the globe, we had to adjust those plans due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. The library’s social media policy has always focused on engaging in online conversations and communicating relevant information with current and potential students and the broader UP community – this focus has stayed the same, however, we have been navigating the new territory of crisis communication.
Social media platforms are an excellent way to seek others’ opinions, hear their concerns, generate information, and maintain stakeholder awareness and engagement. And despite the excellent platform, we have seen a decline in our usual follower engagement rates. This is largely due to the fact that many students do not have access to data to browse social media, but also that online behaviour during the pandemic has shifted in all industries, including the academic environment. Still, the social media team is as dedicated as ever to create relevant, original, and high-quality library content within a formal publishing schedule. Since online classes have begun, we have seen a steady user incline once more.
In the first two weeks of the national lockdown, we received many queries and worked in conjunction with other library units (such as the Access & Lending Unit and Learning Centre) to communicate all important information regarding our services promptly and accurately. Our mission has been to reassure students that we are here to help them through this period of uncertainty. For this reason, we have been heavily marketing our Virtual Assistance Services and are constantly reminding both staff and students to make use of the new UP Library information channels on our website.
We asked staff members to send us pictures of themselves in their new ‘home office’ and encouraged them to include their furry co-workers! The posts were very well received, and we hope that it has made everyone in our library community feel a little more connected to each other.
The feedback we have received about the Department of Library Services’ response to the University closing its gates and shifting to online-based teaching and learning has been overwhelmingly positive! Well done, colleagues!
Since the beginning of 2019, @UPLibraryServices has successfully maintained the highest engagement rate on Facebook in comparison with other institutions, such as UNISA Library, Unizulu Library, UFS Library, University of Cape Town Libraries and Stellenbosch Library. Two libraries have more Facebook page likes than us: UNISA with 11.3K and The National Library of South Africa (NLSA) with 8.9K, but we are confident that with continuous dedication towards growing our follower base, we will surpass NLSA and snatch second place!
The top performing Facebook post with a very impressive reach of 12,403 people and a total of 1,429 engagements (including 318 shares) was about our #BookLovers competition during the month of love. We asked students to share with us why they love books and stand a chance to win a grand prize sponsored by Protea Boekwinkel Hatfield.
The top performing tweet with 7,064 impressions and 484 post clicks. The decision to waive all fines during this challenging period was much appreciated by our library users.
The top performing Instagram post with a reach of 559 people and a total of 84 likes belongs to our very own Library Director, Lindiwe Soyizwapi, as we celebrated her special birthday!
A heartfelt thank you to our colleagues who have embraced the UP Library’s presence on social media, and especially those we have participated in our posts by allowing us to feature them (and even their lovely pets) on our platforms! We appreciate you.
Make sure you stay up to date with the Department of Library Services by liking and following these pages:
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