Social media insights May to August 2022

Posted on September 11, 2022

From the hustle and bustle of the first semester, through to the relaxing recess break and then right back to business as the second semester commenced, our library social media channels have continued to generate an incredible community of engaged users. The second quarter started strong with a celebration of World Book Day and the hosting of a, “Let Us Love Poetry Together” poetry reading event.

Our social media team shared six #UPisLit videos over the past four months including novels such as, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” and, “Seabiscuit,” which were enjoyed by our online community. The library also hosted a Youth Day Hybrid Event where motivational speaker Tshepiso Malema shared how he excelled in his career and dedicated a lot of his time to the empowerment of the youth in South Africa.

We shared several Instagram reels since April, showcasing an appreciation for being back on campus, student humour. Our new series of posts for #NewBooks in our Special Collections Unit is performing well, with our community engaging with the posts often. We’ve continued sharing weekly posts that have proven to be popular, such as #MondayMotivations, #ThrowbackThursdays, and #UseYourLibrary. Our social media team has also published seven InstaNovels, on which the DIA has published an article on the UP website. The #LifePulseSurvey was also heavily shared and promoted through the UP library social media channels, in the form of promotional graphics and reels.

Our social media team celebrated #SALibrariansDay by asking our community for positive experiences they have had with any of the UP librarians, and we received many heartfelt responses. We also shared an Instagram reel to commemorate the day. For Mandela Day, we shared the UP library outreach teams’ visits to Reliable House and Garden, Tshwaraganang orphanage, and Tender Loving Care. In August, we participated in the FLY@UP activations at many of our campuses, whereafter we shared fun reels and photos taken on the day.

Weekly social media series such as #ResearchTipOfTheWeek and #eResources continue to bring valuable knowledge and tips to the students in a format that is easy to consume and enjoy. We also introduced a few new series to bring some more fun and entertainment into our posts, namely #BookNook and #FunFactFriday. With many of the popular social media platforms moving away from static images, we are actively reworking several of our series to be shot and shared in a video format. We have many exciting projects in the works and cannot wait to see what the rest of the year holds.

- Author Wanya Visagie

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