FSU Libraries

A question that often comes up in my department is: how do students become aware of our services and events? We know one answer is social media. For us, Instagram is where students engage with us the most, followed by LinkedIn. 

Recently,  the question came up again.  When discussing how students find us through social media, the conversation turned to the lack of cadence and tone on our accounts.  My colleague, whom we will refer to as "Scarlett," explained that our department uses our social media platforms as a pinboard. They explained that our social media should also have a call to action.

Now, the call to action may vary depending on the posting, but we clearly aren't utilizing this strategy. So the next question was, who is? Surprisingly, the FSU Library was brought to our attention. 

FSU Libraries' Instagram is relatable and sets the tone for prospective students, current students, and even alumni. Their page is a balance of content creation and information. Whether they're humanizing the space and showing students how to maximize it for more than just studying, or showcasing rental equipment students may not have been aware of. 

Reading Young and Rossman's article, "Building Library Community Through Social Media," brought this memory back to mind. While Young and Rossman analyze the community-building effort through Twitter, one could replicate this study through FSU libraries and Instagram. I would certainly be interested to see the results.