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Using Social Media Effectively

  • Writer: Nicole Elke Carly Tate Austin Jaiden Michael E.C.
    Nicole Elke Carly Tate Austin Jaiden Michael E.C.
  • Feb 2, 2022
  • 3 min read

Updated: Mar 22, 2022

Social Media is one of the best platforms for distributing information. Keep in mind that not every student has Instagram. If you're planning to use Instagram, make sure that it's not the only way you're distributing information.


There is a lot of great software that is easy to use and makes professional looking graphics. Canva has many premade templates, clipart, and more. It can get complex if you want it to, or you can use the simple features and templates. Canva is free (there is a pro version, but you don't need to purchase it). Canva is web-based and has an app. Adobe Creative Cloud Express (CC Express) is another great platform. This one is free because ACPS purchases an adobe license for every student, just sign in with your school email. CC Express is good at starting from scratch, but is very easy to make simple graphics. It also has clipart/icon options. These posts were made on CC Express:

All four of these posts use only 3 colors: teal, orange, and light orange. They also use the same font, Harman. This way, they all look uniform, even though each one has a different topic. When choosing icons, try to match styles within each graphic. For example, the superhero masks are more shapes and realistic, whereas the pirate on the right is line art with rounded corners, more of a representation of a pirate and less than a realistic drawing.


When you're making posts like these, do not use words like "tomorrow," "next week," or "tonight," without including the date. These posts all list the day of the week and the numerical date, and so now, looking back, it is clear what the week looked like. These were all posted the day before, so if each post had just said "tomorrow," it would have been confusing. "Tomorrow" can be a great attention grabber--it just needs to be accompanied with a date (or at least a day of the week).


Posts also don't need to be this formal. Simple pictures like this one, with a caption that provides detail, will also work well.

For Instagram, it's best for photos to be square (1:1 ratio). This way, the whole photo will show up on your profile, and people looking at your account can see it without having to click on it.


Captions can be informal, but make sure you are giving all of the info you need. It's better to answer potential questions here than have to answer them in the comments, or to have people who just don't ask their questions.


Consider tagging @wahsleadership or the class officer accounts when you post, especially if you want them to promote your event


Instagram stories are good for last minute reminders. As they only stay up for 24 hours, target them 48-24 hours before the event. Consider adding your Instagram post to your story so that people can click there for more info. You can also add links directly to stories, which you cannot do in a post, which makes it easy to distribute information. In stories, it is especially important to tag anyone who you want to repost it, because they have to be tagged to re-share stories. Stories has a ton of cool features, like polls, quizzes, countdowns, and question boxes, that engage viewers well.


Make sure you have permission of the people you're posting before you post them!


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