Incorporating Instagram in your newsroom strategy
With students attending university remotely, one of the most important ways to reach your audience is through social media. I had to chance to catch up with Noah Riffe, a sophomore studying journalism and political science at Penn State University. He works for The Daily Collegian, the university's independent student newspaper as a photojournalist and the photo social media manager, running the paper's Instagram account.
With his help, the paper's Instagram account has grown from 8,100 followers in August 2019 to now over 10,500 followers.
He recently started a Facebook group called IG for Student Journalists, where he offers best practices and advice for student journalists using the platform. Read more about his work below:
So why did you decide to launch a Facebook group around Instagram for student journalists?
I took over The Daily Collegian’s Instagram page at the start of this school year. Knowing how important Instagram is to connecting to our key college demographic I really wanted to shape our page into a place people could get real quality news that was visually interesting and shareable.
As a staff of one, I spent a lot of time studying different accounts trying to come up with ideas for content. I struggled to find advice and inspiration, and get specific questions answered without digging deep. As I started talking to more student journalists, I discovered that I wasn't alone.
As students, many of us don't have the time, resources or knowledge to get direct help. I wanted to create a place that openly shared advice, content and news so people didn’t have to do so much digging to get help.
What advantages do students have on Instagram to reach audiences?
Most college students are spending time daily on Instagram. Just look at your own screen time app if you don’t believe me! There are statistics to back this up as well. The Pew Research center found in 2019 that 75% of people ages 18 to 24 in the United States have used Instagram, and of those users 63% log in every day.
Statistics aside, Instagram can feel like a more informal and fun way to get information. Many students who would not normally visit our site or pick up a copy of the paper find themselves seeing something interesting on our Instagram and sharing it or reading the full article online. Many students receive news in group chats, and Instagram is a great place to be share news. I think Instagram is the most under-utilized platform for student papers and journalists.
Tell me about your favorite project you’ve done with Instagram.
Recently, we hosted a coronavirus town hall on Instagram Live with the Director of Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Elizabeth McGraw.
“Many students who would not normally visit our site or pick up a copy of the paper find themselves seeing something interesting on our Instagram and sharing it or reading the full article online.”
We answered questions the community had about the virus and talked a lot about how to stay safe. It was so great to be able to bring on an expert and get people’s questions answered accurately and directly.
Another project I am really proud of, but can’t take much credit for, is our daily news recap show, "Collegian Snapshot." Our incredible multimedia team films and edits a small recap video of all of the news that has happened the previous day. It's a great way to start the day with a friendly face and the most important headlines.
How has the coronavirus pandemic changed the way you’ve approached the platform, if at all?
In the beginning, the coronavirus brought a lot of breaking news. Instead of scheduling posts, we switched our content up to be mainly breaking information and headlines.
As the news began to saturate with what felt like only coronavirus stories I wanted to make sure our content wasn’t just pandemic based.
To combat that, every morning we post a “positive story of the day,” a way people can take a second and read something happy or exciting that doesn’t have anything to do with the craziness going on around us.
What ways can student media sites look to engage more on Instagram?
One of the biggest things is to be involved with your audience. Reply to messages and comments and don’t feel like you have to be so stiff.
Instagram works best when you’re having some fun and making it feel like you’re talking directly to the audience instead of at them.
Find the content that works best for your audience, use the tools given to you on stories to answer questions or get ideas and try new things and if people respond positively keep doing it.
Is there anything else you want to add?
Don’t overlook your Instagram account. If you don’t have one, make one! Instagram is such a great way to reach a young audience and really engage with them. Also, don’t fall into the trap of just posting photojournalistic images or delegating the account to your photo staff.
If you are a student and run a news-related Instagram account or have an interest in working in social media, I would love to have you as part of our community! It’s so incredible to have access to so many different people with outstanding ideas and experience. If you’re interested in joining, use this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/igforstudents