Social media
Support and advice for those who use, or are thinking of using, social media in their work.
Page shortcuts:
- Why use social media
- Getting started with your channel
- Images and film
- Inspiration, guides and trends
- Lund University on social media
You are welcome to contact your local communications officer to discuss whether and, if so, how you could use social media in your activities.
Contact a communications officer
Why use social media?
Social media provides opportunities for co-creation, dialogue, engagement and interaction with your target group. Successfully communicated content allows you to spread your message very quickly, to a large number of people. You also have the opportunity to direct your communication to very specific target groups.
Through social media intelligence in the various channels, you can also learn more about your target groups, find influencers, capture conversation topics, take part in debates, keep track of new formats and trends, and more.
Getting started with your channel
Working with a social media channel is an undertaking that requires time and commitment. If you open an account, you will need to monitor the channel and its posts regularly, create relevant content that invites interaction and reaches the intended target groups, as well as make sure that questions and comments are addressed and, in many cases, encouraged.
Questions to be asked before you get started
- Why should we be in this channel? We sometimes create new accounts in channels just because others have, but forget to consider whether our content is relevant or our target group uses the channel.
- Is Lund University already in the channel? Can we coordinate? Can we learn from each other?
- Has the purpose of the account been clarified and can it be formulated?
- Have time and resources been allocated for the work? Successful social media initiatives require time to learn, listen, establish a dialogue and gain social media intelligence, as well as to formulate and package the material in a manner that fits the channel and invites interaction. As a public authority, we are also obliged to monitor our channels, respond to incoming questions and remove any illegal material.
- Has the line manager and others concerned been informed or included in the work?
- Are there procedures for filing, monitoring and responding to possible questions or comments?
- Are there procedures for handling illegal or unwanted materials?
- Have clear goals and procedures for evaluation been developed?
Recommendations for account descriptions, name and profile picture
How to reach your target group
Creating relevant content that the target group, in various ways, wants to engage in is key to social media. Everything you produce should raise an issue, a thought, a feeling or a need. If you only want to work with one-way communication and use the channels as a bulletin board, social media is not the right way to go. Therefore, it is important to dare to target the content at a specific group of people. In some channels, e.g. a blog, you can do so by choosing and prioritising a direction and target group for the entire account, for example, a particular field of research. In other channels, such as Facebook, the page itself is less important – here it’s all about targeting each post by advertising it to one or more smaller groups, for example.
Furthermore, working towards narrower target groups facilitates setting concrete and measurable goals for your communication.
The algorithms control the channel
Social media is largely controlled by the algorithms for each specific channel. The algorithms are constantly changing, which requires fast adaptation to new conditions. Learn more about how to stay up to date on the respective channel’s algorithms, development, and new features:
Tips on the different channels
Protect your account
When creating a new account, you should apply a two-step authentication requirement to increase security and reduce the risk of unauthorised people gaining access to your password and taking control of your account. This function is offered by an increasing number of internet services and social media channels, but in somewhat different ways – the most common, in addition to a regular password, is for you to also receive a text message when logging in from a new device. You can easily switch on the two-step authentication function on an existing account through the channel’s security settings.
If the issue of unauthorised access to the account still occurs, there are usually a few different ways to change passwords, and then re-enter the account. Most channels also have contact information or forms for you to use to report if an account has been hijacked, thereby closing the account.
Join the Facebook group "Sociala medier på LU"
In the Facebook group "Sociala medier på LU" (Social Media at LU), you are welcome to discuss, give tips and ask questions to your colleagues who work with social media at the university. Corporate Communications also post news, webinars and guides about social.
Facebook group Sociala medier på LU
Images and film
In order to stand out and get people’s attention, your content must be readily accessible and clear – your audience should be able to quickly and easily grasp (and respond to) your message. All communication in social media becomes more effective by including images and/or video content.
Inspiration, guides and trends
The Swedes and the Internet is a an annual study conducted by The Swedish Internet Foundation, which also maps how we use social media:
The Swedes and the internet, summary in English
The Storykit blog gathers ideas, inspiration and plenty of handy social media how-tos:
Social Media Today is keeps you updated on the latest social media news:
Social media guides
The Swedish Radio Social Media Handbook gives you tips on how to create editorial strategies, handle criticism, create dialogue and how to present your content using images, videos and links:
Swedish Radio's Social Media Handbook (in Swedish)
Storykits guide ”How to structure a winning scripts for social videos” focus on the copy as the most important part of video creation for social channels. Download the pdf guide to take part of all the tips.
How to write winning scripts for videos on social channels, on storykit.io
Lund University on social media
Lund University has university-wide accounts in the channels below. There are also other accounts within LU – if you have questions, please contact your immediate communications officer.
- Lunds universitet
- Lund University
- Lund University Abroad
- Lund University Alumni Network
- Lunds universitet forskning
Youtube
Read more about the purpose, objectives and contact persons for these channels through the matrix below:
Contact
Please contact your nearest communications officer to discuss whether and, if so, how you could use social media in your activities.
Contact a communications officer
For questions regarding the content on these pages, contact:
Anna Johnsson
Communications officer
Corporate Communications
anna_v [dot] johnsson [at] kommunikation [dot] lu [dot] se
+46 46 222 70 21