UM-Flint Social Media Update | September 2011
What’s New
This September, Facebook announced a number of changes. New Timeline profiles were introduced. Newsfeeds now more prominently feature top stories. Most concerning, though, is the result the latest round of updates may have on Facebook Pages. As Facebook works harder to filter Newsfeed content based on what it views as important to a user, chances increase that users may never see posts from the Pages they “like.” Facebook uses an EdgeRank algorithm to decide which content users want to see. Worth noting: 1) posts with media attached–photos, videos, or links–are weighted more heavily; 2) object weight is determined differently per consumer, based on individual user history and habits; and 3) there is no way to predict how things will be weighted for individual users.
Now, more than ever before, it’s important look to beyond the Insights that Facebook offers. We can’t know which posts will achieve the highest number of impressions or feedback, but we can certainly look at trends. It’s been a longtime goal of ours to take our social media analytics a step further. This month, with the help of an 11-tab spreadsheet, we’ve broken down our Facebook statistics in a brand new way. Here is a sneak peek at the report’s cover sheet.
Once again, the information you’ll find in our monthly social media updates is going to change a bit. First, using this new method of tracking trends, we’ll be looking at the types of content and posts that garner the highest level of impressions and interaction. And down the road, watch for more in-depth Twitter reporting as well.
Social Media Facts and Figures
Below, a summary of UM-Flint’s social media efforts in the month of September.
Facebook:
- In September, UM-Flint’s Facebook Page gained 191 likes (down 13% from August) for a total of 6,814.
- September saw 5,382 Monthly Active Users on Facebook (up 52% from August).
- On average, posts achieved 3373.97 impressions and 0.29% feedback.
- The type of content* with the highest average number of impressions was Video, and the media** attachment with the highest average number of impressions was Photos.
- The type of content with the highest average percentage of feedback was Media (local news), and posts with the highest average percentage of feedback had no media attached.
*Content types: Event (UM-Flint events), General (generic conversational content), Info (general campus information), Media (local news coverage), News (UM-Flint News), Photo (photo albums on Facebook or Flickr), Student Content (repurposed student posts), UM-Flint Was Here (shared submitted photos), Video (UM-Flint or external)
**Media types: Photo, Link, No Media (UM-Flint does not currently upload video content.)
Twitter:
- The UM-Flint Twitter account (@umflint) reached 1,147 followers in September.
- The tweeted links most-clicked in September were event photo albums on Facebook and Flickr. Across our social channels, event photos remain the most popular pieces of content.
YouTube:
- In September, the UM-Flint YouTube channel’s videos were viewed 2,285 times.
- The majority of views were via embedded video players. This indicates that our content is largely being watched on the UM-Flint website. Also, 17.6% of views were the result of YouTube search.
- The video watched most was “Why UM-Flint,” uploaded on November 4, 2009. The video was viewed 288 times, accounting for 12.6% of the channel’s total views. The video can be found on the Admissions website, as well as other department sites. It is also used during recruitment events.
Other:
- UM-Flint’s Flickr photo stream has been viewed 207 times to date, with 8,724 individual photo views. This is a huge jump. Last month we’d reached 378 individual photo views. The photos from the September 15 Welcome Back Picnic got 6,814 views in just one day.
- There have been 5,981 check-ins to UM-Flint venues on Foursquare.
Connect with UM-Flint!
University Relations is always looking to help build connection across the social networks. If you have an idea or content to share, please contact Alaina Wiens at [email protected]. You can also find more ways to connect with the University of Michigan-Flint by visiting UM-Flint Social.
