Creating content for social media

There are two things to consider when you start creating content for social media platforms: what you want to say and how you're going to say it.

Which can be translated into: text and image.

A platform like Instagram is based on visual content (photos & videos) whereas a platform like Twitter/X works with short texts in reaction to the current news.

The content you produce will be based on these specifications.

What to keep in mind

⭐ Instagram

• share up to 10 photos per post, preferably square (Instagram now accepts other sizes but all your photos should be the same size, otherwise they will be cropped automatically).
• create short videos called reels (you can edit them directly in the app, Instagram tends to give them more visibility than posts with one photo).
• use hashtags to categorise your content and help others find it
• links are not clickable: put them in your stories or use LinkTree in your profile.
• tag other accounts in your photos to grab their attention (but don't abuse it!) or create a collaborative post.

⭐ Facebook

• posts with multiple photos tend to work better than posts with only one photo.
• you can add links to your posts, but Facebook is not a fan as it wants you to stay on the platform.
• for the same reason: upload your videos directly to Facebook rather than putting a link to a Youtube video, for example.

⭐ Twitter / X

• you only get 280 characters to say what you want: make it short and to the point, or create a thread.
• add photos or videos to grab people's attention.
• you can tag other accounts to grab their attention: do it in the photos to avoid wasting precious characters (it's great to tag journalists if you got breaking news)
• use hashtags to categorise your content and help people come across your posts: pick one or two that are relevant to your post (try to use existing ones that people are already using)

Where to find ideas

If your local group or community group is quiet at the moment, you might not know what to post in order to keep your social media active.

The M&M Broadcast channel is where the XRUK social media team will share a round up of key posts. You can join it here.

You can post about previous actions - yours or from other groups (inspire your audience!); future events (including talks and training); share what other groups and allies are doing (always prioritise XR content, but once in a while it won't hurt to share non-XR content as well, it's all about finding a balance).

On Facebook and Twitter, you can share articles and react to them.

Keep up to date with what's happening in XR by following our broadcasts: you can share everything that's going on there on social media.

Get breaking news photos and videos from the Live Action Content Telegram. You will find great quality photos on pics.io. You can also check out this (archive) folder as it contains photos & videos that can be used on social media.

Reach & Interaction

Social media is all about REACH, meaning getting our ideas in front of as many people's eyes as possible. The key to increasing the reach with social media is INTERACTION with the posts:

• like (as well as Love, Laugh, Cry, Angry... on Facebook)
• comment
• share

The more people react to your posts, the more the algorithms will show your content to other people (it's a virtuous circle). It's also very helpful if you answer the comments others left you.

Try to post content regularly on the platforms you're using (regular content doesn't mean every day but following a rhythm, for example, twice a week). You can schedule posts in advance to save time.

Once in a while, check the insights of your account to note which posts seem to work best, so you can replicate the recipe (what type of content? what day did you post? at what time?).

💡 "insights" are statistics about your social media account (for example: number of followers, number of views on one post etc.)

If you're keen on creating graphics yourself to use on social media, here are a few resources that can help you out.

Graphics

The optimum graphics sizes to use on different platforms seem to change all the time - go to this website to view latest guidance - it is regularly updated by experts with the latest sizes to use for each platform.

Graphics Tools

The first thing to do is to check the design programme, download the fonts and familiarise yourself with the XR colours.

You can download XR assets and create basic XR graphics on Aktivisda.

If you're looking for software to edit images on your computer, Affinity Photos is a good alternative to Photoshop (it's not free but way cheaper, and it's very easy to use if you're used to Photoshop). GIMP is a free and open source software.