Swipe Up for More: How Our Students Taught Us to Use Social Media in an Academic Health Promotion Department

Abstract

Social media is an important tool for academic departments. Yet, with limited resources, many health promotion departments may not have the ability to conduct extensive planning or development of social media plans. This commentary reports the efforts of one undergraduate public health program to improve its social media presence. Faculty and students worked together to develop a social media plan, identify activities to implement the plan, and track social media follower counts on Instagram and Twitter in spring 2020. A logic model planning framework drove the process, and key learnings from efforts are presented. Departmental leaders may want to link students and faculty to generate student-driven content on social media. Leaders should recognize that advance planning is needed to maintain consistency, control account access, and be prepared to deal with problematic comments on social media. Suggested activities are presented in the hope they may inform other departments’ efforts. Department leaders and faculty may find they have much to learn from their students in this area.