Megan Rule | Staff Writer
With the start of the new year, BaylorProud has released the top 10 Baylor Instagram photos of 2017 in order to wrap up the past year for the Bears.
“I think we had a good covering of the highlights of 2017. From President Livingstone arriving to athletic victories, to student life, to fun activities like the puppy on Fountain Mall,” said Jeff Brown, director of social media communications at Baylor.
The top ten photos included moments such as President Linda Livingstone receiving her Baylor ID, the morning of Move2BU, various views around campus and the Baylor Women’s Soccer team advancing to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament.
Brown said photos were selected through looking at analytics for the year and the photos that got the most engagement. From there, the social media team came up with a list of the top 15 or 20 photos with the most activity, then cut that down in order to try and cover as much of Baylor happenings as possible.
“My favorite picture is the picture of the ‘very good pupper enjoying a #BaylorSummer day,'” said Haley Everroad, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz. “I feel like this picture truly shows the playfulness and lightheartedness that Baylor cultivates alongside their intense scholastic environment. Also, I just really like puppers.”
Brown said it was important to cover a wide array. Looking strictly at the top 10, there were about two or three puppy photos, so they only selected one so as not to overrepresent, Brown said.
“I think I would say I had two personal favorites,” Brown said. “One was the sunrise on move-in day, and it’s selfish because I took that photo. I was proud of how that one came out. The other one is probably the soccer victory celebration. That one was taken by one of our university photographers and it really captured the moment and elation in the student-athletes faces.”
Moving forward, Brown said it is always important to look at the growing engagement and following on all sorts of platforms in order to better communicate the Baylor story for as wide an audience as possible. Although there are no specific plans, Brown said the team is always looking to see where platforms will grow.
“We’re always looking to tell people about the good things on campus, whether its with students, faculty or alumni,” Brown said. “We’re always looking at new things to do. Just late this fall, we got more active on Instagram, particularly with Instagram stories, so that’s something we want to refine and grow. We always look for what’s next.”
Although social media is always changing, whether it be a new platform or algorithm in which a platform operates, Baylor holds a presence. Baylor can be found on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. BaylorProud can be found on Twitter.
“I think I’m most looking forward to capturing and sharing,” Brown said. “I want to capture what’s happening here and the good things at Baylor but it’s more about sharing those things and continuing to tell the Baylor story. Whether that’s how students are cared for or the things they do or the faculty research or the growth students experience or the things alumni accomplish after they leave because I want to help share that story and that’s what brings me back to work every day.”
