Welcome: Students report on their university life on the HSZG's Instagram account.
It happened for the first time in November: student Marie-Luise hijacked the Instagram account of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. For a week, she posted pictures from her student life under the hashtag #instagramtakeover. Marie-Luise is in her 7th semester studying Business Administration in Zittau. On her Instagram profile, she describes herself as a daydreamer, book lover and budding gourmet. She says of the Takeover experiment: "You can create a great impression for the university through Instagram."
For the Takeover project, students are given guest access to the Instagram profile and post pictures, videos and stories on behalf of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for around a week. Shortly beforehand, there is a briefing to ensure everything runs smoothly. Of course, taking over the account also creates responsibility for the university as an institution.
Social media takeovers are a popular and relatively new method of bringing a breath of fresh air to social media channels. Large companies are already setting a good example: by giving their Instagram account to influencers (opinion leaders) or professional photographers, they receive authentic content for their followers. The Public Relations department took up this idea and launched a call for the HSZG's first Instagram takeover. Of course, what many companies are already doing also works for public institutions. Only our "influencers" are the students of the HSZG. After Marie-Luise took over the account for a week, new "applications" immediately fluttered into the mailbox of the Public Relations Office. Since then, the students have regularly reported live on their everyday lives, their experiences at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the parties and sports activities. This results in personal and honest posts for our Instagram account.
Shortly before Christmas, university employee Sandro Hänseroth turns the shoe around: in the week from December 11-16, the 34-year-old turns the Takeover into an X-Mas Special. The social worker asks employees he meets in the corridor whether they are the Grinch or the Christmas elf and pays a surprise visit to Rector Prof. Albrecht's office. The little joke goes down well, and this time the look behind the scenes of university management is interesting for the students.
So far, five students and one university employee have posted on behalf of the HSZG - and successfully so. The number of subscribers to the hszg.de account has increased by 150 people since November. The most successful post was made by Leonie, whose selfie received 120 likes. The Görlitz student plays volleyball and enjoys her tourism management studies. She is originally from Berlin.
Students and university staff who would also like to take over the Instagram account of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for a few days can contact marketing(at)hszg.de at any time.