19th January 2017 Vienna, Austria
The wonders of Instagram
Which leading Austrian Instagramer features photographs of a figure in a yellow sou’wester?
I was pleased to welcome to the Embassy recently a group of mostly young Austrians with leading accounts on the social media, like Instagram. In instagramese, this would read: Great to welcome @igersvienna to #BritishEmbassy #grambassador.
One of the challenges of social media engagement is that different tools work well in different countries. As Ambassador in Kyiv from 2008-2012 I found blogging the best way to reach a wide and influential audience. In Turkey as Consul-General 2012-2016 I focused on Twitter, with the handle @LeighTurnerFCO.
Now, in Vienna, social media experts tell me Twitter is relatively little-used; and that we should focus on Instagram, where I again use the handle @LeighTurnerFCO.
About those blogs, by the way – I’m still writing them.
The @igersvienna Instagramers were an inspiring bunch, with a combined followership in the hundreds of thousands. They suggested several good ways to generate high-quality content:
- Make it as personal as possible (e.g. with a photo of oneself and more text). Interestingly, it is possible to use longer texts on Instagram than on Twitter, with its 140 character limit.
- Provide access to places followers might not usually see – e.g. from inside the UN.
- Ask questions to initiate discussion.
- Respond – if someone comments on your picture, let them know you’ve read it;
- Use clichés, but judiciously – British or Austrian stereotypical scenes may seem predictable to you but your followers may like them.
- Photo composition – really good photos make a difference. Symmetry often works well on Instagram.
- Popular motifs – these include staircases and, for some reason, food photographed from above
- Hashtags – these can lead people to your content or generate interest. The @igersvienna suggested the rather cool #grambassador
I would welcome thoughts on all this. Are the experts I have been speaking with right, or do you have better ideas? Feel free to answer on Instagram via @leighturnerFCO or with #grambassador.
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