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Write a blog post or update Uniarts Helsinki’s Instagram

Are you interested in giving other people the chance to learn about your studies, artistic projects or daily student life in general? If so, you can write a post for Uniarts Helsinki’s blog or have an Instagram takeover on Uniarts Helsinki’s account. Read our guidelines for content creation.

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Guidelines for writing blog posts

The Uniarts Helsinki communications team maintains a blog platform at blogit.uniarts.fi, where the university’s students, teachers and other staff members are welcome to write about their studies, research or topical phenomena in the arts.

The main blog series for students are the Finnish-language blog Taideopiskelijan elämää: https://blogit.uniarts.fi/blogit/taideopiskelijan-elamaa/ and the English-language blog Life of an art student: https://blogit.uniarts.fi/en/blogs/life-of-an-art-student/.

Ideas for blog content:

  • A “How to” post with tips on entrance exams or compiling portfolios or motivation letters
  • Lists: your most recent art experiences, recommendations on performances, concerts or exhibitions by students, best cafés in Helsinki, …
  • Q&A interview: interview a fellow student, a mentor, a teacher or some other person who inspires you
  • Reflection / Self-reflection: the most memorable things about a course, visit, workshop, …
  • Reflections and debriefing after an event
  • Reviews
  • Opinions
  • A look behind the scenes: what it’s like to prepare for a performance, concert or exhibition

You can send your finished text to your communications contact person, who will then publish your post in the blog. If you are interested in writing several blog posts, someone in the communications team can give you the username and password details and guidance so you can publish your posts yourself on the platform (WordPress).

Instagram takeover guidelines

Purpose of Instagram takeovers

A takeover means that a student or a group of students gets to take over the university’s Instagram account over a specific period, for a week at most. The purpose of takeovers is to present everyday student life and artistic activities to the public in a more close-up and visual way, through the eyes of students.

Official Instagram accounts of the university

Uniarts Helsinki’s communications team manages three Instagram accounts:

• @uniartshelsinki – Uniarts Helsinki’s joint account that mainly uses English. You can also use other languages for your takeover.
• @sibeliusacademy – Sibelius Academy’s account that only uses English.
• @kuvatila.uniarts – The Academy of Fine Arts’ account for exhibitions (in English).

Takeover guidelines: uniartshelsinki

First post

Start the takeover by introducing yourself/yourselves.

Carry out a Q&A session in whatever way you prefer and answer at least some of these questions:

  1. Who are you, what do you study and how long have you been studying?
  2. How did you end up studying at Uniarts Helsinki?
  3. What prejudice did you have about your school and what do you think about it now?
  4. What is the best thing about your studies?
  5. What are you working on right now / What inspires you right now? (If your takeover is scheduled at the same time as your artistic project, such as an exhibition, concert or performance, explain what you are doing and how it relates to your studies.)

Answer at least the first two questions and choose one more, or answer them all.

Ideas on how to carry out the Q&A:

  • Video or Reels where you answer the list of questions
  • Group: Video or Reels where you interview each other by asking the above-mentioned questions
  • Feed: take a selfie and answer the questions in the text field.
  • A series of Stories where you answer the questions through text, images or video clips. Please add a picture of yourself when you make your introduction.

In your first post, include a takeover animation video or a picture that you can get from your communications contact person. For example, when you post in the feed, make it a carousel post that features the takeover video. Also include it in the beginning of your Reel video.

Post your other takeover content as Stories.

Shorter takeover: “My day”

If you take over the university’s account only for 1-2 days, describe what your day as an arts student consists of. You can be more active through Stories and share even small moments of your normal student life there. You can also aim for interaction with the account’s Instagram followers by setting up an “Ask me anything” session. You can see Rong-Ci’s example of how this can be done here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17926541597552460/.

Ideas for video content

Instagram favours short videos, much like Tiktok. Below is a list of themes, memes or viral challenges that can offer inspiration for your personal content creation. In videos, favour square or vertical formats.

  • What my parents think I do – What I actually do
  • “Expectation vs. Reality”
  • “How it started – How it’s going”
  • 1 second video journal. The app edits a video compilation of your one-second videos. You can end your takeover period or even each day of your takeover with a video compilation with one-second clips showing what you have been up to.

Other guidelines

  • In your introduction, tell the followers which language you will use in your updates
  • Post most of your content as Stories. The introduction post that you publish when you start your takeover is all that’s needed for the feed. Try to post Stories every day of your Instagram takeover.
  • Be bold in highlighting your own voice when sharing content and do things your own way! You can also encourage followers to ask questions about your studies e.g. using the poll/Q&A function of Stories. This way, takeovers bring something different to the mix compared to the communications team’s usual, more informative style.
  • Remember that the university’s communications team (the administrator of the account) may publish other posts during your takeover. We do, however, try to make sure that the focus is on the student, and we mostly use the main feed if we have to publish posts during the takeover. So please always remember to use the hashtag #takeover in your posts so that they stand out from the communications team’s posts.
  • If you want to, you can mention your Uniarts Helsinki takeover also on your personal social media accounts or vice versa, as in share your personal Instagram account in your introduction post.
  • Make sure the photos you post are of good quality (no photos that are pixelated or out of focus, unless it’s intentional).
  • Don’t post simultaneously on Facebook, as well, even if Instagram suggests doing so. There’s a separate publication plan for the university’s Facebook account.
  • Please don’t share content that is party-political, religious or offensive to groups of people and individuals. Please respect copyrights and people’s privacy if your images show other people or their works of art. We reserve the right to delete offensive or inappropriate content.

Takeover guidelines: sibeliusacademy

Welcome to create content for our Instagram! With this channel, we want to illustrate everyday student life, moments of celebration and artistic activities.

How to get started

You will be sent the login details 1-2 weekdays before the start of your takeover. Make sure that they work right after you get them.

  • All content on the Sibelius Academy’s Instagram account is in English.
  • Your communications contact person will send you the login details in the morning of your first day of takeover
  • When your takeover starts, post a takeover video, which your contact person in the communications team sends to you, both in the feed and as a Story. Briefly introduce yourself (or your group) in the caption by describing your art-making and relationship with the Sibelius Academy. You can also add 1-3 other images or videos of yourself, for example, in this same introduction post. (Instructions: How to share a post with multiple photos or videos on Instagram)
  • Post most of your content as Stories. The introduction post that you publish when you start your takeover is all that’s needed for the feed.
  • After your takeover, the Sibelius Academy’s communications team will add your content into the highlights of the academy’s Instagram account, so don’t make new highlights

How to create content

  • Be bold in doing things your own way! For example, you can encourage followers to ask you some questions about your studies or performance.
  • Examples of suitable times when to take photos/videos: free time, practice sessions, conversations with teachers, moments before hitting the stage, everyday student life…
  • You can also mention your takeover on your own social media accounts and vice versa. This means that you can tag your personal Instagram account to the introduction post.
  • At minimum, always use the hashtags #takeover #sibeliusacademy #uniartshelsinki in all your content, and you can also choose to use other hashtags, such as #musiclover #symphonyorchestra #jazz #bts (behind the scenes).
  • Remember that the communications team may publish other content during your takeover.
  • Please don’t share content that is party-political, religious or offensive to groups of people and individuals. Please respect copyrights and people’s privacy if your images show other people or their works of art. We reserve the right to remove offensive or inappropriate content.

Do you have questions? Contact Communications Planner Riikka Hänninen (riikka.hanninen@uniarts.fi).

Updating stories on kuvatila.uniarts

The Academy of Fine Arts’ account for exhibitions @kuvatila.uniarts does not feature similar takeovers as the other two accounts. However, students can update the account’s Instagram story during their shift as exhibition attendant. Instructions on how to update stories will be emailed to the exhibition’s working group by Communications a couple days before the exhibition opens. Instructions can also be found printed in the Kuva/Tila Exhibition Attendant’s folder.

Remuneration for content production

Remuneration for Instagram takeovers

The remuneration for Instagram takeovers is 50 euros per person when there are 1-2 students updating the account. If there are more students updating the account, a remuneration of 100 euros is split among all of them. The remuneration for a day-long takeover is 30 euros.
You can apply for the remuneration using an electronic form that you can get from your communications contact person. Ask your contact person to send you the link after the end of your takeover. The Uniarts Helsinki payroll unit also needs the tax card of the recipient of the remuneration for the payment. Provide the tax card together with your electronic form if you’re receiving remuneration from the university for the first time.

Please note that you can’t ask to be paid in advance.

Remuneration for blogs

Students are paid 40 euros per blog post. You can apply for the remuneration using an electronic form that you can get from your communications contact person. Ask your contact person to send you the link after your text has been published. The Uniarts Helsinki payroll unit also needs the student’s tax card for the payment. Provide the tax card together with your electronic form if you’re receiving remuneration from the university for the first time. Please note that you can’t ask to be paid in advance.

Contact information

If you have any questions or ideas, you can contact the communications team.

viestinta@uniarts.fi
Check the contact information of the whole team