Hello future Huskies! 4 Tips on Social Media in College

I am sure as your senior year is winding down your excitement is rapidly growing to get to Bloomsburg. Make sure to enjoy your summer, or your few weeks off, you will be plenty busy once you arrive to campus so make sure to relax after graduation!

Meanwhile, there have been many questions and buzz about Bloomsburg social media. I am writing to tell you some “Do’s and Don’ts” of social media and Bloomsburg.

Accepting New Bloomsburg Friends

» Do: Make sure your new friends are from Bloomsburg University, which should be seen easily upon their Facebook page. Most of the new friend requests you will get are from the BU Class of 2019 page. Don’t be shy to accept these people, as they will be your new classmates. I had met various people this way the summer before my first semester and it helped make the large Class of 2015 a little bit smaller.

» Don’t: Do not blindly accept people. Pay attention to who you are accepting and that they are a future (or current) Husky if you choose to accept them. If you are unsure, you always have the ability to message and ask them or just ignore the request.

Bloomsburg University Accounts

» Do: Try to follow Bloomsburg’s various social media accounts. If you are not already in the Bloomsburg Class of 2018 page, join it! Also look for Bloomsburg on Twitter and Instagram using ‘@BloomsburgU’. If you’re on Pinterest, you can follow ‘BloomsburgU’ and ‘BloomUStore’. Additional sites you may find interesting to follow include ‘@BUCampusDining’ and ‘@BloomUConcerts.'

» Don’t: Do not expect to find every detail you need to know on any one of these accounts. They are updated frequently and always have pertinent information regarding the campus, but it is your responsibility to utilize the other tools the Bloomsburg website offers you. Your three main tools are going to be BOLT, ISIS and your student email – all of which are not found or updated about on social media.

Presenting Yourself on Social Media

» Do: It’s always important to present yourself appropriately on social media. Even if you are private, there are certain aspects of your profiles that can be viewed. Not only is this important for your own personal sake, but it’s important for when you are eventually looking for professional development opportunities such as internships, clinicals, etc. It is in everyone’s best interest to start considering this now to avoid having any issues in the future.

» Don’t: Adding on to what was said above, do not make your social media a shrine of drinking or anything negative in general. It is not professional and does not make anyone look cool. Some on campus jobs require your social media to be 100% clean and most future employers in general do too – it’s never worth the risk.

On a lighter note, another thing to remember when considering all this is to not change who you are on social media either. You are all going to be an amazing and unique contribution to the university in your own way, do not try to alter yourself to impress anyone. There’s about 10,000 students at this school, and I guarantee you won’t have any trouble finding the right crowd for you!

Reaching Out to Older Huskies

» Do: Use your ability to reach out to older huskies to your advantage. If you know any friends, siblings or graduates from your high school that have been here for at least a year, utilize their knowledge and pick their brains. I know for a fact they will be able to answer any questions you may have and we all probably had the same questions going into BU for the first time.

Don’t know anyone? That’s okay too! The Orientation Workshop Leaders (OWLs), who you will meet immediately upon your arrival, are also in the BU Class of 2019 Facebook page. They will answer any and every question you may have!

» Don’t: Do not let these students intimidate you because of their age. Remember, you can always ask me anything too! I’m here to help! It is perfectly fine to ask questions and it is one of the most important lessons you will learn in college. Never hesitate to ask for help whether it’s from another student, faculty or an office within the university.

I hope these tips help you out and congrats on your soon to come graduation – it’s an amazing feeling!

Best of luck and see you soon!

— Sierra Kern, Class of 2015 #FutureHusky