Social Media Tips & Tricks

NPS

How to Make a Good Post

Navigating social media can be challenging. What do I post? How do I grow my network? What is a retweet? This is complicated in that every social media platform is slightly different, and thus have unique sets of best practices. Though, there are some best practices that can be carried throughout multiple social media platforms.

Keep it snappy

Keep the text of your post concise. Say what needs to be said without rambling and leave room for conversation and thoughts from your community.

Be thoughtful

Every word you choose to include in a social media post matters. Choose your words carefully, and make sure the words you choose accurately represent what you want to say.

A picture is worth a thousand words

High quality photographs draw in social media users. Don't forget to provide an image description for users utilizing a screen reader, and do not use copyrighted images.

Relevance

If you came across this post/video/photo, would you stop and engage with the post? Put yourself in the audience's shoes, and post with them in mind.

Connect

Connect with your community! Use hashtags to connect with new users, work with others and tag them in your posts. Tag @reconstructionnps when you post about being in the Network.

Hashtags

Hashtags allow users to cross-reference content with a similar subject or theme. If a post is tagged #ReconstructionEra, a user can then spend time scrolling through other posts tagged #ReconstructionEra see similar content, and thus find new people, organizations, and platforms which they might follow or engage with. Hashtags are a very important piece of posting on social media.

Although we encourage you to perform your own research on hashtags, here are some possible hashtags to consider when posting about the Reconstruction era: #ReconstructionEra, #ReconstructionEraNationalHistoricNetwork, #PortraitsofReconstruction, #BlackHistoryMonth, #Juneteenth, #EmancipationDay

Accessibility Information

When creating a post for social media always think about how to make your information accessible to wider audiences. Some quick ways to improve accessibility include:

• Have alternative text for images

• Caption and Audio Describe videos

• Ensure graphics have appropriate color contrast

• Use Plain Language, avoid acronyms

For questions about accessibility or help making content more accessible contact the network team.

Research Starting Point

For a starting point on Reconstruction era research visit our Historic Resources page to find links to primary resources and other National Park Service subject sites.

Galleries

Check out Library of Congress for Reconstruction era images or for Network photos view our gallery.