The business observed: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.facebook.com/CDC

Even though facebook is becoming a less frequently used platform among millennials, I chose CDC’s facebook page because I wanted to contrast the page with the only social media I currently have, my facebook page. CDC also has a twitter page and a social media page on their website, so as an entity it is pretty plugged into social media. Here are a couple of things I liked about the facebook page (and things I can learn from):

(1) The cover photo is relevant and representative of what the organization does; the photo is a compilation of seasonal pictures, white space, a picture of a doctor holding a baby, a picture of a family, and a picture of their mission statement. The colors in the cover photo also reflect the CDC’s logo colors: blue and white. I think it is important to craft an image (or compilation of images, like the CDC’s cover photo) that represents what I do. Currently, my cover photo is a segment of one of my paintings, which I feel represents me — but perhaps I can update this to encompass more of what I do academically and professionally.

(2) The facebook page contains many points of contact and access for CDC as a professional entity. It has links to the twitter page, website, mailing list, 800-number, and their address. It is very accessible to the public. Currently, my social media pages are not, and lack much (if not all) of this type of information.

(3) Concise summaries of information with links to gather more information. An example of this is the “about” section — there are a couple of sentences on what CDC does, and then a line that says “for more information, please go to” and a link. This encourages readers to engage with more of the organization’s content and again, adds to accessibility. I think it is good to have multiple points of contact, and as another layer have all of the points connect in some way.