Gages through the ages - updated social media content

[amrhoades]

Social Media Video Guidleines: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/ Social Media Image Guidleines: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-image-sizes-guide/

Facebook:

Shared Link Image 1200 X 628 Gif (used the same guidelines as the images) 1200 X 628 Video 1280 X 720 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/#facebook

Twitter:

In stream Photo 1024 X 512 Gif (used the same guidelines as the images) 1024 X 512 Video https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/#twitter Max file size 5MB Recommended ratio 16: 9

Instagram:

Photo 1080 X 1080 or 1:1 ratio (Instagram wants a video, not a GIF) Video 1280 X 720 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/#instagram

[amrhoades]

Here are the updates I have thus far:

• If the social campaign goes well, the animations will probably be seen more than the viz itself, therefore, having GIFs w/o the USGS attribution (e.g., the GA slider) might lose us hard fought visual identity. Action: add USGS logo to GIFs

• Similar to the first point, a URL on the GIF is pretty helpful so people know where to go if someone just shares the GIF. Action: add URL on the GIFs

• The Instagram images look like landscape view but both are nearly squares. Why not use the Instagram square aspect ratio? Action: use the IG square aspect ratio

• We would like to use the national USGS accounts as well. They have way more followers. @lindsayplatt would have guidance on what is needed to satisfy the needs of posting to the USGS accounts.

• Possibly create views of the visualization that are specifically tailored towards the social images or GIFs. @jread-usgs ideas?

• @collnell is creating one of the GIFs - Colleen do you need guidance on the creation of the GIF or is it something you and Jordan have negotiated?

[jordansread]

For

specifically tailored towards the social images or GIFs

I am assuming that the custom one that Colleen is working on would meet this charge, and also be a good candidate for the national social accounts. I think the early part of that effort was to design a single still image so we'd know whether the GIF effort would be a good investment.

[jordansread]

and clarification on the above - I'm pretty sure we can do 1:1 ratio videos for insta that are 1080 x 1080. I think that is the preferred size if our content fits that aspect ratio since you end up with more pixels in the end. We've had a few snafus with the national account not knowing how to change the default aspect when they post, so if deviating from a default, we want to make sure we make a note of how to change that field when creating the post.

[lindsayplatt]

There are two ways to use the national accounts' reach: 1. Request that they make an original post (on Twitter, IG, or FB) or 2. Ask them to retweet/share/etc a post that our water account makes. AFAIK you can just email/message Scott Horvath (or the MS Team) if you want a repost. If you want them to add an original post to their queue, we will need to submit a request form (see here and fyi I am a social media account manager so I can use that first method)

[mwernimont]

https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/gs-wma-iidd-makerspace/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?FolderCTID=0x0120007E5845A5DF00934EAC3B8A00E860A7F3&viewid=66bc5c5d%2Daa1c%2D4456%2D9a76%2D1ba08de17cf8&id=%2Fsites%2Fgs%2Dwma%2Diidd%2Dmakerspace%2FShared%20Documents%2FProject%20%2D%20Gages%20Through%20Ages%2Fsocial%5Fmedia%2FRelease%5FFiles

[amrhoades]

@mwernimont We're ready to cut the final social media content. A few things to ensure that all content has:

• [x] url that has been verified to work

• [x] usgs logo

• [ ] correct aspect for platform

• [ ] sign-off from @lindsayplatt that the content is sufficient for the USGS account

[mwernimont]

@amrhoades and @lindsayplatt new files here https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/gs-wma-iidd-makerspace/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?FolderCTID=0x0120007E5845A5DF00934EAC3B8A00E860A7F3&viewid=66bc5c5d%2Daa1c%2D4456%2D9a76%2D1ba08de17cf8&id=%2Fsites%2Fgs%2Dwma%2Diidd%2Dmakerspace%2FShared%20Documents%2FProject%20%2D%20Gages%20Through%20Ages%2Fsocial%5Fmedia%2FRelease%5FFiles

Not a social media guy, so if you have exact ideas to make this better, let me know, very capable of making things happen but not the guy for the best ideas for the perfect post. Unless you want a Dog collage in this social media release, then I'm your guy.

[amrhoades]

@mwernimont if you drop https:// does the url still work?

[mwernimont]

Yep!

[amrhoades]

Ok - a couple other suggestions- the URL - can you make it look a little more seamless for the SVG? similar font and possibly a shade of grey?

[mwernimont]

Anything else?

[amrhoades]

I'd have @jread-usgs and @lindsayplatt provide their feedback.

[mwernimont]

@amrhoades Updated with your suggestions and restructured the folders.

[lindsayplatt]

Really awesome and very comprehensive outreach plan. Can't wait to get this out in the wild! A few thoughts below, take 'em or leave 'em.

1. The phrase underneath the animations is awkward to me - "U.S. Geological Survey's active streamgages since 1889 until present day". I think "since" should be replaced with "from". "since" would work better if you didn't have the "until present day" clause.
2. The night mode gageAge.mp4 for Instagram is just a bit strange because it starts in the middle of the timeline, goes to present day, and then jumps back in time and ends in the middle again. It made me think - oh crap, did I miss the beginning! I think it would make more sense to just let it play through, especially since it is only 11 seconds? Second suggestion with this one would be to add a bit more time paused at the end to let people look at and soak in what they just watched. Just remember that videos on Instagram will keep looping on their own (in my experience).
3. Some of the JPG quality is pretty low. Is there any way to make those PNGs instead?

[jordansread]

re

The night mode gageAge.mp4

This "start mid-way to loop" is designed for the GIF and I think we should consider starting the movie either at the very beginning or 1920 but def stop at 2019. Agreed.

[mwernimont]

@lindsayplatt think all the jpgs need to become pngs?

[lindsayplatt]

@mwernimont I think they need to have slightly higher quality, so however you want to achieve that

regarding aspect ratios - FB videos cannot have a 2:1 ratio. Highest is 16:9, so just fyi.

[mwernimont]

@lindsayplatt confused by the facebook video comment, only did gifs for facebook and did the same dimensions as the image...saying thats incorrect?

[lindsayplatt]

Just making a general statement. I am having to fix it for River Conditions right now but I couldn't look at the dimensions of your content on Sharepoint to verify dims so just wanted to let you know. And also definitely thought there was a video so you can see where my head is at this morning 🤷‍♀️

[mwernimont]

Messing around with the png idea, but noticing microsoft stretches the crap out of the images, so def gotta hit that view original button

[cnell-usgs]

The gageAge.gif files for twitter and facebook are updated with a longer pause on the 2019 frame. The gageAge.MP4 for instagram now starts in 1889 (instead of 1940) and has the updated USGS logo bar at the bottom.

[lindsayplatt]

Revising my comment about poor resolution on JPGs: Sharepoint stretches the original image making them look really bad. If you click "View original", then they all look good. Oh, Microsoft 🙄

[jordansread]

@collnell great work but can you update/push the code too?