Unwrapping the Online Presence of Manchester Open Mind Network
If you are a Manchester student with an interest in mental health, you may have come across new student society Manchester Open Mind Network, who assembled in response to the University’s building mental health crisis. It seems obvious that the success of any organisation online lies in their ability to meet their own goals. Manchester Open Mind Network have two explicit goals on their Facebook page:
1) Support those dealing with mental health issues, and
2) Educate students on how to create happy, healthy minds.
As an important component of building an online presence is to refer back to your goals, it makes sense to talk about “success” in these terms.
In terms of their first goal, there are a number of things Manchester Open Mind Network do to either provide support, or a supportive environment. On one particular post, they present as if having an informal chat, “hey guys,” appearing relaxed and personable.
This provides a safe environment for students who may be considering accessing support. Additionally, they champion the bravery of others sharing difficult stories and stress, “there is help out there,” targeted at their audience who may feel alone and without help.
The other type of post format is using quotes lifted from the article being posted. These are often relatable, humorous or emotive in content.
It’s clear that these are designed to be engaging, therefore reach more people, and there is evidence this can be successful. However it can also annoy people, so perhaps this should be used in moderation. Additionally online bloggers agree that an important component of an online presence is being sociable, and it seems simply using a quote isn’t engaging with your audience in the same way as writing a personalized message.
Similarly, they often don’t reply to comments on their posts, or simply like the comment. In doing this they have missed vital opportunities to support their followers, explore ideas in mental health and break down stigma. Instead they limit the support they offer to lists of other services such as Manchester Mind.
A few posts address their second goal. However I can’t help but feel that these posts are upstaged (at least recently) by the sheer quantity of other posts. I say upstaged, because one of these posts has zero engagement. This is likely due to posting borrowed content too frequently, causing people to switch off.
Additionally they do use social media successfully outside of these explicit goals. For example, they post a weekly blog with original, interesting stories and think pieces which has accumulated 225 followers in just a few months. This is a crucial platform as people are more likely to engage with original content.
Lastly, they successfully use pictures; which generates engagement. After all, human beings are immensely visual; and no matter how serious the organisation, people will engage with funny relatable images and memes.
Overall, although they are not consistently “on mission” in terms of their goals, there are a lot of ways in which Manchester Open Mind Network reach their audience. By capitalising on their warm friendly tone and original writing, they could help even more students, which is success in itself.
