Eastern’s Marketing and Communications Department hired Alyssa Osterday Sept. 25.
She oversees the management and planning of content for Eastern’s social media accounts.
Her appointment follows the resignation of the previous social media coordinator, Dominic Baima, in May.
Osterday said her biggest goal this year is to grow Eastern’s social media following and engagement by making the content more relevant to students. To achieve this, she intends to build on previous strategies and introduce new content.
“The two places that I’m kind of working on shifting content are Twitter and TikTok,” Oysterday said. “I’m just trying to put a different variety of content on there – mix in some educational content with some more humorous content and just make it palatable for a variety of audiences.”
Osterday graduated from EIU in 2021 with a bachelor’s in mass communications and media studies.
Her experience as a student at EIU inspires her to create more partnerships with the campus community.
“I want to reach out and do interviews with people at Tarble or the rec center or the library and show students and potential students what EIU has to offer,” Oysterday said. “I think really promoting those things is important. I went here just a couple of years ago and there is a lot that I know about now that I had no idea about then.”
Osterday hopes to continue the student ambassador program this spring.
In this program, Eastern students post on their Instagram page and share their experiences on campus. Additionally, she is considering starting a student influencer program.
“Something that we’re looking at is working with students who have a larger platform, like student influencers, and hiring them as student workers and potentially partnering with them to put out content on both of our feeds,” Oysterday said.
Eastern’s social media minor coordinator, Anna Kochigina, said she is ready to see new content.
She agreed with Osterday that it is important to create a sense of community on Eastern’s social media.
“I would say make it more personal, make it more approachable because right now, I feel like there are too many walls built so students and faculty, they don’t feel like they own the narrative of this place,” Kochinga said. “They don’t feel like they can contribute to the reputation of EIU, to the community of the place.”
Osterday’s content inspiration came from the Eastern calendar, campus events and other university’s social media pages. She also periodically checks the anonymous app, YikYak to see what students are talking about.
“It really gives me a good gauge for what students are hungry for,” Osterday said.
Prior to her current role, Osterday served as the Victim Awareness Campaign Specialist at The Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service (SACIS) for five years.
As their primary communications resource, she managed their social media, website, and email marketing. She believes her experience at SACIS prepared her for her current position.
Alexis Johnson can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
