Q&A with Twitter guru Philip Jones

UNC social media accounts have recently changed in tone from serious to a little silly. The three-person social media team has brought a humorous, light tone to the University’s Twitter to appeal to its large millennial following.

Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor Ryan Schocket spoke with 2004 UNC graduate and social media community manager Philip Jones, who helps manage the verified account.

THE DAILY TAR HEEL: How did you get this job?

PHILIP JONES: I worked as social media director at Elon University. And before that, I worked as a television reporter. Social media was a huge part of how I did my reporting back then, and that’s probably what enabled me to get a job at Elon — having the relationship with media contacts in the area. When the position here at Carolina became available, that paid off.

DTH: Who do you work with?

PJ: We have a team of three people who do the social media for the University as a whole. Between the three of us, we manage the University’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat —all that stuff.

DTH: What is your favorite emoji?

PJ: (Laughs.) I guess it’d have to be the ram.

DTH: Describe UNC as an emoji and why.

PJ: The face with the sunglasses on. I’d like to think of Carolina as a very cool place to be. That’s why I went to school here, and that’s why I love working here. It’s a leader of cool image and a place where cool things happen.

DTH: Why do you use the humorous tone that you do?

PJ: We want to be relatable to the people who are here. We want them to enjoy following our accounts. We want them to take pride in what we do. We want people to feel like this is an account that reflects their values — and reflects what they enjoy interacting with online.

DTH: What role do you think it plays in the admissions process?

PJ: There are times that we do work with the admissions office on specific initiatives and projects that they have going on. We want any folks who are following our accounts who are interested in the University to see this as a place that they want to be — because it’s an engaging place, because it’s a place that does world-class research and because it’s a place that has the top faculty in the nation. We want all those things to shine through our social media.

DTH: Do you have to get a tweet approved?

PJ: Ninety-nine percent of the time, no. More often than not, it’s up to us to craft the message on the fly.

DTH: Did you ever get in trouble for a tweet?

PJ: I don’t think so. As someone who loves this University, the last thing I want to do is reflect poorly upon it based on anything we post.

DTH: Has Carol Folt ever told you to tweet anything?

PJ: No. We’ve never received a directive from her.

DTH: Does the live ram from the football games have a Twitter?

PJ: I don’t know if that’d be up to us, but I think it’d be fun.

@RyanSchocket

arts@dailytarheel.com