How to host an Instagram takeover
- Decide on what type of takeover you are going to host. There are two types:
- Full account takeover where your guest gets access to your Instagram account.
- Semi-account takeover where your guest sends you the media files to post on their behalf.
- **CYPT encourages a full account takeover when you are working with youth. First, it shows them you trust them and provides additional opportunities for the takeover to be authentic and real.** If you choose the semi-account takeover option, you will need to input any post engagement stickers (i.e. polls, questions) in real-time as they cannot be saved in advance. This will also require a conversation about a process for how engagement beyond the posts will look throughout the day. As adults, we also have to be very mindful to not edit posts in advance and recognize that any changes to what youth submit should only be done so after a conversation and in agreement with the youth. However, if a full takeover isn’t an option – a semi takeover is still a great way to share the platform!
- Decide on your guest.
- Meet or chat with the person taking over your account to go over specifics. An important part of ensuring meaningful youth engagement is to communicate clearly and make sure that expectations and information are shared and understood. This is an opportunity to share with the young person that the space on your profile is a safe one and that they are welcome, accepted and they belong. If you try to shape their takeover by telling them what to say or how to say it, it’s not really a takeover. Suggestions for how to pitch your takeover to the young person:
- Tell them that they have free reign to talk about what is important to them.
- Encourage them and share that even if it’s tricky, you think that people would benefit from what they have to say.
- In order to have an authentic youth voice sharing information from your platform, a disclaimer is recommended. (Click here for a link to a disclaimer story).
- It’s ok to have a theme around the takeover, if you want to talk about a specific day (like Mental Health Awareness Day) let the young person know that you’d like them to share something about that, but also be clear that it’s ok for them to feel free to share other things that are important to them.
- Are you promoting something? That’s ok too, as long as the young person has the freedom to share that information in a way that works for them.
Instagram takeovers are a great way to show young people that they are valued, heard, and included. It might feel risky to give up control, but we think it’s worth the risk. Once you’ve decided on the takeover, here’s what you’ll need to do.
- Promote the takeover
- Announce it on Instagram
- Promote it on other channels and share your Instagram username.
- Encourage your guest to promote the takeover to their audience.
- Change your password and share it with your guest. One way to do this safely is to use: https://onetimesecret.com/. (We haven’t tried it, so be sure to investigate if this website is right for you and your organization’s privacy policies.)