Social media and live stream traffic were busy during the two commencement ceremonies held at Ford Field on May 7, as more than 3,800 graduates celebrated with family and friends.

Facebook led the pack in social media activity, with more than 67,000 “likes” and more than 25,000 shares on a single photo that showed a graduate’s cap adorned with “Game of Loans.” There was a 4.6 million post reach — largely because of the photo — and 565 new “likes.”   

Twitter saw 26,719 tweet impressions, 120 new followers and 8,000 retweets, while 300 approved social media messages with #MyWSUStory were placed on Ford Field’s Jumbotron during the ceremonies.

The morning ceremony’s live stream at wayne.edu/live experienced 275 peak concurrent viewers, accounting for a total view time of 613 hours. During the afternoon ceremony, 290 peak concurrent viewers logged on, contributing toward a total view time of 551 hours. In fact, 10.77 percent of all the traffic to wayne.edu landed at the live stream page. 

Another significant statistic this year illustrates the broad reach of Commencement, as 2,876 unique users from 62 countries on six continents headed to the stream page. A sampling of the represented nations included Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, Egypt, India, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

“This year’s commencement ceremonies highlight the importance of expanding the event beyond the physical space where it’s being held and moving it to a global position,” said Nick DeNardis, Wayne State University director of digital communications. “Particularly noteworthy were the data reflecting a 52 percent user rate of mobile devices. This reinforces the ever-changing landscape as technology continues to advance both in capability and reach.”