Alžbeta Brnická

How do you make history feel relevant to today’s students? One creative way is by using the social media platforms they know and love — and that’s exactly what we did with this activity aimed at building a positive online presence while deepening historical understanding.

The idea was simple: imagine each historical era as a person with unique personality traits. This activity built on the students’ prior knowledge and a brainstorming session where we explored what made each era distinctive.

After this preparation, I divided the students into groups. Each group chose their own historical "persona" — for example:

• Mr. Neolithic Revolution

• Sir Middle Ages

• Madame Humanism

• Miss Industrial Revolution

With their characters in mind, each group was tasked with creating an Instagram profile for their era. I chose Instagram because, unlike Facebook, it’s still widely used by younger generations.

Here’s what their profiles needed to include:

• A well-thought-out bio that captured their character’s essence

• At least 5 posts showcasing key moments, inventions, or ideas from their era

• At least 5 stories to bring their character to life

• Comments on other groups’ profiles — written in the tone, language, and terminology their historical figure might have used

To encourage consistent engagement, the groups worked on the project over the course of a week. Each day, they created at least one post, one story, and commented on at least one other profile.

Finally, we wrapped up the activity with an in-class presentation. Each group shared their Instagram account, explained what they had learned, and reflected on how this creative process helped them understand their historical period in a new and more personal way.