Social Media

This section provides guiding principles for anyone who administers an official 51���� social media account, whether as a student or an employee. An official 51���� account is defined as any social media account (Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) primarily intended to communicate with 51����’s constituents. This includes social media accounts for student clubs and any account using the 51���� name. All 51���� social media accounts are required to follow accessibility guidelines.

Best Practices for Posting

1. Social media can be used for a variety of purposes as a supplement to your existing communication efforts, including:
   • Promoting your program, events, sending traffic to your online content, etc.
   • Improving brand equity with customers and constituents, developing and maintaining a relationship with your audience and building buzz around 51����.
   • Listening: inviting interaction and feedback, answering questions, gauging the interests of your audience.
   • Communicating quickly, interactively and responsively with your audience.
2. What to post?
   • Break exciting news, always linking somewhere for further information or providing a call to action.
   • Be interactive: Ask a question, give a challenge, invite audience feedback and interact with users one-on-one where appropriate.
   • Be diverse in the types of things you share. Share photos and videos as well as links.
   • On Facebook, avoid posts that are text-only. Always try to include a link and/or a photo as well. Adding an image to a post can increase engagement by 200 percent.
   • Promote events beforehand, use social media for conversation during the event (e.g. hashtags) and use social media to share event follow up (e.g. video of the event, once posted).
3. When to post?
   • Post when your users are most active on the platform. Check your analytics for insights.
   • In general, weekdays during business hours are the most effective times to post on social media. Evenings/overnight and weekends are less active.
4. What to avoid?
   • Don’t push “post” or “publish” until you have read and re-read the post, checking for spelling and grammatical mistakes. With posts about sensitive topics, it is wise to have one or two other colleagues take a look prior to publishing.
   • Avoid flooding your audience’s feeds with useless posts. Make sure to only share content that has value for your audience. Give them resources that will interest them.
   • Never use obscene or derogatory language. Avoid excessive use of slang, jargon or “texting style” abbreviations. Maintain a professional writing style and use proper English. Writing style should conform with AP and the 51���� Stylebook.
   • Don’t plagiarize. When using or posting online material that includes direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos or videos, always include citations or tag the person you are quoting.
   • Do not post confidential or proprietary information about 51����, its faculty, its students, its affiliates, its alumni or its employees. Respect privacy laws, including FERPA.
   • Never give out another person’s contact information on a social media page without asking them for permission.
   • Do not post close-up images of students on social media without first obtaining a written release form, in accordance with FERPA law. For non-student individuals, verbal permission is required. Also never include names with photos on social media without getting the photographed person’s permission. Avoid posting photos of minors entirely.
   • On sensitive breaking news topics or university emergencies, do not share information or break news on your platform prior to 51���� sharing it on the university’s official accounts.
   • As an administrator of an account, the posting of personal opinions or emotions is prohibited. Do not use any official social media account to promote a particular political party/candidate or issue without permission from the university.

Users and Successful Content

It’s essential to understand how different users interact with the different social media platforms and how their behavior on the platforms influences their connection to 51����. Below are some key practices to keep in mind to ensure that our content is thoughtfully crafted and reaches the right people in the right way.

Social Media Policies and Resources

Here is a roundup of 51����’s social media policies and resources.