SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
revised 5/10/2013
LIFE UNIVERSITY SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY Life University recognizes the need to stay current with new Social Media (SM) channels as they become available. The university offers a SM policy, best practices and suggestions as a means to ensure that engagement in these mediums represent Life University’s best interest. These tools potentially reach millions of users and thus have the capability to significantly impact professional, personal, and organizational reputations. These guidelines are therefore meant to stress professionalism, care, and caution in all SM use. Because of the amorphous and changing SM landscape, these guidelines are broad and may change as new channels and user capabilities emerge. Life University guidelines and policies only apply to official SM accounts created to represent Life University groups, departments, programs, entities, etc. and does not apply to private individual accounts. All Social Media accounts must ultimately serve the purpose of supporting the university’s mission, goals, and programs. Official Life University Social Media Accounts To be considered an official SM account, the administrator of the account must submit it to Life University’s Marketing Department for approval. To do so, please see the Social Media section of the Marketing Department page. The Marketing Department will work with the account administrators to make any changes, if necessary. Once approved, the account will be listed and linked on the university’s Social Media Directory page. All official SM accounts must have a Life University employee as the account’s primary administrator. Additionally, the Marketing Department must be given an administrator role in case the need arises for emergency access. The primary administrator is responsible for monitoring all account content, including any content posted as replies or comments. Administrators are responsible for removing any content that violates Life University’s Computer Use Policies. Life University Social Media Policy | Page 1
Appropriateness The administrator should use his or her best judgment regarding the appropriateness of content and behavior. • Do not post confidential information about the university, yourself, or others. • Do not post anything threatening, obscene or that might be construed as risqué. • Do not post anything that violates privacy or intellectual property laws. • Do not represent your opinion as that of the university’s or as being endorsed by the university. • Do not use the university name or logo to promote a cause, political candidate, or product. • Assume at all times that you are a representative of Life Universtiy. • When posting quotes, whether directly or paraphrasing, or posting borrowed images, always cite the original with a direct hyperlink. • By posting content to any social media site, the poster represents that the poster owns or otherwise has all of the rights necessary to lawfully use that content or that the use of the content is permitted by fair use. Posters also agree that they will not knowingly provide misleading or false information, and that they will indemnify and hold the University harmless for any claims resulting from the content. • Always identify yourself and your relationship to Life University. • Life University retains the right to remove content for any reason, including, but not limited to, content that it finds obscene, threatening, or a violation of local, state or federal law.
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Guidelines Effective Social Media involves engaging the users, not in simply broadcasting a message. This may involve accepting comments, user postings or ratings. It may not even involve a direct response on your site, but may be a response generated on someone else’s site or on another thread. What is important to realize in SM is that you do not have control over the message. You can help guide it by posting truthful, regular messages and by responding to users. Below are some guidelines to help you steer your messaging. • Post at least weekly and if possible, more often. For visitors, pages and sites with old posts appear unattended to and thus convey a negative message about the site’s owner. . If you cannot commit to posting often, consider carefully whether you need the site at this time. • Respond quickly to users. Typically, users of SM sites visit them with the expectations of quick interaction. Not responding quickly enough will be seen negatively and may spread negative responses about the site’s owner. If you cannot commit to responding quickly, consider carefully whether you need the site at this time. • Define your objectives. What are you trying to achieve with the site? An open dialog? Disseminate information? Obtain feedback? • Define your target audience. • Establish who will maintain the site. Be specific about posting frequency. • Do not “friend” or connect with students unless the student initiates the request. • Do not show bias in accepting “friend” or connection requests from students. Establish an “accept all” or “reject all” policy. • Be aware that anything posted online, including comments, may be searched for and discovered well into the future. • Be accurate. Ensure that you have your facts correct and link to your sources. • Do not copy and paste the exact same post across all of your SM channels. Remember that each channel has its own targeted audience, so tweak and fine tune the message to match.
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• Be careful when dealing with negative comments from users. If you respond to negative comments or posts, you must remain professional. Before responding, ask yourself: • Is the post based on facts? • Is it correct? • Do I have facts that counter the post? • Am I the correct person or authority to respond? • Is the person seeking or open to a response? These are some of the questions you must answer before responding. Be aware that not responding promptly may be detrimental and that a single negative comment may grow into an uncontrollable stream of negativity if left unaddressed and if others quickly join in. Click here for the US Air Force’s flowchart depicting how and when to respond to negative comments.
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Life University Department of Marketing 1269 Barclay Circle SE Marietta, Georgia 30060 USA 770-426-2833
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY revised 5/10/2013