SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
Revised January 2015
LIFE UNIVERSITY SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY Life University recognizes the need to keep up with new Social Media (SM) channels as they become available. The university offers an SM policy, best practices and suggestions as a means to ensure that engagement on these channels represents 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 therefore 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 SM 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 submit a Project Request form at http://LIFE.edu/marketing. The following are Life University’s official SM accounts: Facebook: www.facebook.com/life.edu Twitter: @LifeUniversity Instagram: lifeuniversityga Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lifeuniversity
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.
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Do not post anything threatening, obscene or that might be construed as risqué.
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Do not post anything that violates privacy or intellectual property laws. For instance, in regards to privacy, instructor comments or grades on student material should not be posted, nor should students be required to release private information. Regarding intellectual property, please be aware of Copyright and Fair Use— http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
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Your posts represent your opinions, ideas and thoughts and should be presented as such and not as those of Life University.
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Do not use the University name or logo to promote a cause, political candidate, religious affiliation or product.
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Assume at all times that you are a representative of Life University.
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When posting quotes, whether directly or paraphrasing, or posting borrowed images, always cite the original with a direct hyperlink.
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By posting content to any social media site, you represent that you own or otherwise have all of the rights necessary to lawfully use that content or that the use of the content is permitted by fair use. You should not knowingly provide misleading or false information. By becoming an official account, you agree you will indemnify and hold the University harmless for any claims resulting from the content.
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Always identify yourself and your relationship to Life University.
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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.
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 SM site at this time.
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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 University. If you cannot commit to responding quickly, consider carefully whether you need the site at this time.
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Define your objectives. What are you trying to achieve with the site? An open dialog? Disseminate information? Obtain feedback?
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Define your target audience.
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Establish who will maintain the site. Be specific about posting frequency.
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Do not show bias in accepting “friend” or connection requests from students. Establish an “accept all” or “reject all” policy.
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Be aware that anything posted online, including comments, may be searched for and discovered well into the future.
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Be accurate. Ensure that you have your facts correct and link to your sources.
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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. First, as soon as an administrator of the SM account sees a negative post from a user, they should take record of said negative post through recording the comment, taking a screenshot, etc. Immediately following that, the negative post should be addressed by removing or hiding said negative post. Finally, send the recorded post to the Marketing Project Coordinator at Lindsey.Farley@LIFE.edu to followup on the incident.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY AGREEMENT Prior to your site’s inclusion on LIFE’s Social Media hub, you must sign and date in the spaces below indicating that you have read the above policies and agree to their terms. Once signed, please return to the Marketing Department. Email: Lindsey.Farley@LIFE.edu
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Life University Department of Marketing 1269 Barclay Circle SWE Marietta, Georgia 30060 USA 770-423-2833 Social Media Policy revised January 2015