Best Practices: Official College Social Media

Institutional Social Media

The best practices below are intended as informational reminders as we navigate in this e-world where professional and personal lines are blurry at best both for ourselves and for our students. The best practice is common sense: to carry oneself responsibly and with professionalism when conversing in the public arena. With that in mind, when posting on social media websites on behalf of an official College department, program, office, etc., please strive to achieve the following:

•Think twice before posting.  Consider the ramifications of a post if it becomes widely known and how the post may reflect on the College. Rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t say it at a conference or to a member of the media, consider whether the post should be made online.
•Be accurate.  Make sure facts are correct before posting them on social media websites. Avoid speculation.
•Be respectful.  The College of Saint Rose is open to others voicing their opinions and contributing to relevant discussion through social media platforms. Users may complain or disagree with other posts. However, the nature of such content should at all times remain polite and respectful. Any inappropriate, obscene, or defamatory posts will not be tolerated. Users who abuse this policy will be blocked.
•Remember your audience.  Content on social media websites is, or can easily be made public to a wide audience, including prospective and current students, employers, colleagues and peers. Keep this in mind to ensure that a post will not alienate or offend any of these groups.
•Be relevant.  Keep posts relevant to the College and its community (students, faculty, staff, alumni). Spam and other outside promotions will be removed. Members of the College community may, and are encouraged to, promote information about campus activities or accomplishments on the most relevant official social media page of the College.
•Protect photography.  Photographs posted on social media websites can easily be appropriated by those visiting the website.
•Bottom line: Communications on official College pages may be friendly and informal but should always remain professional. Bear this in mind when deciding which information, comments, photos, videos or other items will be posted on a social media page.

Personal Social Media

•Clearly identify your opinions as your own.  If you choose to identify yourself as a student or employee of the College on a personal social media website, you are not authorized to speak on behalf of the College, the views expressed are yours alone and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the College.
•Protect your identity. While honesty is the best policy, even online, do not provide personal information that identity thieves and hackers can use against you. Never list your home address, telephone number, class schedules, daily activities, or e-mail address (personal and work).
•Be aware of liability. Individuals are legally liable for their posts on their own sites and the sites of others. Bloggers have been held liable for their comments deemed to be proprietary, copyrighted, defamatory, libelous or obscene.
•Truthful identity.  Do not represent yourself as another person, real or fictitious, or attempt to hide your identity in order to work around stated prohibitions or moral/ethical considerations.
•Bottom line: Be aware that when using social media websites, no amount of privacy measures taken are fool proof, so unauthorized or undesignated people may still be able to access your networking site. Websites such as YouTube are completely open to the public. Future employers and colleagues often review these websites when considering potential candidates for employment.