Social Media Guidelines

Social media is user-generated web content that is highly available and collaborative. Social media allows conversations in a world-sized room. Anyone can join. Everyone can join.

Social media is distinct from industry media because it is user-generated. Therefore the public tends to trust and value social media differently than industry media.

Section 1 - Policies For All Social Media Sites

Concordia University Irvine prohibits the creation of unofficial social media pages that:

• Appear to represent the university.
• Use the Concordia University Irvine name and/logo or official university images on an unofficial, unapproved page.
  • “CUI", “CU Irvine". “ConcordiaIrvine", “Concordia Irvine”, “Concordia University Irvine", “Concordia University in Irvine”, “Concordia University California”
• Impersonate the university in any way.

Social Media Community Manager Policy

1. Officially recognized Concordia University Irvine social media accounts must be reviewed, approved, and created by the Office of Strategic Communications. These are the only accounts permitted to use an approved Concordia University Irvine logo and to be a representative of Concordia University Irvine.
2. Each officially recognized social media account will have an assigned responsible administrator. Each administrator must read and sign this Concordia University Irvine Social Media Community Manager Policy and read the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Playbook. Concordia University Irvine social media account administrators are referred to as “Social Media Community Managers” (SMCM). They are responsible for managing, protecting, and promoting each account they administer in a manner consistent with the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Policy and Playbook, and that conforms to and does not conflict with Concordia University Irvine’s mission, vision, and values.
3. SMCM shall create a LastPass® account to store all Concordia University Irvine social media passwords. Proper password security methods shall be used, including length, complexity, and keeping passwords confidential. Social media account passwords may not be shared with anyone else without approval from the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team. SMCM is responsible in the event that a social media account they administer is compromised and they must immediately notify the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team.
4. Social media account passwords, profile graphics, and email addresses may not be altered by SMCM without proper approval.
5. Should SMCM privileges need to be transferred to another individual, SMCM shall notify the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team two weeks prior. Social media accounts that are inactive for over six months may be deactivated.
6. Inappropriate, offensive, injurious, illegal content, photographs/videos of minors, and partisan political matters may not be posted to any social media account. Content protected by FERPA or HIPPA may not be posted to any social media account. Tagging or @mention of students is not permitted. Content violating these standards must be immediately removed by SMCM, and may be removed by the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team or other authorized Concordia University Irvine designee.
7. Concordia University Irvine logos, trademarks, symbols, and phrases will not be used outside of the social media account without written permission from the Office of Strategic Communications. Copyright law, trademark law, and other fair use of materials laws must be complied with at all times.
8. SMCM may not run paid advertising campaigns, host live streams/events, host contests, create GIFs, stickers or filters on/for social media without proper approval.
9. Should the SMCM receive a negative comment or post on an account he/she is responsible for, SMCM shall refrain from engaging and send a screenshot to the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team for next steps. For Athletics, please include Sports Information Director.
10. In the event of a Concordia University Irvine campus crisis or public relations event, SMCM shall first notify the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team of any comments or inquiries received to the account they administer before taking any action. If no response from Concordia University Irvine Social Media Team is received within two hours, refer all posts and comments to the main Concordia University Irvine social media sites (Facebook and Twitter) and/or to the Concordia University Irvine website unless other instructions are given. At such times, SMCM shall follow the instructions given by appropriate Concordia University Irvine officials including Office of Strategic Communications personnel, Marketing personnel, Public Information Officer, or designated Incident Command (Campus Safety).
11. Failure to adhere to all the aforementioned standards and requirements may result in loss of privileges, loss of administrative access, removal from the position of SMCM, and potential disciplinary actions to the SMCM and/or club. For Concordia University Irvine employees (including student employees), disciplinary actions may also include termination of employment with Concordia University Irvine.

Comments Guidelines

Concordia University Irvine encourages thoughtful discussion, debate, and interaction among social media users. User comments are not screened prior to being published within the public forum. Because of this, Concordia University Irvine would like to remind its users of a few simple guidelines: Be respectful when publishing content. This includes recognizing that students, faculty, staff, and the general public come from different backgrounds, beliefs, and viewpoints.

Voicing opinions, complaints, or disagreements with another is accepted, but we ask that you do so in a constructive manner. Obscenities, personal attacks, threatening, harassing, or abusive content, and defamatory comments about any person, group, organization or belief will be deleted.

Concordia University Irvine will not allow for the commercial solicitation or promotion of products and will delete them from the account as necessary.

Any comments posted to a Concordia University Irvine social media account do not necessarily reflect the opinions or viewpoints of the University.

All comments and postings are subject to the social media platform’s Terms of Use.

Section 2 - Concordia University Irvine Social Media

Responsibility

Think twice, publish once. Social media sites are not “private” no matter how much they claim to be. Search engines can find posts years after a publication date, comments can be copied and forwarded and archival systems save information even if the post has been removed or deleted. To learn more about this topic, read articles by Mashable and CNN.

You are responsible for your posts. You are responsible for anything and everything that you post on your own site and others. Courts have held individual bloggers responsible for comments deemed copyrighted, defamatory, proprietary, libelous, or obscene.

Check all the facts. Before you make a post or comment check that you have all the facts. If needed, share your source. If you make an error, correct it as soon as possible and make it public.

Best Practices

Be authentic. Social media is all about people connecting with people. Remember to humanize your social media interactions. On social networks it is okay to use an exclamation point and phrases such as "check it out" rather than "read more."

Be accurate. Make sure you have all of the facts before you post. Cite and link to sources whenever possible to help build a community. It also doesn’t hurt to spell-check your content before posting. If you make an error, correct it quickly and visibly. This will earn you respect in the online community.

Be respectful. Respect for the dignity of others and to the civil and thoughtful discussion of opposing ideas is critical. Feel free to respectfully disagree with a position but please do not propagate online confrontation as it reflects poorly on both the individual and Concordia University Irvine.

Be positive. A good rule of thumb: if you would not say it in person, don’t say it online.

Encourage open conversation. Listen to people and respond to as many comments as possible with constructive feedback. Allow negative comments, delete the spam, and seek to respond rather than censor.

Allow comments. Even the negative ones. A good philosophy for comments is to encourage thoughtful discussion, debate and differing viewpoints, with the understanding that all comments made must be civil, respectful, and appropriate for your audience. If comments are lewd, libelous, incite violence or are otherwise hurtful or hateful speech directed at either individuals or groups, Concordia University Irvine employees who serve as account administrators reserve the right to delete such comments. Look to the Concordia University Irvine Social Media Response Procedure for guidance.

Resources

• Copyright
• Terms and Conditions for Concordia Irvine Computing and Network Resources
• Reporting Online Abuse or Harassment
• Radian6: Social Media Etiquette - Minding Your Manners on the Social Web

Section 3 - Getting Started

Request an Account

Launching a new Concordia University Irvine social media network is a team effort and the Social Media Manager is here to guide you through the process.

1. Review and fill out the Social Media Assessment Worksheet.
2. Meet with the Social Media Manager for Concordia University Irvine Social Media Policy training.
3. Along with the Social Media Manager create a strategy.
4. Follow the social media Guidelines and Best Practices and get started!

Learn More

• What is Facebook?
• What is Twitter?
• What is LinkedIn?

Disclaimer: Some content has been adapted with permission from Colorado State University.