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Creating Sites

1. Before creating any pages or accounts to conduct university business, secure the approval of your department head or manager in writing and notify the Social Media Manager in the Division of Strategic Communications & Marketing.
   • Be ready to provide Strategic Communications & Marketing with your department name, proposed social media URL, and the names and contact information for all account administrators.
   • For a social media portal to be recognized by ¹û¶³´«Ã½ as an affiliated social media account, the group administrator(s) must seek approval from Strategic Communications & Marketing.
   • Any ¹û¶³´«Ã½ organization, department, group, program, or sports team with an approved social media portal will be included in ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Social Media Directory. However, inactive accounts will be subject to removal from the directory if they have been inactive for more than a semester.
   • Become familiar with the .
2. Ask yourself:
   • Why do I want to establish a social media presence?
   • What are my goals?
   • Can my communication needs be met through ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s established, official social media channels? These currently include: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram.
3. Work out the logistics.
   • What will you post and how often?
   • Who will maintain the page, including answering questions posed by followers and monitoring comments?
   • All social media accounts recognized by the University of North Georgia as affiliated accounts must have a ¹û¶³´«Ã½ faculty or staff member as an administrator at all times, even if a student may be assigned a temporary role in creating or posting content. Make sure there is a way to maintain and access the page if the assigned administrator leaves.
   • Administrators are held responsible for managing and monitoring content on their officially recognized social media pages and are responsible for removing and/or reporting content or posts that may violate ¹û¶³´«Ã½ policies.
4. Choose appropriate profile/header images and photos.
   • Strategic Communications & Marketing can provide assistance or guidance with images, especially logos.
   • ¹û¶³´«Ã½ logos, wordmarks and other branded items may not be used on any social media account without the approval of Strategic Communications & Marketing.
   • Social media accounts which use these items without permission will be in violation of copyright/trademark infringement, which is considered a violation of the terms of service for most social media portals. These accounts will be asked to remove the copyrighted images and may be reported to the social media outlet for violation of the terms of service.

About Content

• Before posting content to any social media outlet affiliated with ¹û¶³´«Ã½, make sure to read and become familiar with the  .
• As you are able, include on your ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Social Media Posting Disclaimer, which follows:
  • The University of North Georgia has established the following policies for posts and comments on ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media pages. Administrators of ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media are expected to monitor ¹û¶³´«Ã½ pages and enforce these policies.
  • ¹û¶³´«Ã½ welcomes participation on our social media pages and encourages you to interact with us often. We hope to provide a forum for dialogue among the many diverse voices of our university, and we encourage comments about the content you find here.
  • Posts containing personal attacks, profanity, nudity, or illegal material are prohibited. ¹û¶³´«Ã½ reserves the right to remove content and to revoke the user's privilege to post to ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media accounts.
  • ¹û¶³´«Ã½ does not monitor social media 24/7 and thus cannot immediately review every comment posted on its social media accounts. User-provided content is not screened or evaluated during the submission process. Opinions expressed by users do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ¹û¶³´«Ã½ and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ cannot verify the accuracy of such posts.
  • Posts are to be used for noncommercial purposes. You may not solicit funds or promote commercial entities.
  • All content posted by ¹û¶³´«Ã½ is the property of the University of North Georgia and is subject to copyright laws.
  • Users are encouraged to report content that violates the social media platform's Code of Conduct, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ and/or USG policies or the law to ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Division of Strategic Communications & Marketing. Users are encouraged to report to ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Public Safety any dangerous or threatening activity involving or related to the university or its students, faculty or staff.

• All content on ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media pages must relate directly to University of North Georgia business, programs, and/or services. Posts should be collegiate in tone and should maintain the dignity of the university.
• Do not share information about ¹û¶³´«Ã½ that is not a matter of public record.
• Social media widgets and tools should not be used if content can be distributed without first being reviewed and approved by an employee of University of North Georgia. Also, be aware that when you use any scripts that are hosted external to ¹û¶³´«Ã½-managed web servers, you potentially expose the university and the visitors of its websites to greater risks.
• Post links from your departmental or unit website, the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ website or the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Newsroom; maintain your website and use social media to drive people to it. It's a great way to multipurpose your content without having to create new content just for social media.
• Post photos -- as long as they are good quality, interesting images and do not violate any laws or policies of the social media portal, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ or USG. And make sure you have ownership and/or permission to use it. Analytics and other data have shown that posts with colorful, in-focus photos – like from your event or of campus icons or people – get more attention. To maintain your intellectual property, upload photos at a low resolution such as 72 dpi.
• Share content from the official ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media portals and ¹û¶³´«Ã½-affiliated pages. Find them on ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Social Media Directory and follow them to keep up to date on ¹û¶³´«Ã½ happenings. Contact the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Social Media Manager or "tag" ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s official accounts to have your content considered for posting on ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s official social media pages.
• Make sure you are contributing valuable insights and posting quality content regularly. Be sure not to overload your updates. Your connections will stop paying attention if you overload with too much information and ignore you if you rarely post useful information.

Moderating Social Media

• Before delving into moderation of your ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media page, make sure you are familiar with the . and have gone through all the steps of creating ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media pages.
• For a new account, plan a "soft launch."
  • Create and post some interesting content so you have a good number of posts and other content before announcing your page.
  • Follow the official ¹û¶³´«Ã½ social media pages and the affiliates to help grow your audience.
  • Consider following similar departments and colleagues at other schools and related professional organizations and associations, but be mindful that the pages you select to follow or "favorite" can reflect upon your department and the university.
• Social media is, by design, a conversation and not a one-way broadcast. Be prepared to accept and respond to comments.
  • Understand that not all comments and replies will be positive, and respond to negative comments professionally and by providing any additional information that may help resolve the issue. Not every barb warrants a response.
  • Alternatively, you may want to immediately try to take a negative conversation "offline" by sending a message to the poster and asking them to contact you via email or by phone – especially if it is a situation that involves a student or sensitive information. Be aware that even these messages and emails may not necessarily be private; they can be easily shared by forwarding or through screen-shots and can be subject to the .
  • Correct misinformation. Always use facts to support your statements and, if possible, include links. ¹û¶³´«Ã½ is a public institution of higher education – educate the public but don’t be condescending.
  • Users may post comments and start a dialogue that has little to do with the post in question. If the matter in question involves a topic that can easily ignite debate (e.g., politics or religion), avoid it.
  • Only delete those posts which violate the social media platform's terms of service or your posted policies; leave a response letting other users know why it was removed and reminding them of policies. Contact the user and explain why the post was deleted.
  • If you cannot answer a question posed in comments or posts, refer them to someone who can or seek the answer from an expert and post it – others may have the same question.
• Contact the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Social Media Manager in the Division of Strategic Communications & Marketing quickly if the conversation turns angry or threatening, violates terms of service or university policies, becomes directed personally at specific individuals, or involves issues that administrators of the department or the university need to be made aware. If there are credible threats of harm to the university or any persons, immediately contact ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Public Safety.