3.32 Social Media
Social Media Policies
Social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn & Snapchat) are influential communication channels for our community. To assist in posting content and managing these and other sites, Piedmont University has developed policies and guidelines for official use of social media.
These policies and guidelines apply to university faculty, staff, and students, and can be used in connection with social media accounts associated with schools, departments, programs, and offices.
Piedmont’s main social media accounts may choose to post university-related social media content generated by faculty, staff and/or students. The main institutional social media accounts include:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PiedmontUniversity
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PiedmontGA
Instagram: http://instagram.com/PiedmontUniversity
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PiedmontUniversity
LinkedIn: Piedmont University – University Page https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=18181&trk=tyah&trkInfo=tarId%3A1404133 693093%2Ctas%3APiedmont%20University%2Cidx%3A4-1-6
Social Media Accounts
Institutional accounts – these represent the official university media communication venues. These sites are created and managed by the Office of Institutional Advancement.
University-recognized departmental accounts – these represent official university units and have a regular full-time university staff or faculty employee assigned to administer the accounts. These departments are responsible for the content. It is the responsibility of the account administrator to oversee the content and dialogue.
Student-organization accounts – these represent student organizations affiliated with the university. When using the university’s visual identity (name and/or logo(s), the usage must meet the Graphics Standards Policy). These accounts are required to fully comply with the university’s social media guidelines and will be monitored by administrators.
The purpose of using these channels is to support the university’s mission, goals, programs, and sanctioned efforts, including news, information, content and directives. Posts from Piedmont will only be permitted using official social media accounts.
Login / Getting Started
Prior to engaging in any form of social media involving Piedmont University, you must obtain permission from your department head and notify the Office of Institutional Advancement with any questions, and fill out a Social Media Request Form.
In determining what form of social media is right for you, please view the Piedmont University Social Media Startup Guidelines for ideas.
To avoid inactive accounts due to staff changes, all Piedmont-associated social media channels MUST ensure login and password information is provided to Brian Carter to keep on file. Should the login information change that will need to be noted as well.
Posting & Terms of Use
Piedmont encourages faculty, staff and students to use social media, but reminds users that at any time they can be perceived as a spokesperson of the university. Confidential or proprietary university information or similar information of third parties, who have shared such information with you on behalf of Piedmont, should not be shared publicly on these social media channels.
Exercise discretion, thoughtfulness and respect for your colleagues, associates and the university’s supporters/community (social media fans). A healthy dialogue with constructive criticism can be useful, but refrain from engaging in dialogue that could disparage colleagues, competitors, or critics. Be mindful that all posted content is subject to review in accordance with Piedmont’s employee policies and editorial guidelines.
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to “Share” an official Piedmont University social media account post or status, but are not permitted to speak on behalf of the university using their personal social media accounts. If you have Piedmont information and news that you would like to announce to the public or media, please contact John Roberts or Brian Carter.
Know the terms of service for the site being used. Also, understand that by using any site there is implicit agreement not to:
Send or post unauthorized commercial communications (spam)
Upload viruses or malicious code
Solicit another user’s login information or access his/her account
Bully, intimidate, or harass any user
Post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or gratuitously violent
Do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory
If you have any doubt about posting content on these social media sites, please consult the Web Coordinator, Brian Carter. Due to the evolving nature of social media, the policies and guidelines are subject to revision by Piedmont University.
The Social Media Guidelines are a great source for techniques, tips and tricks to ensure you reach the right audience and generate more activity and reach while posting.
Marketing, Branding & Logos
Piedmont University logos and/or visual identity cannot be used for personal social media without university permission from John Roberts and Regina Fried.
When establishing an image or logo for an official Piedmont social media account, all graphics and logos must adhere to the university’s graphic standards. Use a profile graphic that supports the Piedmont identification.
When naming your social media account (handle), use “Piedmont University” or “Piedmont” as part of the name. If space constraints exist, you may use “PC” as the first letters in the name.
Piedmont does not monitor personal websites, but will address issues that violate established HR, Editorial, Graphic and Social Media guidelines.
When posting, it is important to provide links back to the university’s web site as often as you can from social networking sites. This helps in raising awareness of your communication efforts and boost traffic through Piedmont’s website.
Event/Post Sharing
Piedmont University reserves the right to share posts and events as it sees fit. Events posted by Piedmont will solely be events that it is hosting. While Piedmont may be in some capacity involved in off-campus events with other schools/organizations, the university will not share posts or accept an invitation to “co-host” that event on social media. If we promote the event in question, it will be in-house through its own distribution channels or social media posts.