Social Media Policy & Best Practices

Overview and definitions

Social media are constantly changing and evolving; these guidelines may be updated frequently. This document is meant to provide guidance and best practices for the creation, management, and ongoing maintenance of the various UNR Libraries social media presences. Social media, generally applied, refers to accounts on Flickr, Facebook, WordPress, Twitter, MySpace, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, YouTube, Tumblr, and other tools of a similar nature. UNR Libraries social media refers to all social media accounts operated as a voice of a part or a whole of the UNR Libraries; personal accounts are not UNR accounts, and should not be used as official media for UNR Libraries.

Getting started: policy

The Dean will appoint a social media coordinator for the Libraries. The role of the social media coordinator is to manage the Knowledge Center social media accounts and to be a knowledgeable resource to UNR Libraries departmental and special interest social media account holders. The social media coordinator will assist with set up, promotion, and maintenance of social media accounts including: establishing goals and choosing the most appropriate social media tool to support the goals, promoting the site, and navigating the process of establishing and maintaining a social media presence. All social media accounts must be registered with Library Administration. Library Administration and the social media coordinator will maintain a directory of accounts to include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Social media contact person (Main poster) Others who have access to post for the account (at least one back-up is required) Social media platform (YouTube, Twitter, etc.) URL if applicable Name of account/handle/username (Special Collections at UNR, Basque Library, KCatUNR) Names of everyone with account log-in and password information

Log-in credentials (including associated email address) must be provided to a third party, possibly a colleague in the department, the Administration Office or the social media coordinator. All individuals should be notified if passwords are changed, accounts are discontinued, etc. E-mail used for UNR social media accounts MUST be a group email for the department, college or organization; not a personal email or personal UNR email account.

Getting started: Best practices

Before creating your professional social media presence as a representative of the Libraries, consider the following questions

Adapted from social media policies at UNH, Bucknell, Dixie State, and the Oregon State University

modified 1/10/14

What do you hope to accomplish with this social media presence? What communications goals will the social media help you accomplish that other media, such as a website, couldnt? Who is your social media audience? How do you expect them to access your content? What content do you want to have contributed on a regular basis to the social site? Do you have enough content to maintain an active social media presence, or would a shared channel be more appropriate?

Study various social media sites to answer the question: Which of the social media platforms available to you will best help you fulfill your goals for reaching your key audiences in an efficient way?

Each social media platform has its own set of strengths and weaknesses in such areas as ease of use, type and frequency of content, popularity with specific user populations, privacy controls and community user expectations. Understanding what youre trying to communicate will help guide your decision in selecting a platform or platforms. For example, if youre interested mostly in sharing headlines, Twitter may be your best platform. If youre more interested in developing a community dialogue, Facebook may be the better choice. Learn what the individual platforms offer and how their communities work when developing a site plan. Choose only one or two platforms, especially in the beginning, to focus your plan.

Identify the faculty or staff member(s) who will manage the site.

Choose at least one person from your department who will be primarily responsible for monitoring and updating your site. This person should be able to check the site at least once daily (or with the frequency considered normal for that site) and update it with new content several times a week. Set clear expectations for this persons understanding of the sites tools, the privacy settings you want to follow, and the frequency of posting and reviewing site content. Assign and train a backup who is familiar with the communications goals you have set for the site. Share login information and username. At least two persons, in addition to the primary poster, should have login information in case of emergency.

Select an appropriate name for your site.

The site name should make it clear to visitors that it represents a specific profession, department or office associated with UNR Libraries. For example, a Twitter handle for the DeLaMare might be @DeLaMareLibUNR

Social media is social Post content of interest to your community from your unit. Dont be all business all the time post related content about other libraries, from the news, items of interest or humor.

Engage your audience. Post graphics. Ask questions. Respond to comments in a timely manner (same day, if not actually same hour). Be professional, but develop a personality for your social media.

Monitor, measure and be prepared to change.

Visit your site regularly and track which content is most popular and best communicates your goals. Depending on your analysis of this information, you may decide to emphasize certain types of content or turn your focus to another social media platform that might better communicate your messages to your intended audience. Respond to comments quickly, as soon as possible

Things to remember

Be professional and respectful always. Anything you post on a social media site in your role as a faculty or staff member reflects on you and the University. As such, be professional and deliberate with your comments and avoid engaging in emotionally charged arguments or debates with critics. Use proper spelling and grammar in postings; limit use of slang and l33t. Social media should be casual and conversational but not at the sacrifice of grammar, spelling and word usage. Remember that we represent an institution of higher education. Be obvious, honest and transparent. Use your own voice but make sure it is clear that you are posting as a faculty or staff member at UNR. Do not misrepresent who you are or post as another individual. Nothing is truly private in social media. Think about your comments, photos or other content before posting, remembering that anything you share in social media, even within closed networks, becomes publicly available information. Your content can be stored and shared around the world instantly. If its not something that you would share with mainstream media, dont post it on your site. Be active, timely and responsive. Social media requires diligent attention to remain engaging. Schedule time to check your site(s) at least once a day during the work week and plan to post fresh content several times each week. Social media allows you to share information instantly with wide audiences. These audiences also expect your site to be active and timely and will ignore it if it proves to be otherwise. Interact with your community. Do more than just share news. Offer insights and information that are of interest to the networks community that may not be available elsewhere. Comment on interesting posts and encourage related dialogues.

Accept but monitor comments and postings by others. Social media thrives because of the communitys ability to participate in the conversation. To support and encourage this interactivity, you should be prepared to accept and respond judiciously to comments, not all of which will be positive. If necessary, to correct misunderstandings or factual errors, respond to negative comments in a professional manner and by providing any information that may be helpful in clarifying the issue. Remove comments that are profane, that attack any individual or group by name or other clearly identifying characteristics and that are obviously advertising or spam. Otherwise, take a light hand. Be a valued member of your own community. Share or re-post information from other, trusted sources that will increase the value of your site and present you as a genuine member of the community.

YouTube specific practices

Follow the identified best practices above. Use the provided, customizable, start and end slides (soon to be available on Sharepoint.) Choose appealing thumbnails. Thumbnails display a still image from the video. This is the first things that viewers will see of your video. Making the thumbnail eye-catching or attractive in some manner is a great way to help spark more video views. Embed the videos in Facebook and other social networks to provide access to as wide of an audience as possible. In addition to your own channels, share links and descriptions with the social media contact for inclusion on the KC Facebook page. Describe your video. Use good keywords in describing your video (for search engine optimization.) When you are setting up the embed code, always uncheck show suggested videos when the video ends. This will add a rel=0 into the embed code parameters, and stop the related video tiles set from appearing.