Social Media Best Practices

Tips

(Adapted from Colorado State University)

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 CUI.

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, CUI employees who serve as account administrators reserve the right to delete such comments.
 

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 article by Mashable.

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.  

Social Media Policies