Guidelines
Be aware that your actions reflect directly on the university’s reputation.
These guidelines bring us in line with those in use in Ann Arbor and helps ensure that all accounts have a university-wide standard for use, creation and management.
Before getting started, ask yourself:
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What do I wish to accomplish by having a social media account? Develop your strategy and outline your goals. A suggested strategy outline is available here.
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Do I have enough content to maintain a consistent social media presence, or would I be more successful running my content though more established UM-Dearborn accounts that reach a wide audience at the college or university level? Successful accounts post engaging content frequently: at least once a day for Facebook and Instagram and more often for Twitter.
Those wishing to proceed with the creation of a new social media account should have the approval and support of the senior administrator of your unit.
The primary administrator(s) of the new social media account should then reach out to Jessica Bixby (jbixby@umich.edu), Social Media Specialist to set up a meeting to review university guidelines and discuss best practices and expectations.
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Profile photo: use approved Block M unit logo, sized to the correct dimensions. External Relations can provide this if you do not have it available, and can create a “social media” version of existing logos to fit square spaces.
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Name: use “University of Michigan-Dearborn” or “UM-Dearborn.” Do not use “UMD” in your account name, handle, URL, #hashtag or posts.
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Due to limitations on certain social platforms, it is acceptable to use “UMDearborn” or “UM_Dearborn” when special characters such as hyphens are not allowed. Do not use “UMD.”
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Each official account should have no less than two (2) full-time staff member administrators.
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Note: an administrator has full access to an account, including the ability to add/remove users and post content. It may be the case that only one staff member is responsible for maintaining the page, but a second should always have the ability to access the same features.
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Facebook accounts should also be added to the university’s Facebook Business Manager account, maintained in External Relations
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Accounts should be registered to a shared or general email address accessible by more than one person. Ideally, this will be a “@umich.edu” email that is already established for communication with your department.
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Password and login information should be maintained by account administrators and their direct leadership.
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Each unit should maintain an official account inventory with contact info for administrators. External Relations will use this information to maintain a university-wide inventory and will also share with Ann Arbor. Please keep Social Media Specialist notified of changes.
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Information will be reviewed annually, more often if staff changes occur
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Accounts may be subject to review if they become inactive.
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Accounts that do not follow UM-Dearborn guidelines, no longer have a UM-Dearborn administrator, or otherwise do not officially represent the university are not entitled to utilize the university’s name or logos. These accounts should be reported to External Relations so that we may work to remove or report them.
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Social media account managers from across campus are invited to attend a group social media meeting to establish communication and share key messages across campus
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Larger units that have additional sub-units, such as colleges and departments, may send college representatives to attend and report back to sub-units.
It is important to have a plan for when/if negative comments or concerning behavior appears from followers of your social media accounts.
Negative comments should not be ignored or deleted simply because the are negative. You should assess each situation individually and always refer to External Relations for guidance.
We encourage the use of the U-M Social Media Engagement Protocol to guide your response to situations that may arise on UM-Dearborn social media. Please note that you should send any screenshots to Jessica Bixby (jbixby@umich.edu) and Beth Marmarelli (bethmar@umich.edu), who will contact the team in Ann Arbor as needed.
Posts may be removed for any of the following reasons, at any time:
- The use of obscene, threatening, discriminatory, or harassing language
- Disclosure of information that is confidential by law or regulation
- Comments advocating illegal activity
- Posts violating copyrights or trademarks
- Advertisement or promotion of commercial products, services, entities, or individuals
- Endorsement or opposition of any person campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any ballot proposal
- Duplicative comments by the same user or multiple users. In the case of identical comments only the first submission will be approved
Keep in mind that all users, including administrators, are subject to the Terms of Service (TOS) of the host site. Communications made through social technology in no way constitute a legal or official notice to the University of Michigan, its agencies, faculty, or staff. References to third-party content or websites do not indicate endorsement or responsibility on behalf of the university.
It is very important that users remember that they should not post confidential or proprietary information about the university or any members of its community. All applicable federal requirements such as FERPA and HIPPA, as well as NCAA regulations, must be followed at all times. If content refers to a situation involving specific individuals on a social media site, it is helpful to ensure that the individuals cannot be identified.
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Make it look good. Profiles should be complete with proper spelling, use of the university name, logo and should always follow our brand identity.
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Size it up. Use images and visual content that is sized correctly for the social space. Avoid using images that are too small and will pixelate. If the image will appear in the users feed in landscape orientation, avoid using portrait orientation for you images or your visual will be cropped off.
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Pictures are the new headline. Posts that include an intriguing visual will receive more engagement than posts that are text only. If you are sharing a link to a university web page or story, make sure your thumbnail preview is appearing as you would expect. You are competing with a variety of different content in a user’s newsfeed, so making your post stand out is key.
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Have a plan. You should have created a strategy and outlined goals before starting your account, but it’s always a good idea to revisit this as time passes and accounts evolve. Tracking key calendar dates and planning content out ahead of time will save you from wondering “what should I post?” when it’s been a while.
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Listen in. Make sure to monitor your account inbox or DMs and to check out the comments after you’ve posted content. Your followers may have questions or something about your post may require correction or clarification.
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Stay on topic. Your followers are here to learn more about your area of specialty. If you are sharing content from other university units, contextualize it as you share with your followers. If you find you are sharing more from other university units than posting your own original content, it is time to revisit your strategy. Posting that are irrelevant to the university add no value to the conversation.
- See more best practices by social network