Social media guidelines

The following guidelines for social media accounts under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Guide

• Officially recognized accounts
• Purpose of social media accounts
• Social media account registration and approval
• Appropriate use
• Oversight and responsibility
• Account integrity and maintenance, inactivity
• Training and accessibility

View best practices for social media

Training and accessibility

Social media account administrators of departments/programs are responsible for abiding by all best practices and guidelines for social media use, including accessibility. This includes faculty, staff and students administering social media accounts.

⚠️ Important: All content published by Wayne State University, as a public institution, is required to be provided without barriers and accessible to everyone, including impaired individuals.

Account administrators should complete the social media accessibility training prior to administering any social media accounts on behalf of the university. Existing social media account administrators should retroactively complete this training as soon as possible. Failure to complete this training and/or repeated offenses of accessibility practices (without correction) will result in the removal of the account and administrator.

Officially recognized accounts

In order to be recognized as an official Wayne State College of Liberal Arts and Sciences affiliated social media account, approval must be obtained as outlined in these guidelines and account administrators must adhere to the requirements and best practices provided.

Who/what is affected by this?

These guidelines provide requirements and best practices for anyone who administers an official Wayne State social media account under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, whether as a student or employee. This applies to any social media account or platform, including blogs, that is intended to communicate with university stakeholders. For the purposes of these guidelines, student clubs, faculty labs and personal accounts are not considered official Wayne State social media accounts and thus do not fall under this purview.

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Purpose of social media accounts

Official social media accounts are granted for the express purpose of marketing and communicating stories, news and events, as well as professional and educational activities in conjunction with your department/program's affiliation with Wayne State University.

Who should create an account? When is it appropriate to create an official Wayne State social media account?

CLAS departments, programs and organizations may want to consider creating a social media account for the purpose of communicating with a public, external audience. However, you should have a clear strategy established before creating the account, such as what will you post, who will be responsible, what frequency you can commit to, etc. For information about creating a social media strategy, see our best practices guide.

If you're unsure whether you should create a Wayne State social media account, contact the CLAS Marketing Team for a consult. We can suggest an alternative solution if a new or additional social media account is not the best fit or timing for your idea.

⚠️ Important: Please complete the CLAS Social Media New Account Request Form to secure approval for creating a new Wayne State-affiliated social media account. We will work with you to create and launch the account. For existing accounts, see "Registering existing social media accounts."

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Social media account registration and approval

Existing and future social media account created by or on behalf of an official campus entity (department or program) within CLAS must be documented and submitted to the CLAS Marketing Team to be officially recognized as a Wayne State and CLAS-affiliated account.

• Requesting a new account and approval criteria

  New social media accounts must be approved by the department chair, program director or dean and submitted using the CLAS Social Media New Account Request Form. Requests will be evaluated and approved based on the submitted proposed strategy/purpose for the account, alignment with Wayne State's marketing and communication objectives and existing social media history, i.e., accounts on other platforms, (if applicable).

  The CLAS Marketing Team will approve and work with you to create the new account, including selecting the proper type of account that you need, e.g., group, page, ad account, etc. Do not create the account before registration and approval.

  A new social media account will not be approved for a department/program if a valid social media account that already exists under the department/program's name is found to be stagnant (inactive for more than one month). If an existing account is inaccessible or no longer in use, the CLAS Marketing Team will work with you to remediate or archive the old account before creating a new one.

  Request a new social media account

  ⚠️ Important: Whenever possible, a backup of stagnant accounts should be downloaded before it is archived or terminated.

• Registering existing social media accounts

  Existing social media accounts should be registered with the CLAS Marketing Team by submitting the CLAS Social Media Existing Account Registration Form.

  Register my social media account(s)

  ⚠️ Important: Social media accounts linked to a personal email address should be re-registered to a group email address, e.g., clas@wayne.edu, anthropology@wayne.edu, etc. to ensure that access is not restricted to one individual. If such an email account does not exist or is already in use for other purposes, you can create a separate email address exclusively for social media/web-related services, e.g., anthropologysocial@wayne.edu.

  To request a group email address, complete the C&IT Group ID Request Form.

• What accounts are required to be registered?

  Accounts on all social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) including "groups" within social media platforms, namely Facebook Groups and LinkedIn Groups.

• Why do I need to register my account?
  • For new accounts, this will ensure that we can assist you in identifying the proper account type and setup, e.g., a page vs. a group, business or personal profile or an ad account that can be linked to an existing entity. Our assistance with setup also ensures that the proper settings and any verifications are completed during the account setup rather than remedially.
  • Only registered and approved accounts will be recognized by the official Wayne State CLAS (@WayneStateCLAS) and university accounts (@WayneState). We will only interact with, share and promote content from registered and approved accounts in the registry.
  • Only registered and approved accounts will be listed on the official departmental and program websites (in the footer).
  • The college is required by internal audit to document and track any digital property (social media accounts) that belong to or are affiliated with the university. Additionally, we'll document the login information (username, email and password) of all accounts for the purpose of smooth transitions between personnel, assist with hack attempts and/or remediate content violations that require intervention, including the removal of dormant accounts.
  • Use of Wayne State and CLAS logos, as well as other branded content, will only be authorized and granted to registered and approved accounts.
• Other benefits for registering your social media account(s)
  • When setting up a new social media account or registering an existing account, the CLAS Marketing Team will attempt to apply for official account verification with the social media platform. While not guaranteed by the platform, account verification raises the visibility and reputation of the social media account by the relationship to its sponsoring institution
  • Registered and approved accounts will receive guidance and support on social media best practices and support in ensuring the university's brand image is protected
  • Administrators of registered accounts will be invited to participate in the CLAS Marketing Social Media Teams Group for the exchange of ideas, best practices, etc.
  • Facebook pages will be moved into the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Business Manager in order to better facilitate ad placement on behalf of departments
  • Ensures CLAS Marketing Team support on broad-based social media ad campaigns
• Account naming

  For brand consistency and clarity, the CLAS Marketing Team will use the following naming formula for account names:

  Wayne State University {Department Name}
  e.g., Wayne State University Chemistry, Wayne State University Sociology

  Wayne State {Department Name}
  e.g., Wayne State Mathematics, Wayne State African American Studies

  Wayne State Department of {Department Name}
  e.g., Wayne State Department of Mathematics

  Note: Account names are the names that proceed the username or account handle/address, e.g., Mel Mills, @theMelMills.

• Account handle/address

  For brand consistency and clarity, the CLAS Marketing Team will try to secure a social media handle or account address for new accounts using the following naming formula, @WayneState{DepartmentName}. Example: @WayneStatePsychology, @WayneStateSociology, @WayneStateMath.

  ⚠️ Important: This naming convention will depend upon the available names on the platform and will apply to new/future accounts only unless a handle name change is warranted or desired by the department. Otherwise, handles/addresses for existing social media accounts will be left intact to preserve the account history.

• Why do we need to follow this naming convention?

  We're adopting this naming convention to:

  • Ensure branding consistency and uniformity across all official Wayne State communication channels
  • Keep account handles short, sweet and easy to remember and promote
  • Enhance our online presence and help stave off imposter accounts (though it's still possible to be impersonated)
  • Avoid impractical and unconventional account names, e.g., @WSUWayneStateEcon (Wayne State is mentioned twice), @WSUDeptNFS ("dept" is not necessary and adds to bloat)
• Changing your account handle/address

  Account handle/address changes should be approved and coordinated with the CLAS Marketing Team to ensure that the new handle/address meets the approved criteria in addition to updating our list of recognized accounts and supporting links across our communication mediums.

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Appropriate use

Official social media accounts are granted for the express purpose of marketing and communicating stories, news, events, as well as professional and educational activities in conjunction with your department/program's affiliation with Wayne State University.

Department/program social media accounts are and should act as an official entity of Wayne State University rather than solely based on your personal views.

Social media accounts should not be used for personal posts, business, gain or for professional activities not associated with the department's affiliation to Wayne State (non-academic use).

The CLAS Marketing Team and/or Wayne State Marketing and Communications reserve the right to remove and or modify content that does not adhere to the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources Policy or any university policy, branding practices (e.g., broken links, misspellings) and/or violates university accessibility standards (e.g., unreadable text).

Official university social media accounts may not:

• Post content and information that is knowingly inaccurate or false or damaging to the university's reputation or brand
• Engage in political support outside of an academic context/discussion, including the endorsement of candidates or except for officially supported positions by the university (e.g., DREAMS Act)

Remember: University employees are free to express their own views on any matter on their personal accounts and platforms. However, official university social media accounts and platforms represent and act in the interests of Wayne State University.

Accidental posts

From time to time, a social media administrator will post something intended for a personal account to the official university account. These posts should be immediately removed and clarified with a follow-up post (if appropriate to do so). Contact the CLAS Marketing Team for assistance if you're unsure.

To help avoid this, use separate apps, browsers or browser profiles when managing your personal and university social media accounts. For example, you could access your personal social media accounts in the Google Chrome browser but access official university social media accounts in Firefox. Similarly, you can manage official university accounts from a third-party app on your mobile device such as Tweet Deck, Hootsuite or Buffer. Several social media platforms now allow you to swap or "switch" between accounts. So be sure to check, double check and triple check which account you are on before posting if you are toggling between personal and university accounts.

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Oversight and responsibility

• Content for your department/program's social account is your responsibility. The CLAS Marketing Team will not post/edit content on your behalf as a matter of practice unless some prior arrangement has been made
• Administrators of registered accounts will be invited to participate in the CLAS Marketing Social Media Teams Group for the exchange of ideas, help with content, best practices, etc.
• The CLAS Marketing Team reserves the right to provide feedback on your account's content and may occasionally ask you to revise or remove content that is not in alignment with the university's mission and values or marketing objectives
• Wayne State CLAS social media accounts that are registered with and approved by the CLAS Marketing Team are required to have a member of the CLAS Marketing Team as an account administrator (with full access) or provide current account login information
• If a password has to change for whatever reason, the new password must be promptly shared with the CLAS Marketing Team to update the social media registry. Social media accounts without updated passwords will be removed approved social media registry
• Administrator access delegated to the CLAS Marketing Team will enable us more effectively monitor accounts for brand integrity, policy and guidelines-related issues including the removal of inactive accounts and smooth transition to new administrators

Help with adding account administrators by platform

Remember: The CLAS Marketing Team should be added to your social media accounts as an administrator or owner with full privileges and permissions. This will ensure that access issues do not arise when we are assisting you.

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Other major social media platforms do not grant administrators. Instead, access must be provided via the account's username/email and password

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Account integrity and maintenance, inactivity

Official university social media accounts under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are now required to maintain a minimum activity level of one post per month to remain in good standing.

⚠️ Important: Accounts that do not adhere to the one post a month minimum will be warned and provided an opportunity to bring the account in good standing. After the third warning, the incompliant account will be removed from the approved social media registry and then terminated.

Remember: One post per month should be considered the bare minimum given that the expectation in the social media world is to post weekly if not daily. Once per month is akin to showing up to classes once per month - you don't look engaged, it looks bad, deters momentum building a follower and should be avoided altogether. A healthy social media posting schedule should include a minimum of two to three posts per week. If you believe this is a challenge, especially during spring/summer months, across personnel changes, etc., then you'll want to reconsider if this is a good time to launch or continue your department/program's social media account. The CLAS Marketing Team can help you develop an alternate plan in lieu of this.

Protecting Wayne State's brand identity

Account administrators should always abide by the university and college brand identity guidelines involving the use and distribution of the university's likeness, including logos and colors.

• Contact the CLAS Marketing Team for an official department/program logo. Please do not make your own. We have graphic designers who can provide an authorized logo for your specific medium. Because of the nature of social media profile pictures and backgrounds (sizing, dimensions, etc.), we generally create custom logos for these properties that differ from those on the website, flyers, etc.
• Exceptions for university logos use will be granted on a case-by-case basis
• Only officially recognized Wayne State CLAS-affiliated social media accounts that are registered and approved have permission to use official university logos
• Separate from the logos and artwork on the actual social media account itself (profile picture and background), all posts from the social media account(s) should also ensure that all logo usage is in accordance with the university identity guidelines

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