2014 University of Texas and Sociology Department Social Media Guidelines Both the University of Texas at Austin and the UT Sociology Department have developed best practices for using social media in the academic context. It is important to remain aware that your professional reputation will be affected by the many ways in which you choose to represent yourself in the public sphere. This is even more important as you represent the department by contributing to the blog or by tweeting @UTAustinSOC. UT Austin Social Media Guidelines Sociology Department Social Media Guidelines UT Austin Social Media Guidelines Source: Social Media Collaborative @UT (www.utexas.edu/know/directory/guidelines) We believe it is important for all University of Texas at Austin units, faculty, staff and students to be aware of social media and how social technologies can help you create and nurture relationships, share information, advance knowledge, raise awareness, build support, participate in important conversations and collaborate on new ideas. Whether you’re a faculty member using social media as a part of the classroom experience or a staff member who’s been charged with the exciting task of growing a social media presence for an administrative unit, you’ll find these guidelines helpful in navigating the quickly evolving world of social technologies. Guiding Principles for Engaging with Social Media University Communications at UT Austin wants to help all university staff, faculty, students, as well as our Web visitors, engage in social media, blogs, social networks and the online community. University Communications offers these additional best practices for engaging in social media. Respect and Ethics At UT Austin we encourage different viewpoints and opinions, and as a participant in social media, you should, too. Be respectful of others’ viewpoints. If you disagree and would like to engage in a conversation, do so cordially, logically and ethically. As always, the university’s code of ethics applies, even in the realm of social media and online networks. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “private” social media Web site. What you write from your home computer may follow you to school or work. Accuracy and Honesty Write about your areas of expertise, research or study at UT Austin. If you are writing about a topic related to the university, or research conducted at the university, but you are not the in- house expert on the topic, make this clear to your readers and check the facts before you post. If there is a Web site you used to gather facts, provide the link for your readers to show accountability. Also, always write in the first person. Your unique voice contributes to the overall message of the university. If you make a mistake, admit it. Your followers will be more willing to forgive and forget if you are up front and quick with your correction. Maintain a high level of quality that exhibits superior grammar, punctuation and spelling. Value and Interest

1 When posting to your blog, Twitter or Facebook, ask yourself if your content adds value and interest to the discussion. Make sure your comment, post or tweet is a valued piece of information. If your insight helps people improve knowledge or skills, discover something interesting, solve problems, or better understand The University of Texas at Austin, more than likely you are adding value. There are millions of people, companies and universities on the Web. If you want to stand above the clutter, make sure you provide content that is exciting, engaging and stimulating. Personality In the social media realm, you are encouraged to use your own voice and bring your personality to the forefront. The Web is a venue that is relaxed, open and diverse–embrace it. A voice that is over-institutionalized and rehearsed can repel your audience. Make sure your site is not a place for self-promotion. Some social media sites, such as Twitter, close down such sites. Transparency and Disclosure When communicating using social media or blogs–Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Blogger, Word Press, or others–on behalf of UT Austin, or in your role as a university staff or faculty member, make sure you clearly identify yourself and your affiliation with the university. Being open about your ties to the university will illustrate credibility and transparency. Make sure you have a formal disclosure that identifies your comments as your unique viewpoints. For instance: “The posts on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent UT Austin’s academic goals or opinions.” When writing for personal blogs or social networking sites, make sure you disclose your affiliation with the university if you discuss university-related topics. This will enhance credibility with your readers. Social Media Guidelines Whether you’re a faculty member using social media as a part of the classroom experience or a staff member who’s been charged with the exciting task of growing a social media presence for an administrative unit, you’ll find these guidelines helpful in navigating the quickly evolving world of social technologies. I. Introduction a. The people of UT Austin make meaningful connections all over the world. Social technologies on the Web make the excellent research, teaching and public service taking place at the university even more accessible. We believe it is important for all university units, faculty, staff and students to be aware of social media and how social technologies can help you create and nurture relationships, share information, advance knowledge, raise awareness, build support, participate in important conversations and collaborate on new ideas. If we incorporate engaging with social media as a part of our overall communications about the university, we can even more effectively tell the wonderful stories about our people, places and programs, and support the university’s mission to improve the quality of life for the people of Texas, the nation and the world. We think social media simply provide fun and creative ways to interact with people you might not otherwise hear from with more traditional tools.

2 b. Each college, school and unit –- and individual faculty and staff members –- at the university should evaluate what, if any, social media technologies are appropriate for their communication needs. c. These guidelines are to ensure appropriate and effective use of social media. The guidelines will evolve as social media evolve. II. Guidelines For Faculty and Staff a. These social media guidelines pertain to your professional interests as a faculty or staff member of The University of Texas at Austin and how you represent the university and your college, school or unit. This document doesn’t address publishing or regulating personal content on privately maintained social media platforms. b. Know and follow the institutional rules on speech and expression in the General Information catalog, the university’s Web publishing guidelines, the Acceptable Use Policy for information technology and the Web Privacy Policy. Talk with your supervisor if you have questions about how these social media guidelines fit with your unit’s communications plan, or if you have questions about the university-wide policies referenced here. c. You are personally responsible for the content you post on university-managed social media properties – from blogs and microblogs to social networks, forums and other social media platforms. d. It’s important to be transparent to your audience when posting on behalf of the university about work-related matters or other issues related to the university. Be sure to identify yourself with your name and affiliation to the university when contributing your personal comments and statements on a university-managed social media property. Examples of disclosure methods could include @usernames that contain UT Austin and/or your unit name, a link to a bio or “about me” page or a statement in the post itself, such as “I work for UT Austin, and this is my personal opinion.” Posts that don’t mention work-related topics won’t need to reference your university relationship. e. Follow copyright and fair use laws to the letter. f. Be aware of and follow FERPA and students’ privacy, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 protecting students’ personally identifiable information in educational records. g. Protect confidential or personal information from The University of Texas at Austin and of students, faculty or staff members. If you have any questions about what constitutes classified data, consult the Extended List of Category-I Data provided on the Information Technology Services website. h. Assume conversations about UT Austin are internal and private. Ask permission prior to sharing these conversations via social media properties.

3 i. Always show respect. Don’t publish content containing slurs, personal insults or attacks, profanity or obscenity, and don’t engage in any conduct on a social media site that would not be acceptable in UT Austin workplaces or classrooms. When maintaining or contributing to university-managed social media properties, we should follow the same standards of nondiscrimination and social conduct as outlined by Equal Opportunity Services at the university. We should also expect the same of our visitors to the university’s social media outlets. For more best practices about engaging with social media, consult the Guiding Principles for Engaging with Social Media on the university’s Know Social Media Directory. j. Be aware of your association with UT Austin in online social networks. Your profile and content should be consistent in the manner you wish to present yourself to colleagues, students, parents, alumni and others. III. For Social Media Property/Community Managers a. Follow the guidelines for Faculty and Staff found in Section II, Part 1 of this document. b. Before debuting a social media initiative, you are encouraged to develop a social media strategy that should be a part of your unit’s overall communications plan. This strategy should be approved by your unit leader before releasing the social media property to the public. A social media strategy first involves an assessment of your 1) communication goals and objectives, 2) audience needs and interests, and 3) maintenance and content creation resources, and whether a given social media technology is even an appropriate channel to meet those three essential needs. Based on that evaluation, if your unit decides to pursue using a social media platform, the strategy you create should reflect five key areas: 1. Listening: Find and monitor the conversations already taking place in the social media sphere about the university, your unit and your subject of interest. 2. Influencing: Identify and follow key influencers in your target subject of interest and learn what they find valuable in the social media realm. 3. Engaging: Develop creative ways to provide value to your audiences through exclusive content, offers, advice, multimedia and more on your social media sites. 4. Converting: Persuade your audiences to act on behalf of the university and your unit, whether it’s for information sharing or relationship building or through their influence, time or money. 5. Measuring: Ensure your social media effort is on the road to success by returning regularly to your pre-defined measurable goals and objectives. If your unit does not have an overall communications plan with which you can align your social media strategy, or if you need help conducting an assessment or developing your social media strategy, contact and work with your unit’s media representative. c. Provide your official UT Austin social media site URLs to the University Communications Digital Content Group to be included in the university’s Know Social Media Directory. Doing so encourages cross-site collaboration with all university-managed social media properties and

4 creates a one-stop directory for the university community and the university’s Web audiences to connect with our social media platforms. d. Social media sites at the university should be marked “official” in some way, where appropriate (for example, in a Twitter bio or in the Facebook “about” section) and follow the university’s What Starts Here Changes the World brand and visual guidelines. e. Official UT Austin social media properties should provide contact names and email addresses, or correct website URLs that point back to the university’s Web properties. f. Where appropriate, guidelines should be posted on UT Austin social media sites that make clear expectations of community members – as well as of its site managers. (Visit the About section of The Ideas of Texas website for an example of guidelines that help Ideas of Texas site contributors be responsible members of that Web community.) g. All UT Austin social media sites should be monitored (and moderated, where appropriate) to ensure the community is following the unit-developed site and comments guidelines. h. If a team of managers and content contributors is posting content on a University of Texas at Austin social media site, each post should be “signed” by the person who posted it (for example, “Posted by J. Smith, University Communications,” or “^JS” on Twitter). i. It’s encouraged to link to UT Austin websites, online giving pages, etc., from university- managed social media sites. However, don’t link to password-protected UT Direct services from third-party social media properties. If you wish to direct someone to a UT Direct service, link to a university-owned Web page that then directs visitors to the password-protected site. For example, “To access this service, visit [department home page] and log in to UT Direct.” j. All UT Austin social media sites are encouraged to use the approved, standard “Contribute Now” button – available from the Office of Development – on social media platforms, where it’s possible to do so. No other “Contribute Now” buttons should be used. k. UT Austin -managed social media sites can’t host advertising. On third-party social media platforms, if ads can be turned off on university pages, they should be. On sites such as Facebook where ads can’t be eliminated without significant investment, the units should make sure the benefit of being on Facebook outweighs the risks of advertising being hosted on the page. l. All University of Texas at Austin-managed social media sites should meet the university’s Information Security Office standards. We emphasize the importance of controlling the administration of organizational social media accounts; that is, keeping the number of administrative publishers to a minimum and having rules in place for managing login credentials. Don’t share your social media passwords around the workplace or classroom. m. All UT Austin -managed social media sites should meet the university’s Web Accessibility Policy. University pages on third-party social media sites should make the best effort to follow Web accessibility guidelines. University-managed social media sites can be hosted by third parties as long as they meet Web accessibility and Information Security Office guidelines. 5 n. Agencies working on behalf of UT Austin must also follow these guidelines, including disclosing their business affiliation. IV. Need Help? a. If you have questions about this social media guidelines document, contact University Communications at [email protected]. b. If you discover inappropriate behavior on a UT Austin -managed social media property, contact University Communications at [email protected]. c. If you want to exchange ideas with UT Austin colleagues who are engaging with social media, subscribe to the Social Media Collaborative @UT mailing list, and let the discovery and collaboration begin. VI. About the Social Media Guidelines a. Document Authors: This social media guidelines document was authored by a group of the university’s Social Media Collaborative @UT, a consortium of staff, faculty and students devoted to using social media technologies to further the mission of UT Austin. b. Review Process: This document will be annually reviewed (and revised, if necessary) by the Social Media Collaborative @UT. Sociology Department Social Media Guidelines

Protocols for Sociology Blogs, Twitter, and Facebook Accounts

1. Sociology Department Graduate Program Blog - UTAustinSOC

Blog administrators include:  Sociology staff members Kevin Hsu, Julie Kniseley, and Evelyn Porter;  A student blog editor who posts and reviews student authors’ posts.

Blog posts are edited prior to posting by the blog editor and an available staff member. This helps to ensure quality and content consistency, while allowing a variety of graduate students voices to be heard.

When writing a blog post, here are some things to remember:  If you are planning to write a blog post about a faculty member’s talk, ask the faculty member’s permission prior to the event. If you are planning to record the talk, ask the faculty member’s permission prior to the event. It is very important that faculty members understand whether their talk will be recorded or written about publicly prior to speaking;  Review the post for spelling and grammatical errors – this is a public forum with your name attached;  When using photos that are not our own, use images that are in the public domain and credit the photographer to avoid copyright infringement;  Blogging in an academic forum helps build your online reputation. Think about how your writing reflects on your image as a scholar and how you represent the Sociology department with the content and quality of your writing.

6 2. Sociology Department Graduate Program Facebook Page

To prevent cyber stalking, the department’s Facebook page is managed by Sociology staff members who are the only authorized posters. Followers of the page can like and comment. However, the page administrators monitor comments and review new followers to prevent abuse.

3. Sociology Department Graduate Program Twitter Account - @UTAustinSOC

Just as a personal Twitter account builds connections and shares links and discussion trends, the department Twitter account represents the department’s effort to build social networks and contribute to a growing public body of Sociology. It is important to note distinctions between the department’s Twitter account and your personal account and to avoid representing one side of a controversial issue as an officially sanctioned point of view.

 The departmental Twitter account is used to: o Highlight faculty and student scholarly work; o Report from conferences and academic presentations; o Promote university events and news.

 Always identify yourself by your own handle when using @UTAustinSOC: o At the beginning, e.g.: “tweeting from @UTAustinSOC is @personal handle”; o At the ending, e.g.: “It’s been great tweeting for @UTAustinSOC, follow me @personal handle. See you next time.”

 Replying to a tweet helps to keep that conversation stream linked. o The original tweet and every subsequent reply becomes part of the conversation, collating all the tweets in the stream; o Numbering your tweets as you reply also provides continuity.

 Mention @UTAustinSOC when a personal tweet is relevant when: o Tweeting a relevant sociological topic; o You are using your personal account and tweeting to a network of scholars who follow UTAustinSOC; o Citing UTAustinSOC in a tweet; o Retweeting a UTAustinSOC tweet automatically or with commentary upfront.

 Use your own Twitter account when: o You are part of a non-academic social media discussion; o Your opinion is the main focus or content; o You want to promote your own twitter feed; o Discussing controversial topics that don’t represent the department or the university as a whole.

7 Further resources:

Academic Twitter Kris.Shafermusic.com Deborah Upton – Introducing Digital Sociology

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