Guidelines + Best Practices

General Guidelines

Establish a Strategy

It’s never too late to implement a social media strategy. Reflect on the communications goals that you want to achieve and how they will help accomplish broader goals for your unit. Use these goals to inform a strategy that will drive your platform and content decisions, and measure against them to understand your progress.

Prioritize Accuracy

It is our duty as a public institution to maintain accuracy and transparency in the information shared with our audiences. It is best to carefully verify information before sharing on a public platform. If there is a mistake in your content, delete the post, fix, and re-share.

Protect Privacy and Adhere to Policies

Whether shared in the platform feed or through private messaging, keep in mind that all information disseminated by a University account can become and remain public for many years to come. Do not share confidential or personal information that can potentially compromise the privacy or safety of individuals in our community. Additionally, social media accounts managed by public university employees are subject to the North Carolina Public Records Act.

Per the office of OneIT, keep in mind the following guidelines when creating a password for a social media account.

Consider these recommendations when selecting a password:

  • Passwords should not contain your last name, first name, ​department name, ​or email address.
  • Avoid using dictionary words in passwords.
  • Consider using a “passphrase” that will be easy to remember and substitute some letters with numbers or symbols.

Follow these steps for keeping passwords secure:

  • Treat passwords as confidential information and do not share them with others.
  • Do not use passwords created to access University systems for non-University systems.
  • Do not use the “Remember Password” feature in browsers and applications.
  • Do not store passwords in a file unless the file is encrypted.

Maintain Activity

Manage a regular posting cadence and engagement with other users to maintain an active presence on all accounts. Planning ahead and using calendars or scheduling tools can help maintain a steady stream of content.

Uphold Responsibility

All content shared on affiliated accounts is an extension of the University’s brand and reflective of the University’s stance on public policies or issues. Be intentional with all content shared on your channels, realizing that reputational damage can result from missteps.

Be Consistent with the Brand

For a consistent brand presence across the university, please use official logos and graphics that adhere to the university brand guidelines.

If you have any questions related to the management of your social media accounts, please contact the University Communications social media team.

Promote access and inclusion

As part of UNC Charlotte’s mission to create an inclusive campus environment, account administrators should strive to follow best practices that promote disability access and inclusion. The below links will help you ensure your content is accessible across the various platforms you may operate.