Social media is the best, underused tool available to reach students and continue to foster a community of inclusivity and promote the various programs and services from UAB Student Affairs Departments. By unifying the Student Affairs Departments under the SAMAC social media guidelines, we will reach students and promote the services provided by our various Departments.
Above all, SAMAC wants to educate and empower Departments to run their social media accounts within their Departments. Our guidelines are meant to be a resource for Department social media managers to run successful platforms and reach their full potential.
No new social media platform should be created without discussion of the platform with the SAMAC Web Content Coordinator.
View UAB Student Affairs Social Media Guidelines
Best Practices
Articulate your Strategy
Develop a clear plan that reflects the unique personality of your unit, the audience(s) you hope to reach, and establishes objectives and desired outcomes. Plan your work, and work your plan. Review and adjust as needed.
Be Transparent about who You are
You are an ambassador. Focus on telling your organization’s story honestly and providing accurate, timely information that is relevant to your audience. This will encourage them to share your information with their own followers with confidence.
Monitor and Participate in the Conversation
Social media sites thrive on sharing and feedback among many users. It is important to monitor discussions that might stem from what you’re sharing and topics related to what you’re sharing to find new content. Following UAB accounts is a great place to start.
Anticipate Feedback
If you run into an issue, question, or confrontation with a follower that you can’t personally handle, what’s the appropriate path for you to take?
Measure what Matters to you
A goal should be measurable. Do you want friends, followers, retweets, likes, comments, site visitors?
Guard UAB’s Reputation
Remember - online you speak for the university as well as for your unit. Strive for accuracy, correct any errors quickly and visibly, and answer questions. If you have questions about whether it is appropriate to write about certain material, ask your communications director or OPRM. Be mindful of UAB’s policies and guidelines at https://www.uab.edu/brand/web.
- Protect confidentiality. This is a public arena. Do not post, comment upon or share confidential, proprietary or protected health information about any person, program or entity. All federal guidelines such as FERPA andHIPAA and university policies must be observed.
- Respect copyright and fair use laws. Observe laws governing copyright and fair use of copyrighted material owned by others, including UAB's own copyrights and brands.
- Include a user-generated content statement. UAB encourages posts, comments and feedback on its social media pages, but user-generated content does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the university and it is not screened or approved by UAB before it is posted.