Social Media Policy

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Social Media Policy

CP-200-08
Social Media Policy
DepartmentCommunications & Marketing
Creation DateJuly 15, 2016
Approval DateAugust 15, 2016
Effective DateAugust 15, 2016

Organizational Scope

All Michener Staff, Faculty, Students, Student Groups, Alumni Groups and Volunteers

Purpose

This policy was created to guide the Michener community in how to set up and manage social media channels in a way that supports Michener’s mandate, mission and impact on society. This Social Media Policy serves to enable users to confidently represent Michener appropriately, and to engage in social media in an official capacity where possible. The intention of this policy is to facilitate online knowledge sharing and to contribute to the body of knowledge on Michener and the applied health professions.

Social Media

Social media is defined as any online/digital communication channel or mechanism that connects one or more individuals or groups through open sharing and accessible content formats. These channels include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, lnstagram, Pinterest, blogs, Storify, Flickr and Tumblr, among many others.

Accountability and monitoring compliance

Michener’s Communications and Marketing Department is responsible for monitoring compliance with this policy and updating it as required. It is the responsibility of users posting to social media to be aware of the terms of service, policies and privacy settings of any social media platform used. Refer to the Privacy Policy.

Official Social Media Channels and Communities

Social Media Content

The Social Media Policy is supported by Social Media Procedures & Guidelines, which provide guidance on the publication of content and commentary on social media by staff, faculty, alumni, students and student groups of The Michener Institute of Education at UHN (Michener). This policy is in addition to and complements any current or future policies regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the internet.

Policy

All social media accounts representing Michener are approved by the Communications and Marketing Department.

All users of social media are expected to follow the same ethical standards that Michener employees and/or students must otherwise follow.  Please refer to the Rights and Responsibilities Document

Setting up Social Media

To start using social media to represent a department/Michener in a way that is not already being utilized or by creating a new account on a platform that is currently being utilized, make a request to the Communication and Marketing Department. With that request, provide:

  • The audience to reach
  • How social media is the best way to reach them
  • The type of content to be shared
  • The job title responsible for the account and the creation of content
  • A sustainability plan for ongoing maintenance and uploads using the tool

Social media identities, login IDs and user names may not use Michener’s name without prior approval from the Communications and Marketing Department. If there is already an official Michener account on the social media tool that you wish to use, or request administrator access, or another name will have to be used. You can work with the Communication and Marketing Department to come up with ideas.

Michener photographs must be used for profile photographs of all official accounts. Michener photographs of the building, the internal facilities, program specific settings, etc. can be obtained from the Communications and Marketing Department.

Service Standards for Social Media- See Social Media Guidelines document.

Sustainability

To keep Michener visible in the social media sphere, we need to make sure that each account has a sustainability plan. Each account needs to stay visible and managed by those responsible on a daily or weekly basis. Back-ups must be designated for every account to cover vacation time and/or employee turnover. A sustainability plan for each account should be created before the creation of the account. The Communications and Marketing Department can help put together your sustainability plan when setting up new accounts.

Reinforcement of the policy

Social media is monitored by the Communications and Marketing Department on a regular basis as part of a pre-established media monitoring protocol. When statements that contravene this policy are identified and attributed to Michener employees or students, the appropriate Michener authorities will be informed.

Process of Reinforcement

Policy violations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment and program suspension or expulsion.

Associated Documentation

Revision History

Date Reviewer Change(s) Made
July 15, 2016 Jacqueline Waldorf Policy created