Social Media

Account Creation and Management

• Social media is a highly visible touchpoint that requires close monitoring to ensure federal laws and DMU standards are followed.
• The marketing and communications office recommends that smaller DMU programs and departments partner with the marketing team to share messages on already approved platforms to expand audience reach.
• Contact the marketing and communications team before you create a social media presence for a DMU program, department, college or organization.
• Marketing and communications will assess the need for an account and, if approved, set up the account and recommend that a faculty member, staff member or advisor is an administrator on the page.
• It is acceptable to assign a student to co-run an account.
• A marketing team member must always have administrative access to any approved DMU account.
• Social media accounts for internal communications and audiences will not be approved. The DMU community is encouraged to use email and Pulse for these messages.
• Once approved, a department account will be considered an official DMU account. Posts from these accounts are a direct reflection of DMU’s brand.
• Account content should be focused on external facing audiences.
• DMU’s logo and name must be properly adhered to by following DMU’s brand identity guide.
• Posting on behalf of the university, its colleges and programs is not a right; it can be rescinded at any time.
• Any account that becomes inactive is subject to deletion. Inactivity is defined as no posts within 60 days.
• A representative from marketing and communications will monitor accounts for activity and content. You will be contacted about inactive accounts or inappropriate content and how to proceed.

Best Practices

• Post regularly. There is no reason to have a social media presence if the content is not updated frequently. If your area does not have the resources to maintain fresh, lively social media pages, it is better not to have them. Alternatively, you could work with marketing and communications and ask them to post, tweet, etc., your news through the university’s main social media sites. This is preferred and makes for a more unified university messaging plan.
• Have a plan. Consider the audience, the message and social media goals/targets.
• Engage in friendly, civil and respectful conversations. Address issues that arise from the community when appropriate.
• Ensure content is accurate and current.
• Make your posts engaging. Posts perform better when a photo or video is attached with a link.
• Whenever possible, link to DMU’s website to help drive traffic to dmu.edu.
• Be transparent. Acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.
• Interact with those who are engaging in our content.
• Use brand voice and stay positive. Do not use negative language.
• Never display or promote content that violates DMU policies.
• Do not endorse or oppose political candidates or engage in politically charged discussions.
• Monitor social accounts and remove comments, photos, video links and posts that contain profanity, are spam or are unlawful, threatening, harassing, bullying or hateful content.
• Social media may generate interest from the press. If you are contacted in any way by a member of the media, contact the marketing and communications team before responding.
• Employees are encouraged to share university news and events that are a matter of public record on their personal social media sites.
• It is never permissible to share patient information under any circumstances. All HIPAA rules apply to social media channels. Refrain from sharing information about patients, donors and other friends of DMU without obtaining permission.