Be responsible - You are personally responsible for the material you post. Remember, you are speaking on behalf of DSC Academic Support Services. Carefully consider your content. All statements must be true and not misleading.
Be honest and transparent - Your honesty, or dishonesty, will quickly be noticed in the social media environment.
Correct errors quickly - If you make a mistake, correct it hastily. Be upfront and quickly provide the correct information. If appropriate, modify an earlier post to make it clear that you have corrected an error.
Be respectful - When disagreeing with others' opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. Do not use defamatory, libelous, or damaging innuendos, or include abusive, threatening, offensive, obscene, explicit or racist language. Do not post illegal material.
Be relevant and add value - There is a lot of written content in the social media environment. The best way to get yours read is to write things that people will find of interest and value. Social communication should help collaborate DSC administration, faculty, staff, students (past, present, future), and patrons. It should be thought-provoking and also build a sense of community.
Stick to your area of expertise - Provide unique, individual perspectives on what is going on in your department. Post meaningful, respectful comments that inform, educate, and engage users.
Respect proprietary information, content and confidentiality - Always give people proper kudos for their work. Make sure you have the right to use material when attributing to the published site. It is a good practice to link to others’ work rather than reproducing it on your site.
Respond quickly - When a response is appropriate, reply to comments in a timely manner.
Be conversational - Talk to your readers like you would talk to a person on the phone. Consider content that is open-ended and invites response. Encourage comments. Broaden the conversation by citing others who are commenting about the same topic and allowing your content to be shared or syndicated.
Abide by social networks rules - By joining a particular social network, you agree to abide by that community’s terms of service, so review those terms carefully. Be a good citizen of the social media world and adhere to its unwritten rules of etiquette.
Don’t forget your day job - You should make sure that your online activities do not interfere with your job or commitments to customers.
Adapted from the State of Washington Social Media Guidelines and Best Practices, November 2010.