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Which platform should I focus on?

• Facebook is the broadest of the social networks, reaching audiences of all ages and demographics. While engagement may seemingly not look as high on this platform versus others, it’s considered the flagship social media network with the largest overall active user numbers.
• X is useful for sharing frequent content about meetings, events, news, and emergency information and engaging in conversation with specific audiences. These audiences may range from prospective students to media, researchers and community leaders. This is a good platform to post “snackable” updates to policies, events and alerts.
• LinkedIn not only provides professional benefits for individuals, it also provides the opportunity to connect with prospective students and alumni. LinkedIn offers the ability to create groups to connect, encourage discussion and post information to audiences who are already interested and invested in the university.
• Instagram offers the opportunity to capture the essence and culture of the university through multimedia and high-quality aesthetics. It offers an insider's perspective into the different areas, programs and relationships on campus. Generally used by a younger audience, this platform allows information to be distributed via image stories rather than plain text.
• YouTube is an effective communications tool for sharing videos about a variety of topics, ranging from student life activities to classroom lectures and other significant events or conferences on campus. The possibility of playlists allows for curated content that is easy for the end user to find and experience.

What is the best type of content to post on social media?

• Facebook: General updates, short and catchy videos, engaging content (open-ended questions, nostalgia-inducing, shareable)
• X: "Snackable content," transactional in nature, images/gifs��
• LinkedIn: Newsy, career-related, job promotions, new positions, linked posts, images and engaging call-to-action links
• Instagram: Photos or video from the student’s perspective and high-quality vertical content on IG stories
• YouTube: High-quality video, longer form videos

How often should I post on social media?

The amount will depend on your follower countOn a platform with a single password per profile (like X), this is activated in the platform account. On and how active or engaged they are with your content across the various platforms. Some platforms and their algorithms can handle multiple posts per day better than others. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to the number of posts per day or week.��

General suggestions:

• Facebook: minimum 3x/week, maximum 3x/day
• X: minimum 1x/day, maximum 5x/day
• LinkedIn: minimum 3x/week, maximum 2x/day
• Instagram:
  • Feed/Grid: minimum 3x/week, maximum 3x/day
  • Story: maximum 10x/day

Note: the size of your account (number of followers) and the engagement level of your followers will impact the amount of content each platform can handle. Keep in mind that most social media platforms are algorithmic, meaning it will likely take time to see significant results and changes to your analytics when trying a new strategic approach.

Want to learn more? Schedule a meeting with SRC team members.

Social Media Management (SMM) Tools/Platforms

If you are planning to use or purchase a third-party tool/platform or utilize internal managers like Meta’s business manager to help manage your unit’s social media accounts, set up a consultation with SRC prior to taking any steps. The consultation will cover:

• Understanding of needs
• Tools already in use across campus
• Ways to coordinate/share

Administrator Access

Across the major social media platforms there are two types of administration access models:

• A single password per profile (i.e. X or Instagram)
  • For platforms like this, the email associated with the account should be a shared department email, not an individual email address (assigned to a single person).
• Individuals with their own profile who are granted administrator access for a page (i.e. Facebook or LinkedIn)

Primary Administrator Roles for Official University Social Media Sites should only be assigned to CU Boulder employees. When the university contracts with a third-party vendor to assist with the management of an Official University Social Media Site, the assigned university employees will maintain ultimate responsibility for its content.

1. Official University Social Media Sites shall have a minimum of two primary administrators to ensure consistent management. Should one administrator be unavailable, the second assigned administrator will manage the site.
2. At least one of the two primary administrators should be a full-time CU Boulder employee.
3. Upon departure from the institution, Official University Social Media Site administrators and/or those who access these sites must provide and/or transfer site access to another eligible employee.

Account Security

Official university social media accounts are strongly encouraged to utilize two-factor authentication. In the case of a platform with a single password per profile (like X) this is activated in the platform account. In the case of a platform that utilizes individual accounts, this would be activated at the individual account level.

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection and security. When setting up two-factor authentication, it is recommended that Administrators use an authentication app instead of a phone number or individual email (tied to a specific person). Currently, the University utilizes Duo Mobile as an authentication method for some of the university’s sites and services.

Additionally, it is highly recommended that login and password information is kept in a secure or encrypted file, such as Bitwarden (recommended by OIT).��

Account Creation

It is easy to create new social media channels, but it is challenging to sustain its success as part of your unit’s marketing/communications/community goals as well as the entire campus ecosystem. Before you create a new channel, set up a consultation with SRC. The consultation will cover:

• Tactical and strategic assessment of impacts to your unit’s goals, impacts to your constituents (current and prospective), impacts to the campus ecosystem
• Review of best practices
• Resources available
• Content coordination

Disclosures and Disclaimers

A social media site that represents a CU Boulder college, department, unit or other official program should clearly state its affiliation in its description and follow platform policies as well as related university policies. See our Branding section for approved language.

Account Removal (including pausing)

If you are planning to close or decommission one of your social media accounts, set up a consultation with SRC prior to taking any steps. The consultation will cover:

• Tactical and strategic assessment of impacts to your unit’s goals, impacts to your constituents (current and prospective), impacts to the campus ecosystem
• Best way to deactivate and notify by platform
• Procedures to maintain logins
• Other places to update, like web and email templates

Learn more on our Brand and Messaging website.

Community Interaction

It’s important for our community to know that there are humans behind every post and interaction on official CU Boulder social media sites. Interacting with the community is one of the ways we can show we are actively engaged. Interacting with the community may transpire in the form of using platform reaction tools (i.e. a thumbs up or a heart); sharing or reposting content and/or replying to a comment or direct message. Using the CU Boulder Creed can guide our tone and manner and aid us in using inclusive language, empathy and authenticity in our social media interactions.

Those managing official social media accounts must also follow CU Boulder’s guidance on free expression. CU Boulder’s Free Expression webpage specifies “Freedom of expression, as guaranteed under the First Amendment, and academic freedom, as defined by the Laws of the Regents, while distinctly separate concepts, are central to CU Boulder’s academic mission and underlie our community values of inclusivity and critical thinking. This site outlines CU Boulder’s steadfast commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom and highlights relevant policies, programs and events.”

Please reach out to the Strategic Relations and Communications team for further guidance, if needed, or before you react, respond or act upon a post, message or comment for which you have a concern.

Familiarity and knowledge of how and when to report concerns of harassment, discrimination or harm is highly recommended. Work with your supervisor or Human Resources representative to clarify your role as a mandatory reporter and, at minimum, reference the university’s “Don’t Ignore It” site for resources and options.

Moderation

CU Boulder is committed to fostering an educational environment that allows for freedom of speech and expression in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Posts, comments and messages left by other users that are protected by the First Amendment may not be deleted and users cannot be blocked. Additionally, comment filtering must be disabled or set to the lowest possible setting.

Profile administrators must consult with the Strategic Relations and Communications before taking any action against content on social media profiles (SRC may draw upon the expertise of other experts on campus, such as OIEC or Legal Counsel). Profile administrators may refer social media activity that is inconsistent with the platform’s guidelines or terms of service to the applicable social media platform and/or authorities for appropriate action.

Please reach out to the Strategic Relations and Communications team prior to taking action to hide or delete any posts, comments, messages or replies.

Listening

Brand or social listening is a critical component of your social media strategy and beyond. It can be time consuming and get complex when going beyond just mentions. Campus best practices are in development. To learn more about this practice visit this�� and also set up a consultation with SRC to learn more about how campuswide efforts can align with your unit’s efforts to ensure success and reduce duplication.

Crisis and Emergency Communication

Content and messaging decisions for crisis, issues and emergency communications and messaging should default to Strategic Relations and Communications. Only the following Official University Social Media Sites may originate messaging pertaining to crisis, issues and emergencies:

• CU Boulder Facebook page, X account and/or Instagram account
• CU Boulder Police Facebook page and X account
• CU Boulder Alerts X account

Strategic Relations and Communications will coordinate with law enforcement and public information officers. If you encounter an emergency or crisis, please contact your unit’s dedicated Public Information Officer from Strategic Relations and Communications. Note that life-threatening emergencies and criminal activity should be reported to law enforcement.

If you have questions or concerns regarding a high-volume interaction, a comment/post of concern or similar topics please reach out to the SRC team.

Content on Official University Social Media Sites

All Official University Social Media Sites must adhere to state and federal laws and regulations and CU Boulder policies. Only public information may be posted on Official University Social Media Sites. Official University Social Media Sites must not contain Private Information (as defined in the University of Colorado System policy glossary), or other confidential information as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations, as applicable. Any Private Information or other confidential information posted on an Official University Social Media Site must be removed by a site administrator as soon as practically possible upon discovery.

CU Boulder is committed to fostering an educational environment that allows for freedom of speech and expression in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Read more at the Free Expression website.

Copyright and Licensed Assets

While sharing publicly available content in social networks is encouraged and key to the “viral” nature of social media, there are still copyright protections that must be honored, especially when posting content from university-related social media channels.

Best practices when it comes to identifying content not created explicitly by your account:

• Make sure you’re using the appropriate account type (see below).
• Give credit to photographs, original posters, etc.
• Opt for sharing a post rather than copying and pasting as an original post
• Download “reposting” apps for Instagram to make direct sharing easier

For more information see the CU Boulder Web Development Guidelines.

Account Type

CU Boulder is considered as a business and a brand. Please keep this in mind when deciding what type of account you select on a platform. Users should avoid risks of violating copyright, trademark or licensing claims.

As an example, Instagram offers personal and professional accounts. Organizations, units and departments at CU Boulder are not considered as personal accounts and should be positioned at professional accounts. Professional accounts also provide insights and data not available to personal accounts. Within the professional account setting, an account can be set up as either Business or Creator. Instagram specifies: “A creator account is best for public figures, content producers, artists and influencers, while a business account is best for businesses looking to grow and reach customers.”��CU Boulder and its organizations, departments and units are businesses or part of a business. The recommendation is that official social media accounts are established as business accounts. This option may limit the use of some licensed or commercial sounds and assets, but in doing so, it limits the risk and liabilities of violating a copyright claim.

Please contact us with any questions about account types.

Accessibility

All people should have the opportunity to access the same information and services in the digital environment without facing undue barriers or burdens. Content on Official University Social Media Sites should be created to respect accessibility concerns and meet the Digital Accessibility Policy stipulations.

For expert training for you and your team, reach out to the Digital Accessibility Office.

Paid advertising on behalf of CU Boulder and its colleges, units, schools, departments and programs must be in alignment with applicable University policies and must follow University of Colorado System and CU Boulder’s cohesive brand platform and branding standards.

To schedule time to talk with an expert about paid social and digital marketing at CU Boulder, use the Digital Support, Analytics and Reporting Requests Form.

Social Media: A software system or service provided via the internet used to communicate and share information between people through interactions with video, audio, text, or multimedia. Examples include, but are not limited to: Facebook, X, Pinterest, Instagram, Snap, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Reddit, and other similar services.

Official University Social Media Site: A social media site that represents a CU Boulder college, department, unit, or official program and/or a social media site created by CU Boulder employees for the official business purposes of CU Boulder, including, but not limited to, CU Boulder faculty, groups, departments, programs, entities, etc. It will, therefore, impact students, faculty, and staff who utilize various social media for communication in conjunction with representing CU Boulder.

CU Boulder Employee: An Employee as defined in the CU System policy glossary, and including all CU Boulder faculty, classified staff, and university staff.

Primary Administrator Role: The rights assigned to an individual that grants the responsibility and permissions necessary to manage and maintain a social media site.