Social Media Policies & Guidelines
Social Media at a Glance
Social media serves as an informal method of communicating with the student body, staff and faculty. It is conversational, personable and familiar to nearly everyone.
Social media delivers instant, up-to-date information via posts, tweets, statuses, blogs, etc. This provides a great networking tool for students, faculty, staff and the community. Benefits to students include the ability to make connections with others and to interact with the Palm Beach State College in an instant and informal manner to gain academic and social information.
The users gain added value by seeing other people’s questions answered on the pages and feeds, as well as follow-ups on reviews, whether good or bad. Thereby they gain a sense of trust that PBSC is paying attention to their questions and concerns.
The purpose of having Social Media Policies, Guidelines and Best Practices in place is to ensure social media accounts created on behalf of PBSC follow all brand and College guidelines for content and behavior. This and any related documents regarding policy, guidelines and best practices will be updated to reflect growing changes in the social media industry and PBSC’s strategic marketing goals.
Download a PDF version of the Social Media Policies & Guidelines
Official Accounts
Office of Communications and Public Affairs (OCPA) has created social networks through many of today's popular social media sites to establish an online community between PBSC and its students, faculty and staff, alumni and prospective students. OCPA currently maintains an active College presence on the following social media sites: palmbeachstate.edu/socialmedia.
Content Oversight
All social media sites representing PBSC are monitored by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs staff to ensure they are used appropriately. We encourage engagement in these sites; however, the College social media pages will not provide a forum for unacceptable communication, including but not limited to spam, commercial sales, obscene language, threats, harassment, discrimination, hate messages, illegal activity, and copyright or trademark infringement. Any inappropriate posting will be removed, and the person will be blocked from posting comments on our pages.
Social Media in the Workplace
PERSONAL VS. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTS
Many employees also have their own personal social media pages. With the popularity of social media, it is expected that employees will participate in the College pages in some fashion. The College does not control comments that persons make on their personal pages; however, statements posted on social media pages are considered public statements.
Employees are expected to use good judgment in any public statement and to serve as ambassadors for the College in any public forum. If faculty, staff, and students comment or post information related to PBSC on their own personal social media accounts, it’s important to clarify whether you are doing so in an official capacity or posting your own individual beliefs. Make it clear that your personal post/comments represent your own viewpoints and not those of PBSC or its administrators.
You may choose to create a social media account for professional work purposes to keep personal and work life separate.
STAYING IN THE LOOP
All College departments and organizations are encouraged to provide information to the Digital Media Coordinator for posting on the Collegeʼs official social media channels. We strive to represent all campuses and departments, so any information pertaining to aspects of the College is a welcome communication. Note: Before events can be posted on our social channels, you must first submit them to be added to the official College’s Events Calendar www.palmbeachstate.edu/Events.
DEPARTMENT RUN ACCOUNTS
Many departments at Palm Beach State also have created their own social media sites. It is the responsibility of these departments and organizations to maintain any sites that they opt to create.
Any questions or inquiries can be sent to sheikhnc@palmbeachstate.edu with any questions or concerns.
