Social Media Best Practices

Wright State University has established Social Media Guidelines. Some units, such as the Army ROTC, Boonshoft School of Medicine, and the nursing program have incorporated more specific policies that relate to their field's standards. You are also encouraged to contact your unit's marketing representative to inquire if additional policies exist for your use.

Naming Your Account

Each social media profile (Twitter account, Facebook account, Instagram account, etc.) requires a username, often referred to as a handle, written as the symbol "@" followed by your unique name. Due to the proliferation of universities with the WSU acronym, try to avoid using WSU. If space allows, your handle should be @WrightState(unit/office/department name). You may also abbreviate it as @WrightSt(name) if you need more characters for your name. Try to use the same handle across all of your profiles whenever possible. If the handle is not available on all platforms, use something similar. Conduct searches on various platforms to see what is already in use. If you must use WSU, make sure your description clearly states that you are related to Wright State.

Current social media handles include:
@WrightState
@WrightStateU
@WrightStateNews
@WrightStAlert
@WrightStAlumni
@WrightStRec

Use Appropriate Profile Image(s)

Any social media profile that uses the university's name and is included in the Social Media Directory should use the university-approved social media profile image. This is not a logo, but a standard profile picture that verifies your relationship to Wright State University.

Student organizations, personal accounts, and accounts used for academic purposes may request to use the Wright State profile picture or use any profile picture that represents the account's mission. We encourage you to use a simple image that immediately makes it clear who you are. No entitites may use the university logo or misrepresent their account as being an official channel without approval.

Email socialmedia@wright.edu if you wish to further discuss your profile images.

Use Hashtags with Caution

Always conduct a search on the desired platform before using a hashtag to make sure that it is not being used in a way that is detrimental to the university's brand. Promoted university hashtags should include Wright State, Wright, or WSU. Hashtags relating to sporting events may also integrate Raiders or Lakers. Hashtags should be simple, legible whether written upper/lower case or all lower case, and inherently positive whenever possible.

Current university hashtags include:
#WrightState
#braggingWrights
#WrightStateRightSchool
#LakeCampus
#loveWSUlake
#WrightStateGrad (Commencement, graduates)
#WSUArtsGala (College of Liberal Arts ArtsGala)
#liveWright (Residence Life and Housing)
#WSUMoveIn (Move-In Day)
#ForTheShirt (Campus Recreation)
#RaiderUp (Athletics)
#ThatsWright (Athletics)

Be Transparent and Honest

Identify yourself as a person affiliated with Wright State. If you are stating your own opinion, you must clarify that it is your own, and not that of the university. Include the following statements when and where appropriate:

"The views and opinions expressed on unofficial pages of Wright State University faculty, staff, or students are strictly those of the page authors. The content of these pages has not been reviewed or approved by Wright State University."

"Tweets are my own."

"The opinions and comments shared through this account do not necessarily reflect those of Wright State University."

Be Polite

Treat people with courtesy and respect. Be supportive and open-minded. Do not engage in or condone discriminatory, defamatory, or other detrimental conversations. If someone is actively being argumentative or aggressive, try to disengage and/or move the conversation offline.

Take Care with Moderating Comments

Wright State does not discriminate based on viewpoint, but may remove comments, messages, and other communications and restrict access to users who violate our established guidelines. View the moderation guidelines. If you choose to moderate a site, be consistent and make sure your community is aware of the guidelines.

Address content in a positive and honest manner. Do not allow yourself to get into arguments with individuals online.

Profanity is discouraged. A good rule of thumb is to see whether you would let a child or grandparent read the page or post.

Email socialmedia@wright.edu for information on how to handle questionable or threatening comments.

Understand the Online Community

Each social network has its own understood set of norms, covering everything from frequency of posting to language used. Spend some time getting to know the people and accepted uses of the site before delving into it.

Understand Privacy, Safety, and the Law

All content posted on social media is available to the public, including the media.

Do not post any identifying information about your students or other sensitive information, including social security numbers, UID, full date of birth, financial data, etc.

Adhere to all current laws and regulations, including University Policy, HIPAA, FERPA, NCAA, copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

Read more in Legal Considerations.

Know that Content is King

Post relevant and interesting content and your followers will increase. Create content based on what they know, want, and need. Take care to not confuse this with what you want.

Also, be sure you understand how frequently you should post. If you post too frequently, you will lose followers. The accepted frequency varies by channel and audience. If you post multiple times per day, space out your content as much as possible.

Try to link back to the university's website and your unit's website as much as possible, to further engage your followers. Use a web address shortening service that tracks clicks to determine which types of content are popular with your audience. Contact the Office of Marketing for more information about how we use Bitly.

Do Not Allow Advertising and Soliciting

Delete posts that are non-university advertisements or soliciting your community members. If you happen across information that is relevant to your community, then you may share it, but do not sell or promise promotions via social media.

Read more in Legal Considerations.