Social Media

Whether it’s a snow day or a threat of violence, there will be times when providing information quickly and accurately is vital. In the event of an emergency or high-level announcement to on or off campus communities, university-related social media accounts should refrain from posting any content and refer all followers to the institutional (@oregonstate) social accounts for more information. Depending on the situation, share or retweet university messages and, depending on the situation, may provide additional details that are unique to your area.

Actions and Considerations

• Be sensitive to the emergencies of others.
• When serious situations arise elsewhere in the world, sometimes the best thing for an account to do is to go silent. Take a break from business as usual and create room for important conversations and content. Don’t position the university to be seen as tone deaf or oblivious to the larger world around us.
• Halt all scheduled posts until the crisis has concluded. These are times when you want full control of the message. Consider pausing or delaying paid advertising that is placed within social media.
• Reshare official university updates. If you are unsure of what to share or have questions about specific contextual information that might be relevant to your audiences, reach out to the University Marketing social team for guidance.

If you see content on your social platforms, that might warrant urgent action, please contact campus safety immediately. It’s best to email screenshots of posts and include specifics on platform and date posted. For content that is questionable, don’t hesitate to reach out to the University Marketing social team for guidance. It’s better to over share than risk the university be uninformed.

It’s common for sensitive issues or complicated situations to be discussed on social platforms. During these times, Rob Odom will provide guidance and oversight as the official spokesperson for Oregon State. For example, updates regarding university operations and certain situations.

Please share any potential issues with the University Marketing social team or if there is a degree of immediacy, with Rob Odom directly. Remember to screenshot anything you see and share as much detail you can provide. Every situation is unique and will require specific tactics for sharing information and making official university statements.

The best way to manage negative feedback from users is to ignore the trolls looking to incite an argument. However, if members of the OSU community provide negative feedback, it's important to address the issue. For those who are very upset, give an option to connect offline and away from public view. If you have the ability to contact them directly, make sure to leave a response in the public forum so others don't assume the issue was ignored. 

• Example mention: The last year my school advisors have been dropping the ball... @OregonState who do I constructively complain to?!
• Example response: If you DM us your academic college/program, we can work with you to find specific people who would really appreciate your feedback.

For minor grievances or complaints try to solve the problem publicly. Be apologetic and offer to help. Try to find a solution, but make sure to not over promise or commit to something that can't be delivered. Negative feedback happens; it's an opportunity to demonstrate the value of our networks and deliver good customer service.

• Example complaint: DO NOT BRING THE STUDENTS BACK. They will be bringing COVID. Everyone knows what will happen. Planning to blame 18-22-year olds for your irresponsibility is NOT ok.
• Example response: At this point, over 93% of all course sections are being offered/attended remotely. Additionally, we expect all faculty, staff and students to be public health champions regardless of what community they choose to live in.
• Example complaint: I have a freshman at Northern Arizona University and they required a negative COVID test result before they allowed kids to move on to campus. They also asked that the kids quarantine 14 days before their move in date. I am surprised that OSU did not do this. He moved in on August 6th.
• Example response: Students who are moving onto campus over the coming weeks will be required to take a COVID-19 test.

As a state agency, OSU is required by law to protect freedom of speech. These guidelines have been advised by the Office of General Counsel. As such, university-affiliated accounts should not block users, delete or hide comments. In cases where comments include personal calls for violence or include hate speech, it may be important to report these to public safety and URM as well as complete a bias incident response form.

Suggested message for social platforms:

Terms of Use and Deletion Policy

Oregon State University-managed online communities are intended to inform users of OSU-related news and events, as well as foster OSU-related discussion and a sense of community among users. 

We encourage you to share your opinions and comments freely about the topics we post, but ask that you provide comments that are respectful and professional. If we become aware of posts that are off-topic; represent advertisements or spam; constitute or encourage illegal activity; infringe upon someone's rights; contain obscenities; or direct and target physical threats, we reserve the right to remove them. Our social pages exist to serve those affiliated with Oregon State University. 

Below are categories for the types of negative comments accounts might receive. The OSU institutional accounts cannot block, hide or delete any comments. If comments fall into the extreme or risky categories below please consult with the University Marketing social team to determine what course of action is appropriate, if you are considering deleting or hiding content. Any content that falls into the risky category, reach out to public safety immediately to help assist with a course of action.

• Negative: Complaints, negative feedback, spam, disgruntled community members or inappropriate comments.
• Extreme: Targeted violence and/or calls for malicious action towards members of the OSU community.
• Risky: Concerning posts, e.g. self-harm, domestic violence, and/or safety concerns.

Examples of Negative Content

• How about building a healthier and safer community by making all courses remote, lowering the density of people in dorms, providing employees with the option to work remotely. You know, stuff that will actually work because you can't control what people are going to do off campus.
• Why won’t u let us go to class for this whole year ... remote is garbage and so much less engaging it’s laughable. For full tuition too

Examples of Extreme Content

• I hate my professor, he ruined my life here is his name, address and office. Let’s break into his house.
• Hey, this is that student who did XYZ thing - you know what to do, they need a beating.

Examples of Risky Content

• Remote classes are so hard. I can’t go see any of my friends. We’re all just stuck inside and feeling lonely. Sometimes I feel like I want to quit and not live anymore.
• Someone making threats of violence either towards specific individuals or groups.

No less than two responsible people must have administrative access to each account. This allows for better regulation of content and creates a failsafe if an administrator were to leave the university. If there is no other representative to serve as an administrator, please contact us and we will be happy to fill that spot.

Announcements like university closures, hirings and more will come directly from the university’s main accounts.

It is important to spend time creating original content for your social media accounts, but if you do share external logos, images, videos, articles, messages or user-generated content, be sure to provide appropriate credit to the original creator.

Oregon State employees and affiliates are required to follow NCAA regulations when communicating on social media. Under no circumstance should an employee or account affiliated with Oregon State University interact with prospective student-athletes.

Use good judgment when sharing recognizable images and information of subjects. Do not include confidential information about the university, its staff, students or materials on any social media sites. All recognizable subjects in imagery must sign a model release form.

Please remember that, depending on your affiliation with the university, your online activity may be subject to other Oregon State policies, including but not limited to the following:

• Student conduct code
• Human Resources policies, including restrictions on disclosure of confidential or proprietary information
• Nondiscrimination, harassment and bullying policies
• Information Security policy
• Acceptable Use of University Computing Resources

As employees of Oregon State University, what we do and say reflects directly on the institution, including our activity on social media. If you work int he field of communications, what you say on your personal accounts and networks will reflect directly on the university and on your career. The blending of public and private communications is a new reality. 

While we like to think our personal accounts are private, it is hard for others to distinguish the difference between our own online personal and professional opinions, especially when our personal accounts make reference to our employer. 

It is important to remember this when posting content online in personal accounts. Think twice when posting items that could reflect negatively on OSU. Remember that social media is not private, no matter how strict you are with your privacy settings. if you don't want something to be seen by the public, keep it out of social media. Realize that whatever you post can eventually be seen by coworkers, bosses, friends, family and even future employers. Use your personal accounts thoughtfully. 

Things to think about when posting on personal accounts

• Avoid anonymity, and represent yourself. Anonymous profiles can lead to more negative content.
• Post within reason, no different than you would offline.
• Accuracy. Be sure that what you put on the web is factually correct and doesn't reveal sensitive information.
• Once it's out there, it's out there forever. Think to yourself as always being on record. Avoid saying anything you wouldn't be comfortable saying to your co-workers.
• Proof and reproof. Before you hit the 'post' button, reread what you've written. What you're about to post will be associated with your name forever.