The University of Oregon encourages units to explore social media and to decide if it is right for them. Before you get started with any social media platform, we ask that you do the following:
- Complete our social media checklist below, which will provide you with a strong foundation to build and maintain your presence or, equally important, help you decide not to develop a departmental presence.
- Assign a faculty or staff member from your division, unit, or office to oversee all accounts. A UO faculty or staff member must have administrative privileges to all accounts and is responsible for controlling permissions and security to the accounts.
How to Identify Your UO-related Social Media Presence
When naming your unit’s social media presence, clearly and concisely identify your specific unit. Do not name your page in such a way that it might be confused with a general page representing the entire UO, or with any other UO unit.
Add the institution name “University of Oregon” or "UO" before your unit name; i.e.’ “University of Oregon Admissions” or "UO Admissions," not “Admissions at the University of Oregon,” “Admissions – University of Oregon,” or simply “Admissions.” If necessary, an emdash can separate the institution and unit names: “University of Oregon—Admissions.”
Correct names might include:
University of Oregon Department of Romance Languages
UO Registrar
University of Oregon Admissions
Engagement, monitoring and responding to comments
When launching a social media account, be prepared` to monitor the comments that will get posted. As a public university that values freedom of speech and a robust exchange of ideas, you should err on the side of letting people have their say when commenting on our social media properties. When appropriate, engage with commenters and repliers, even if it’s just to like or reply to their comments or to acknowledge their criticism. Don't delete comments or block users because they are critical or because you disagree with the sentiment or viewpoint. But you may remove comments, messages and other communications and restrict access to users who violate the following guidelines:
- Post violent, obscene, profane, hateful or racist comments or otherwise uses offensive or inappropriate language
- Threaten or defame
- Post comments that are out of context, off topic or not relevant to the topic at hand
- Disclose personally identifiable information, such as addresses or phone numbers
- Include copyrighted materials
- Fall under the category of spam
- Suggest or encourage illegal activity
- Solicit, advertise or endorse a third-party business or service
- Are multiple successive posts by a single user
- Are disruptively repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users
If a user engages in particularly egregious behavior, or continues to post comments in violation of our standards (i.e.: replies repeatedly with comments that are off topic and that don't contribute to meaningful dialogue), you have the the right to ban or hide the user.
Social Media Terms and Conditions
If you'd like to take your school, college, or unit into the realm of social media, the UO requires that you follow the terms of service and conditions of your chosen platform. Learn about the terms and conditions of the major social media platforms at the links below.
Social Media Brand Assets and Requirements
Popular social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter have their own brand standards which must be followed. Access their guidelines and asset downloads in the social media section of our brand and style guide, available in the UO Brand Library.