Social media is interactive. Part of being on social media is engaging with members of our University of Oregon community and beyond to share the stories and experiences of what it means to be a Duck. The university encourages members of our community to engage with us on social media and to be a part of telling the UO’s story.

As appropriate, university and affiliated accounts should like and respond to positive comments on their account's content and engage with relevant content from active users.

Managing Negative Comments

The University of Oregon is a public institution that values the freedom of speech and a robust exchange of ideas. At times, users may share comments on our content that are concerning or may be offensive to some within our community. In these moments, the manager(s) of the account should evaluate the comment for violation of university social media guidelines and/or the terms of service for the platform.

Generally, comments should not be deleted because they are critical or because you disagree with the sentiment or viewpoint. However, action may need to be taken if a user violates the following guidelines:

• Posts violent, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
• Threatens or defames
• Posts comments that are out of context, off topic, or not relevant to the topic at hand
• Discloses personally identifiable information, such as addresses or phone numbers
• Includes copyrighted materials
• Fall under the category of spam
• Suggests or encourages illegal activity
• Solicits, advertises, endorses, or criticizes a third-party business or service, political candidate, or matter before the voters in an election
• Are multiple successive posts by a single user
• Are disruptively repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users

If a user’s comment on content posted by a UO account has violated one of the guidelines above, please contact the University Communications social media team to consult and identify any action steps that may need to be taken.

The University of Oregon is not responsible for, and neither endorses nor opposes, comments posted on the university’s accounts and content by other users. Users are personally responsible for their own comments, username, and any information they post on university and university-affiliated accounts and content.

Blocking Users

In general, university and university-affiliated accounts should not block accounts. This goes against the values of free speech and promoting a robust exchange of ideas.

If a user engages in particularly egregious behavior or continues to post comments in violation of our standards, contact the University Communications social media team.

Resources for UO Employees

The UO's Office of the Provost has put together a document designed to assist university employees and the university community in general in responding to situations in which they are targeted by individuals or groups outside of the university based on the content of the employee’s service, scholarship, teaching, and more. This includes engagement on social media.

Questions?

Jesse Summers
Director of Social Media and Brand Strategy
summers5@uoregon.edu
541-346-0402