Best practice tips

Be professional at all times on your social media site - anything you post in your role as a University of Kent employee reflects on the institution. Do not engage in arguments or heated debates on your site.

When commenting as part of your job, be sure to indicate who you are and your affiliation with the University.

View online conversations on your preferred social media site to maintain a clear and current understanding of what is relevant and of interest to your community.

Eg ‘Demise of RDAs paves way for new research-led university programme for SMEs’ may be of interest to local businesses but will it be of interest to potential students?

Avoid using University abbreviations and jargon.

If you do not have the time or resources to check in on social media sites at least a few minutes each day, and to post fresh content several times a week, you may want to reconsider using social media at this time.

One of the great benefits of social media is the ability to share information almost instantly with a global audience.

This timeliness is also one of the expectations of that audience. Be prepared to move quickly in response to new developments, announcements, or emergencies with relevant information on your site.

A short amount of accurate information delivered at the time of need can sometimes be more valuable than a full report delivered well after the issue has passed.

If you don’t know the answer to someone’s question, let them know you’ve forwarded their request to the relevant person and will get back to them shortly

If you are using Facebook or Twitter limit your posts to a maximum of three a day and ensure they are spread out over the course of several hours.

Remember that anything you share within social media, even within a closed network, is not private. It can and will be shared, stored and spread globally.

Don’t post anything online you wouldn’t feel comfortable seeing on the Kent’s homepage.

If you’re unsure of something's accuracy, do not post it until you have verified the information. Disinformation can have a greater negative impact than delayed information.

Social media is not (only) about sharing your news and success, it’s about sharing information that is of interest to your readers and viewers.

Don’t just talk about your programme or School - share the best information you find from trusted sources outside the University. This will increase the value of your social media presence.

A social media site without comments isn’t very social. Be prepared to accept and respond to comments.

Understand that not all comments will be positive, and respond to negative comments professionally and by providing any additional information that may help resolve the issue. Read our guidelines on responding to questions (pdf).

Students are often the University’s best ambassadors and often defend the University’s reputation.

Post a disclaimer on your site stating that you reserve the right to remove inappropriate comments. Remove those comments containing vulgar language, those that attack any one group or individual and those that are obviously spam.

Balancing your professional and personal social media presences can be tricky. Keep these two presences as separate as possible by keeping content about your personal opinions on your personal page.

Endless amounts of time can be spent, and wasted, on social media sites. Limit the amount of time you spend attending to your School’s social media presence to what is needed to post content, evaluate traffic data, review related sites and monitor comments.

If you are unsure about anything please contact communications@kent.ac.uk for advice and support.