Social media guidelines
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide Curtin University staff with the information needed to manage risks that may arise when using social media in the course of your employment.
These guidelines are not intended to restrict the freedoms of staff but to help you better protect yourself, other staff and the University’s reputation, confidential information and intellectual property.
The guidelines are relevant for all Curtin University staff who use social media, whether they identify themselves as an employee or representative of Curtin on the channel or not.
What is Social Media
For the purpose of these guidelines, social media is defined as any online, third party tool that allows users to quickly create and share content with the public. This content can include text, audio, images and video. Examples of social media channels include but are not limited to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Yammer.
Using Social Media
As a university, we strongly encourage the expression of opinions and discussion of ideas; however, we expect all staff to do so in an appropriate manner, regardless of the context. If you intend to use social media for professional use, please ensure you are familiar with these guiding principles.
Code of conduct
Disclaimer
If you choose to disclose your employment at Curtin on your social media profile, you are required to include a disclaimer to establish that views shared are not representative of Curtin’s views.
Consider personal and professional boundaries
Care should be taken when establishing connections on social media. Consider the short and long term implications and the type of content you plan to share before sending requests to colleagues or business partners of the university. This is especially important when considering a social media networking request from or to students.
Sharing personal information
While different social media channels offer different privacy settings, please be aware that some of these are more effective than others. As a general rule, it is sensible to assume that there is a risk that any information shared through social media could become publicly available and to a wide audience.
Please take care with photographs and any personal information – phone numbers, addresses and other personal data. This includes your own personal information and that of others.
Curtin branding
Whether you are using social media for personal or professional purposes, you are welcome to disclose your employment at Curtin; however, we ask that you:
- Do not use either “Curtin” or the name of a Curtin organisation as part of the title or handle of your account.
- Do not use the Curtin logo or any variation of the logo on your account. This is important in helping our audience understand when they are viewing an official Curtin account and when they are not.
Respect copyright and intellectual property
Please do not post any content that in any way infringes copyright or the intellectual property of another person without proper permission and / or acknowledgment of that person.
If you are even in doubt as to whether you can post something or not, please contact the University Marketing Social Media team for advice.
Social media in a crisis
Social media plays a critical role in a crisis and there is a process that is managed by the University Marketing Social Media team in conjunction with the Communications and Stakeholders Team.
In the event of a crisis, you are asked to only share posts that contain approved messaging from the central Curtin University accounts. Do not create your own messages and do not adapt the messages.
Use of social media during work hours
Whether for personal or professional use, please limit the use of personal social media accounts during work hours and be mindful of the impact it can have on your productivity. See Curtin’s ICT policy manual for further details.
Further principles if using social media for work
Professionalism
It is expected that you will maintain a professional presence and tone if using social media for the purposes of promoting your work at Curtin.
This includes maintaining a complete and up to date profile with an appropriate profile image, cover image, job title and position description. For any assistance with completing these components, please contact the University Marketing Social Media team via the Brand Toolkit.
Sharing Curtin information and authority to comment
If you’re posting content for publicity or promotional purposes, make sure you are authorised to do so.
Where Curtin staff are sharing new research findings or a similar new announcement, ensure that this is done so simultaneously with official Curtin accounts.
Please refer to Curtin’s Media Procedures for more information on this subject.
Responsibility
Remember that what you post is ultimately your responsibility. The University Marketing Social Media team will endeavour to provide you with the support you need to use social media effectively and appropriately; however, ultimately you will be held accountable for anything that you publish.
Internal social media
Yammer is the primary internal social media network for Curtin staff. Only staff with a @curtin.edu.au email address can join. Further information about the use of this platform can be found under the Internal Communications section of the Curtin Brand Toolkit.
Use of social media in learning and teaching
Please contact Curtin Learning and Teaching for information about using a social media channel as part of a unit.
Social Media Influencer Guidelines and Creator Code of Conduct
Curtin University is committed to transparent online advertising. These Guidelines are prepared by University Marketing to assist when you engage or collaborate with someone (such as a social media influencer / content creator) to promote, endorse or otherwise advertise Curtin on their social media account.
If you are engaging an influencer / content creator and have any questions after reading these Guidelines, please contact University Marketing