Social Media Policy
This social media policy defines the procedures for the creation and use of official Carthage College social media accounts, the College’s content moderation policy, and guidelines for faculty and staff who represent Carthage on their personal profiles.
Social media offers a valuable platform to showcase the exciting things and exceptional work happening at Carthage, but it does carry inherent risks. This policy is designed to help Carthage faculty and staff safely and effectively promote Carthage while minimizing potential challenges.
Carthage College Social Media Directory
Moderation Policy
The Office of Marketing and Communications manages and moderates the College’s official social media accounts, including Carthage College’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Other College-affiliated accounts are managed by Carthage faculty and staff. The following moderation policy is in place for all College-affiliated accounts.
Posts/comments will be removed if they:
- Incite violence
- Contain threats or an intent to harm
- Encourage illegal activity
- Contain harassment
- Include profanities or obscene language
- Promote a business or commercial transaction
- Specifically promote a candidate campaigning for election
- Use Carthage College logos for unauthorized endorsements
Carthage College and account administrators may choose at any time to limit posts and comments to topics relevant to a specific group’s purpose.
Carthage reserves the right to also remove “spam” or other off-topic comments.
Institutional Social Platforms
- All social media accounts created on behalf of Carthage College must be linked to a 253000xa.com email account, never a personal email account.
- All accounts must have two full-time Carthage employees as administrators.
- College employees and representatives who post on behalf of the institution must be mindful at all times of promoting the College’s mission.
- Keep personal views separate from College posts. When posting on behalf of Carthage College, ensure that the contents of your post will further the College’s mission and reflect positively on Carthage as a whole.
- Keep any non-public information (closings, cancellations, emergencies, news) confidential until it has been officially announced by Carthage College on the College’s main social media accounts.
- Official social media accounts must adhere to Carthage’s visual representation standards.
- All social media accounts affiliated with Carthage must share passwords and other login credentials with Olivia Nichter in the Office of Marketing and Communications and all account administrators.
- Anytime a password is changed, all account administrators and Olivia Nichter must be notified.
- It is highly recommended that all passwords must be changed once a semester and all account administrators and Olivia Nichter must be notified.
- Institutional accounts should not promote personal accounts and should be relevant to the account’s stated purpose.
- All pages need to respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of others.
- Be thoughtful in decisions to like, follow, or engage with other non-Carthage affiliated accounts.
- Avoid engaging in behavior that could raise a conflict of interest.
- Use good judgment.
Changes in Account Administration
Each account must have an identified primary and backup administrator. If one of these positions is vacant, a new account administrator must be identified. Account administrators and backup administrators must ensure that any former user no longer has access to the site and must update the registration information with the Office of Marketing and Communications. Contact Olivia Nichter with the account’s new password and new administrator name and title.
Endorsement Disclaimer
Carthage College is not responsible for, and does not endorse nor oppose, comments posted on its various social media platforms.
Speaking on Behalf of Carthage College
As the Employee Handbook states, the only people who can officially speak on behalf of the College are the President and his/her/their designee, and the Vice President for Marketing and Communications and his/her/their designee.
Personal/Professional Social Media Interaction Guidelines
Individuals who identify themselves as Carthage College faculty or staff within their personal social media use (e.g., a personal blog, LinkedIn page or profile, X account, or Facebook profile) are encouraged to practice the following:
- Clearly identify who you are.
- Make it clear that the views expressed are your own.
- Consider using a standard disclaimer: “The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Carthage College.”
- Do not speak on behalf of the College or portray yourself as a spokesperson for the institution.
- Remember that you are responsible for what you post and are subject to the Carthage Code of Conduct.
- All employees are subject to FERPA, HIPAA, and other laws mandating the nondisclosure of personal information.
- When representing the College, be mindful of all spelling and grammar.
There are unofficial social media accounts with Carthage in their name that are not managed by Carthage College employees. Any content published by a member of the Carthage community that includes the College is subject to the Carthage College Code of Conduct.
This social media policy was last updated on August 7, 2024.