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University Marketing and Communications is the only department within �ձ�av��Ƶ allowed to establish or maintain an official main account for the university, overseen by the university social media coordinator or designee.

Before establishing an official university account, colleges, departments, organizations or other entities must contact the director of marketing and communications, successor or designee and gain approval.

An individual must be designated to manage the content of an official university social media account. That individual is responsible for notifying UMC or other designated university officials if the account is compromised, requires enforcement action or is no longer needed and has been deleted.

Users are responsible for following university and South Dakota Board of Regents policies, and any content shared must be in accordance with university social media guidelines. Final decisions regarding content on official university accounts are at the discretion of the director of marketing and communications and/or the vice president of technology and security, or their successors.

An official university account should clearly identify the college, program or department it represents and follow university branding guidelines. It’s important to include �ձ�av��Ƶ, South Dakota State, �ձ�av��Ƶ or SDState in the name of the account whenever possible.

Do not post confidential information about the university, its students, employees or affiliates derived from university records. Employees must follow the applicable federal requirements such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as well as other applicable laws, regulations and policies.

University guidelines for engagement should be readily available through and followed by official university social media accounts.

While they represent the university and are managed by approved individuals, official social media accounts are owned and operated by outside companies that have their own policies, procedures and terms of service that must be agreed to and followed.

Official social media accounts are a representation of �ձ�av��Ƶ. Care and consideration should be given to every decision surrounding the page, including but not limited to branding, interactions, contents and posts, shares or retweets and page promotion. Other best practices include:

• It’s OK to have fun. You represent SDState as an official account, but lighthearted, entertaining posts, banter and connections are what social media is perfect for.
• Be genuine. Tell your story, engage with your audience and avoid overuse of marketing messages — you’ll wear your audience out.
• Take a breath. Negative posts, attacks, criticism or spam are just part of the game. Take a breath before responding, correct misinformation and point toward a positive. Responding to a negative post with defensive or negative responses doesn’t fix anything.
• Be present. Simply having an account doesn’t mean your message will be shared and your audience will grow. Engage with comments, respond to messages in a timely fashion, share other posts, constantly create content and utilize your stakeholders to spread your message or create content for you.
• Be knowledgeable. Write and share what you know and stay out of areas you don’t. Use your accounts to tell your story, not others'.
• Take time to reflect. Once you hit “post,” the message you’re sharing is out there. If something does not feel right, ask someone else to look at it. Beyond that, grammar, spelling and quality matter. Take one more look at it, then go for it.
• Make it yours. If you’re wanting to hop on the latest trend, find a way to connect it back to �ձ�av��Ƶ, or tweak things slightly so you’re not just posting to enter yourself into the latest conversation.

• Use plain language. Write in clear, straightforward language. Avoid jargon, idioms and overly complex sentence structures.
• Link clearly. Let users know what to expect before clicking a link. Use descriptive text for hyperlinks (e.g., “Read our accessibility tips” instead of “Click here”).
• Keep formatting simple. Avoid using excessive symbols, special characters or unconventional spacing that may confuse screen readers.
• Capitalize hashtags. Use camel case for multiword hashtags. Capitalize the first letter of each word (e.g., #GreaterSDState, not #greatersdstate) to improve readability.
• Use emojis thoughtfully. Limit emojis use in posts as screen readers are unable to read the image or intent. Place emojis at the end of a sentence; overuse or placing them midsentence can disrupt screen reader interpretation. Limit using multiple emojis consecutively. Do not replace words with emojis since these do not translate well to screen readers.

• Avoid flashing content. Do not post videos or GIFs that flash more than three times per second, which can trigger seizures or migraines.
• Add image descriptions. Always include alternative text for images. Describe the content concisely and objectively. If platforms don’t allow alternative text, add image descriptions in the post itself. End the alternative text with a period, which makes the screen reader pause after the last word.
  • How to enable alt text on common social media channels:
    
    
  • Learn more about alternative text for Accessible Images.
• Provide captions and transcripts. All video content should include accurate captions. When possible, offer full transcripts for audio and video posts. If using auto captions, review the content and editing any captions as needed prior to posting.
  • How to enable and edit captions on common social media channels:
    
    
  • Learn more about creating Accessible Videos.

• Test your content. Regularly review content using accessibility tools or screen readers to ensure usability for all audiences.
• Use accessible color contrast. Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background in graphics. Avoid color combinations that are difficult to distinguish for colorblind users. Check your images and text to ensure that it has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.
  
  

Social media can connect professionals, friends and families, individuals with common interests and more. The platforms provide an opportunity to share views and ideas and can drastically impact relationships and reputations of both individuals and organizations.

Any employee of SDState is free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with approved guidelines. Publication and commentary on social media platforms carry similar obligations to any other kind of publication or public statement. All uses of social media must follow the same ethical standards that �ձ�av��Ƶ employees must otherwise follow.

• Think before you post. It is important to understand your audience and recognize that everyone reflects various values and points of view.
• Be honest about your identity and use your real name. You may identify yourself as an SDState employee but establish clearly that the views and opinions expressed are yours alone and do not represent the official views of SDState.
• Protect your privacy and reputation by understanding that a post may remain public forever, even if removed online. Screenshots live forever.
• A disclaimer stating whom you work for and that you are not speaking officially does not necessarily grant you legal freedom. Always consider the possible consequences of what you are posting.
• Do not post confidential information about work and certain activities at South Dakota State, and respect laws governing copyrighted material owned by others and its fair use or fair dealing, including �ձ�av��Ƶ's own copyrights, registrations and brands.
• Faculty, staff, students, alumni or business partners should not be cited or referenced without their approval, unless the reference is to an official communication released by the University.

• �ձ�av��Ƶ welcomes different perspectives and encourages engagement and interaction on all social media accounts. We ask users to show respect for each other and maintain decorum.
• �ձ�av��Ƶ is not responsible for comments or posts made by others. Unofficial comments or posts are not statements of the University and do not reflect the University’s opinions or policies.
• We reserve the right to screen, hide and/or remove, without notice, content, comments and posts that are off topic; represent advertisements or spam; constitute or encourage illegal activity; create a security risk; infringe upon someone’s rights; contain obscenities; direct and target physical threats; or that reasonably appear to violate state or federal law or University or SDBOR policies.