Does your graduate program have a social media policy? If you are currently a student, you’ll want to know what the policy is before you post anything.
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat…you name it and there’s a platform for it. And we carry that platform with us wherever we go. Never before has it been easier to share our thoughts and feelings instantaneously with people we don’t even know. Unfortunately, there is a down side.
Many of you are too young to remember, but before social media we used the postal service to send messages, a landline to have conversations, and the TV or newspaper to get our news. We were forced to think and consider before we spoke, and it simply wasn’t possible to project these thoughts into the world. This helped save us from saying things we didn’t really mean while we were upset, things we would regret later after we calmed down.
Those days are gone.
Whatever you post on social media is not only viewed by many people you don’t know, it can live in perpetuity, leaving a permanent footprint that could distort your image and reputation. So please think before you post. I tell my students: Don’t post anything on social media you wouldn’t want as a headline in tomorrow’s newspaper.
But that may not be enough.
Schools, including the University of South Florida (where I currently hold a faculty position) are developing social media policies. Policies that limit what you say about the counseling program and the students and how you say it. (I’ll leave the free speech argument for the lawyers to iron out.) Therefore, there could be negative consequences for posts that violate the policy.
An Example Policy
For example, here is the policy from the University of Nebraska Kearney (source: The Use of Social Media in Counselor Education):
Content Guidelines
- The Counseling and School Psychology Social Media Representative reserves the right to remove any content he or she deems inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive, or cyberbullying.
- It is not allowed to post confidential or proprietary information about the University of Nebraska at Kearney, faculty, students, employees, or alumni, or any information about activities in field placements, such as internship.
- All policies, procedures, and guidelines regarding university trademarks, names, and symbols apply to social media networking sites. Direct questions regarding appropriate use of logos to staff in Advertising and Creative Services (308) 865- 8134.
- If you identify yourself as an employee or student of UNK in a social media communication, you should not post your personal views/opinions.
- Whenever appropriate, link back to the UNK Web site.
Social Media Etiquette
- Use good judgment. Think twice before posting. Privacy does not exist in the world of social media. Consider what could happen if a post becomes widely known and how that may reflect both on the person who posted and the university.
- Remember your audience. Be aware that a presence in the social media world is, or easily can be, available to the public at large (e.g., prospective students, current students, colleagues, peers, parents). Consider this before publishing to ensure the post will not alienate, harm, or provoke any of these groups.
- Strive for accuracy. Get the facts straight before posting them on social media.
- Review content for grammatical and spelling errors.
Stay tuned…I will post more as this topic further develops.
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barbara LoFrisco
