DCAL Social media policy

DCAL recognises the value of social media to the organisation and our staff. We are keen to encourage the use of social media for communication, collaboration and engagement.

DCAL uses several social media resources. In addition, many employees use social media for personal and professional reasons.

We encourage staff to make use of social media, particularly if it will be of benefit to DCAL. If you use social media then you must read and follow the requirements and guidance in this document.

This policy provides information on the acceptable use of social media by DCAL staff, students and associates and aims to:

• encourage good practice
• protect DCAL, its staff, students and associates
• ensure that staff and students use social media effectively and appropriately.

It is aimed at new and existing users of social media and covers both personal and professional use.

Disciplinary action may be taken against staff and students who do not comply with this policy and guidance.

The policy applies to all forms of social media, including but not limited to:

• blogs
• wikis
• discussion forums
• micro-blogs, eg Twitter
• social networking sites, eg Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+
• video sharing sites, eg You Tube
• photo sharing and pinboard sites, eg Flickr and Pinterest.

Social media has some inherent risks, including:

• the potential for employees to post offensive or slanderous content about their work colleagues, DCAL or others
• reduced employee output due to excessive use of personal social media accounts during working hours
• lack of control over content created outside DCAL
• malware and phishing attacks on DCAL’s social media accounts
• accidental or malicious disclosure and dissemination of sensitive information.

This policy aims to help mitigate these risks

When using social media the boundary between work and personal lives can become blurred. To distinguish between your personal and professional lives, you may wish to set up two accounts to separate your professional and personal presences within the same social media service (e.g. on Twitter). However, this is not required and you may wish to use a single account for both personal and professional purposes.

The requirements and guidance below apply to any social media resource where you can be identified as an DCAL employee or where you talk about your work or DCAL. This is because, whether you intend to be or not, you are associated with – and therefore become a spokesperson for – DCAL.

The requirements and guidance apply to all types of social media content including images, videos and social media profiles.

Due to their common sense nature, you should also consider these requirements and guidelines when using social media resources where you haven’t identified yourself as an DCAL employee and where you do not discuss work or DCAL matters.

You must follow these requirements when using social media.

• Respect terms and conditions: know and follow the terms and conditions of the social media accounts you use.
• Respect reputation: you must not publish content that could damage DCAL’s reputation, or the reputation of any DCAL employees or stakeholders. If you see content that you think could cause reputational damage you should contact a relevant senior colleague.
• Respect your audience and peers: do not use language that could offend your audience or others who view your information, including your work colleagues and work-related associates. Do not use personal insults, obscenity, or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in the DCAL workplace. You should take care when discussing topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory, eg politics and religion.
• Be polite: People may disagree with what you say and express it in many ways, from the helpful to the downright rude. Rise above it and ensure your engagement is constructive and positive. Remember, some comments are best ignored.
• Protect privacy and confidentiality: do not publish or provide access to any DCAL or third party confidential information, eg telephone numbers and addresses. Use the appropriate privacy settings of any social media accounts you use. Do not post information that you do not want to be public, even if the site seems secure.
• Obey the law: respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws. Do not post libellous content. Under most laws it is the individual that is liable for any breach of UK or international law. Remember, laws of other nations may apply to your posts. Do not be fooled by the informal nature of social media – the law still applies and a disclaimer will not protect you.
• Identify yourself: include your name and, when relevant, your role at DCAL when you discuss DCAL or DCAL-related matters. Write in the first person and do not use an alias to obscure who you actually are.
• Be professional: be aware of your association with DCAL. If you identify yourself as DCAL staff or student, ensure your profile and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Own your content: if you publish content and it has something to do with your work or subjects associated with DCAL, include a statement, such as: "these are my own views, not those of my employer”. You must take responsibility for your opinions.
• Have integrity: encourage constructive criticism and deliberation and be honest about your thinking. Do not write about things if you aren’t sure what you’re saying is correct. Be cordial, professional and the first to correct your own mistakes.
• Be responsible: personal use of social media should be restricted to lunch breaks and your own time.

Remember that social media content has a long life. Anything you post online could live for a long time and may be copied, re-purposed and redistributed in different contexts from the one in which you posted it.

Using social media for official DCAL purposes

DCAL is happy for its staff and students to connect and engage with their colleagues and work associates using social media. However, you must follow our social media requirements when doing so.

In addition to the requirements above:

• Consider where an item should be posted first. In cases of news, announcements, etc, it may be best to post the item on the DCAL website first, and then to post it on social media (Twitter, Facebook), with the link to the website. The social media outlets could be DCAL’s (if it’s a DCAL announcement) or could be your own as staff/student/associate. In either case, after initial posting, it would be appropriate for the item to be retweeted/shared by you/DCAL/DCAL colleagues. Don’t forget, on Twitter, always include a link wherever possible. The link is more important than the details.
• Do not create new DCAL social media accounts or resources. If you would like to use social media for an official DCAL purpose you should contact a DCAL Social Media Coordinator. We have well-established social media accounts in place that can meet most requirements.
• Do not post content about internal or private DCAL conversations or issues.

DCAL uses primarily Twitter and Facebook for social media purposes:

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/DCAL_UCL
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DCAL-Deafness-Cognition-and-Language-Research-Centre/136511306447860?fref=ts

Other social media outlets that DCAL is not currently using but may consider using in future:

• YouTube
• Flickr
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn

All DCAL social media accounts are managed by the DCAL Social Media Coordinator. The Social Media Coordinators operate a rota for managing social media activity on a day-by- day basis.

General requirements for DCAL’s social media accounts

• You must not login to any DCAL social media accounts unless you have been authorised to do so by the DCAL Social Media Coordinator.
• You must not set up any new social media accounts or resources for work purposes (including YouTube, LinkedIn, etc as listed above). You should contact the DCAL Social Media Coordinator to discuss any ideas or requirements you have for using social media.
• If you would like to use DCAL’s social media accounts for communication/engagement activities (eg to promote an event) you should contact the DCAL Social Media Coordinator.

For further information on DCAL’s social media accounts and how they can be used see the guidelines for using DCAL’s social media accounts.

Requirements for employees with access to DCAL’s social media accounts

If you have been provided with access rights to any of DCAL’s social media accounts you must ensure that you use them in a professional manner.

Content published through DCAL’s social media accounts is subject to the same restrictions and legal requirements as other online content, including data protection, freedom of information, copyright and privacy requirements.

You should be fully familiar with the guidelines for using DCAL’s social media accounts if you are authorised to have access to them, and you must ensure that you:

• Do not share login details with anyone else or record login details in any way that makes them accessible to unauthorised users.
• Do not click or share suspicious links that have been sent via social media. These could be malware or phishing attacks that compromise the security of DCAL’s accounts. You should delete these messages or ask for guidance from the DCAL Social Media Coordinator.
• Be friendly, polite and informative in all social media content you publish. You can be relatively informal and conversational but beware of typos and grammatical errors.
• Be honest and open. Do not publish content unless you are sure it is accurate.
• Only publish relevant and interesting content. Make sure it is appropriate for our audience(s).
• Avoid confrontation, and never insult or criticise anyone. If you are unsure how to respond to a particular comment, consult the DCAL Social Media Coordinator for advice.
• Be responsive, and always reply to any questions that are sent to DCAL using social media.

If you would like further information on using social media you should contact the DCAL Social Media Coordinator: Dr. Velia Cardin