Social Media

UNH understands the impact of social media as a method of communication. The UNH Social team has established guidelines for official social media use at the University of New Hampshire.

Purpose and audience

The purpose of social media at UNH is as a communication tool for its colleges, departments, entities, student organizations, and members of the greater Wildcat community and the general public.

Related Information

Getting a social media account

Official University Accounts

Official UNH colleges, departments, organizations, and entities may set up and run social media accounts that bear their names. Only those designated as having the communications/ marketing responsibility for the entity should set up and manage its social media account. Always check the Social Media Directory to see if there is already an existing account for the same entity. Official UNH social media accounts should:

  • Use the approved university social media logo as its icon/avatar
  • Include “UNH” followed by the entity name or by an underscore and the entity name. If that name is not available, try “UofNH” followed by the entity name.
  • Be owned by a university faculty or staff member or student with a backup faculty or staff owner
  • Not duplicate or significantly overlap an existing social media channel

If accounts are found that are not owned by its official UNH entity, #UNHSocial will file a complaint with the social media platform to have the channel shut down.

You are not required to go through the university to set up the account, but you are requested to register your account with the Social Media Directory to help others find your channel and avoid duplication. Also, if you are part of a college, please discuss any new department or program channels with the website administrator and college communicator before starting a new channel.

Social media guidelines

A full set of guidelines, resources, best practices, safety tips, and a UNH social media directory are all available from #UNHSocial. A few top guidelines for those maintaining UNH-owned social media channels:

  • The same professional standards expected of you on the job should be applied to your conduct in UNH-related social media. Post meaningful, respectful comments that are relevant to your position at UNH.
  • Use common sense and courtesy in creating University-related social media content. If you have even the slightest doubt, ask if the content is appropriate—BEFORE you post. 
  • If the public shares an opinion that you disagree with on a UNH-owned social media site, keep your response appropriate, professional, and polite. Sometimes, it's best not to respond at all.
  • Post unique content on a regular basis (either original posts or shares/retweets from outside organizations) as well as sharing from other UNH social media. If you’re only sharing content posted by other UNH social media channels, then you probably don’t need a separate channel.
  • Never comment on anything related to legal matters or pending litigation. 
  • Any advertising, promotion, or endorsement of third-party products or services is not permitted.
  • Review copyright rules for images and videos you post. If an image or video you take will be used for promotional purposes (anything other than a news story), you may need to obtain a photo release.
  • Always obtain consent from parents before posting photographs of children
  • Communicate with other web/social media administrators in your college if there's big news going out via social media.
  • Suggested social media feeds to follow:
    • Durham
      • Twitter:
        • @uofnh
        • @unhwildcats
        • @unhstudents
      • Instagram:
        • @unhwildcats
        • @uofnh
        • @unhstudents
      • Facebook:
        • University of New Hampshire page
    • Manchester
      • Twitter:
        • @unhmanchester
      • Instagram:
        • @UNHManchester
      • Facebook:
        • UNH Manchester (page)

Support

For questions regarding social media, please contact #UNHSocial. To add your site to the social media directory or submit an item to post, submit a request.

Training

Anyone working on a social media channel can use the social media resources. For further questions, please contact the #UNHSocial team.

Responsibility for Content

Official UNH social media channels are maintained by members of the University community acting as official representatives of the University of New Hampshire. Channel owners are responsible for obtaining permission for using any copyrighted material on their sites, and any necessary releases for any photographs they took of individuals. In addition, they are responsible for complying with all relevant laws, university policies and this standard.

Violations

#UNHSocial reserves the right to request from a social media platform the removal of any social media channel that it considers to misrepresent itself as an official university channel; that infringes on university trademarks, logos, or marks; or violates this standard or any other UNH policy.

If inappropriate content is reported, #UNHSocial will contact the channel owner to discuss the issue. Unacceptable entries also may cause social media channels to be removed. Reports regarding inappropriate content may be sent to #UNHSocial.