Social Media for Student Organizations
Penn State’s student organizations can build strong social media presences that effectively engage their audiences and support their missions. Remember, your social media accounts are powerful tools to showcase your organization’s impact and connect with the broader Penn State community.
Getting Started
- No Approval Needed: Student organizations do not need to seek prior approval from Penn State to start a social media account.
- General Email Address: Use a general organization email (e.g., studentorgname@gmail.com) for account registration to ensure continuity during leadership transitions.
- Follow Branding Guidelines: Follow student organization logo and branding guidelines; these guidelines also apply to social.
Best Practices for Creating Content
Penn State affiliated accounts are always looking to share dynamic content from student organizations. Consider tagging accounts or asking to collaborate so we can champion your successes or members.
- Be Authentic: Showcase your organization’s unique personality and activities.
- Stay Current: Share photos, stories, and updates from recent events to keep your audience engaged.
- Post Consistently: Aim for 2-3 posts per week to maintain an active presence.
- Highlight Achievements: Celebrate your members’ successes and organizational milestones.
Handling Negative Comments
People may leave a comment or post something on your page’s wall that is critical, negative, or offensive. Correcting a mistake, apologizing, and offering better in the future or providing information is often the best way to let the poster know you have heard them. Unless the post is profane, obscene, harassing, or threatening, it is not a best practice to delete it.
- Do not delete a negative comment. It draws attention, inflames the situation, and allows others to question your integrity.
- Handle negative comments and developments quickly and professionally.
- Encourage the poster to communicate via phone or e-mail to take the conversation out of the public realm.
- Responding to correct a mistake and let the poster know you have heard them or ignoring the post entirely are both appropriate options depending on the circumstance.
- Delete inappropriate comments, such as profanity, spam, racist or hateful language, or threats.
- Take a screen shot of negative posts, in case the matter is contested.
- Block users that continually post spam.
- Consider including posting guidelines on your page that explain you will delete inappropriate posts or comments.
- If followers are engaging negatively with each other, consider commenting to let them know you are monitoring and ask them to keep comments civil.