Social Media Collaboration for Official University Pages

St. John Fisher University has an established presence on a number of social media channels, and welcomes students and employees to participate in the creation of content including photo carousels, videos, and more. The campus community is also encouraged to submit their own content for consideration on these channels.

Beaks the Cardinal types on a keyboard while looking at a computer monitor. File cabinets and folders are in the background.

Goals for Social Media Collaborations

Those wanting to engage with the University’s main social media accounts are encouraged to reach out to the Office of Marketing and Communications in advance with the following:

  • Specific content elements, including content type
  • Overall goals and the reason for the collaboration request 
    Post timing

Collaboration posts should:

  • Be consistent with the mission, voice, and overall aesthetic of Fisher’s social media presence.;
  • Follow Fisher’s brand guidelines and social media policy.

Collaboration posts should not:

  • Contain materials which violate Fisher’s existing social media posting policies.
  • Contain content meant to be used as a “bulletin board” post of upcoming events or information. While posts can certainly be informative and advertise upcoming or current events, the content should match the overall tone, look, and feel of Fisher’s pages - e.g.: Do not approach social media content as you would for a poster meant to be hung up on a wall in the Campus Center, or a flyer on a corkboard. 
  • Contain QR codes or other materials which are counterintuitive to social media usage.

Quality Expectations

While social media content can easily be captured on an individual’s phone, iPad, or other personal devices, the University encourages use of devices including professional cameras if available, or on-campus resources such as the Cardinal Television studios, the podcasting booth in Basil Hall, or, for employees, the recording studio in the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence. The Office of Marketing and Communications is always willing to help work with students and answer questions related to finding on-campus resources or best practices with phone-capture or related content gathering methods. 

Per the University’s social media policy, in order to be considered for the University’s social media channels, content must not include elements that are illegal; threatening, abusive, or hateful; obscene or offensive; deceptive, false, or misleading; considered confidential information or materials of the University; spam or commercial advertising; in violation of the intellectual property rights of any other person; in violation of policies of social media platforms; or in violation of any of the University’s other policies, including the Free Expression Policy, Student Handbook, or Employee Handbook. Individuals creating social media content are reminded that in creating these materials, they are actively taking part in sharing the voice of the University. Content should be “Fisher Friendly,” courteous, accessible to social media viewers of all abilities, and should be grammatically accurate.

Review Process

Content submitted for the University’s social media pages will be reviewed by members of the Office of Marketing and Communications prior to being posted. The Office reserves the right to decline posting submitted content if it does not align with the content standards. If the Office determines that there are ways to adjust content for the University’s pages, it will work with those submitting to help develop and revise content items. Content that intentionally violates the University’s social media posting guidelines will not be considered. When submitting content, please allow for two weeks of review time by the marketing and communications team.

Collaboration Posts

Instagram offers collaboration posts, allowing multiple profiles to partner together to share content. The University understands the importance and usefulness of this method and welcomes the chance to collaborate with University departments, clubs, and other organizations. Because of Instagram policies regarding editorial control of collaboration posts, the University would publish the content from the University page first, with the partnering group or organization subsequently being added as a collaborator. The University will not accept collaboration invitations that are not submitted two weeks prior to the requested post date. Parties interested in working together on a collaboration post are required to contact the Office of Marketing and Communications before publishing a post that asks for the University to be a collaborator. The Office will work with participating groups and organizations to develop content and a posting timeline/strategy prior to posting. 

Additional Information

After posting content, it is possible that details within the post may change, or an error may be detected. While we encourage campus community members to ensure that content is accurate before posting ,the Office of Marketing and Communications will assist if content needs to be removed after posting.