Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY recognizes the vital role that social media plays in communicating, collaborating and interacting with students, faculty, staff and the general public. We encourage responsible use of social media to connect with the BMCC community at-large in order to foster a place for vibrant and thoughtful engagement as it relates to the College.
These guidelines apply to the BMCC social media community at large; which include students, faculty, staff, administrators and members of the greater community.
Creating Social Media Accounts
The Office of Public Affairs must approve the creation of all official BMCC social media accounts. See the list of approved social media accounts. All social media accounts must be created with a BMCC email address.
Before you contact the Office of Public Affairs, consider the following:
- Who is your audience? Is social media the best and most practical way to keep your audience updated with news and events?
- Define the purpose of having a social media account. Opening an account with no thoughtful growth plan and strategy and lack of consistent content and attention is not recommended.
- Do you have a staffer(s) with social media experience to manage and moderate the account consistently?
Please send an email to publicaffairs@bmcc.cuny.edu to learn more and request an introductory meeting.
Use of BMCC/CUNY Names, Logos and Likeness
Each social media account must strictly adhere to BMCC Brand Guidelines and CUNY University Brand Voice Guidelines. Social media logos must be produced and approved by the BMCC Office of Public Affairs.
Best Practices
Prepare for Success
Create a social media strategy: identify your audience, goals, and other tools for success before jumping in. For example, will the social media page have a moderator and what criteria will be used to determine the site’s content? Take advantage of BMCC resources that can help you succeed. If you manage a social media page on behalf of BMCC, contact the Office of Public Affairs for additional guidance and best practices.
Accessibility
Make every effort to make your content accessible by providing closed captioning to your videos and alt text on your photos. See Accessibility Guidelines and Techniques to learn more.
Responding to Negative Comments
Do not engage in debates, arguments or respond to negative comments and direct messages unless you can provide information that may help resolve the issue, offer clarification or an acknowledgment is needed on behalf of CUNY and/or a college. Before responding to a post or comment, consult with colleagues and think through your response strategy rather than posting immediately.
Protect Personal Information
Remember that everything you post on social media can be made public and can live on forever. For safety and security reasons, please be cautious about posting personal information (for example: home and cell phone numbers, mailing or home addresses, personal email addresses, etc.) on social media sites. Please familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of all social media sites and be aware of updates to on-going policies.
Be Appropriate and Respectful
Social media is “real life.” Behavior in social media is no different than in e-mail, public speech, classroom lecture, conversation with friends, or a poster on a wall. Anything considered inappropriate offline may also be considered inappropriate online. Know your audience and think before your post. For example, remember to consider the diversity of your audience. Be mindful of the impact of your words, actions, and images on various audiences. Free-speech rights are paramount, yet the rise of overt hate speech is not tolerated at the college. BMCC’s mission supports the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion to all members of the college community.
Be Authentic
Represent yourself accurately and be transparent about your role at BMCC. Consider that you are in an academic environment and the implications of utilizing a BMCC-provided platform.
Be Clear
When acting as a representative of the BMCC community, clearly identify you or your group’s relationship to BMCC. If you are a member of the BMCC community, but acting in social media as an individual, make it clear that you are expressing your own opinion and not that of BMCC.
