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Social Media Policy

Purpose

To identify the principles that govern Seneca’s use of social media platforms.

Scope

This policy applies to the use of social media platforms by any employee on behalf of a Seneca faculty, school, program, course, department, service area or as part of their work responsibilities. It also extends to employees using non-affiliated accounts and external service providers and contractors who manage Seneca-affiliated social media accounts on Seneca’s behalf.

Key Definitions

Account administrator

Any Seneca employee permitted to manage a Seneca-affiliated account on a social networking platform with the ability to post, respond to, edit or delete content.

Seneca-affiliated account

Any presence on a social networking platform using, under authorization, the Seneca name and/or logo.

Non-affiliated account

Any account on a social platform that has not been authorized by Seneca’s Marketing & Communications department to represent Seneca and use the Seneca name and/or logo.

Seneca main accounts

The official @senecacollege social media accounts managed by Marketing & Communications to represent Seneca on social media platforms.

Social networking site

Any form of online presence or publication that provides a platform for individuals to engage in networking activities, discussions or publish information on the internet.

These include, but are not limited to, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Quora, Discord, Twitch, blogs, discussion/review platforms like Reddit or Yelp, wikis, and augmented or virtual reality media like Oculus, Pokémon Go, etc. This also includes social messaging or chat applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, iMessage, Signal, Facebook Messenger, SMS, MMS, etc., that are built around social networking platforms.

Social networking

The use of any social networking platform that provides an opportunity for individuals to engage in networking activities or publish information on the internet.

Policy

1. Policy statement

  1. The use of social media platforms should be consistent, prioritize institutional reputation and reflect Seneca’s Brand Guidelines across every touchpoint, internal and external.
  2. Any social networking activities affiliated with Seneca’s brand must be clear, concise, relevant to the institution, and follow Seneca’s Brand Guidelines, Writing Style Guide and the Social Media Policy.
  3. Personal social networking activity by Seneca employees on non-Seneca affiliated social networking accounts is subject to Seneca's Respectful Workplace Policy.
  4. The views and opinions expressed by Seneca employees on non-Seneca affiliated social networking accounts are those of the employee, and do not necessarily reflect Seneca’s views or positions.
  5. Professors using non-Seneca affiliated social networking accounts for academic purposes must ensure the social media use aligns with the stated learning outcomes of the course and/or learning activity, communicate why and how social media tools are to be used and what is expected from students.
  6. Recordings of lectures and other academic activities reproduced or distributed using social media are subject to Seneca’s Recording Lectures and Educational Activities Policy.

2. Roles and responsibilities

  1. Marketing & Communications:
    • reviews and approves the creation of all Seneca-affiliated social media accounts
    • monitors activity across all Seneca-affiliated social media accounts, providing advice on content when necessary
    • provides regular training and ongoing individual consultations related to social media issues, including launching Seneca-affiliated social media accounts
  2. Seneca-affiliated account administrators:
  3. Supervisors:
    • build responsibilities related to Seneca-affiliated social media account administration into account administrators’ job description
    • ensure there is coverage of Seneca-affiliated social media accounts outside of regular business hours, where appropriate
    • establish coverage for account administrators during their vacations or leaves of absence

3. Account creation

  1. Administrators will need to obtain permission from Marketing & Communications prior to creating a social media account for use on behalf of any Seneca academic, service or administrative department, including Seneca’s logo or other brand assets.
  2. Approved Seneca-affiliated social media accounts will be tracked by the Marketing & Communications department.

4. Administration

  1. Each Seneca-affiliated social media account must have a designated account administrator and be linked to a Seneca email account.
  2. Account administrators are responsible for ensuring that inappropriate, offensive and/or illegal content is not posted and/or removed immediately upon becoming aware of such content.
  3. Account administrators should not share confidential information about Seneca, students, employees, alumni or other members of the Seneca community through social media accounts.
  4. Account administrators must obtain written consent from affected parties before posting photos, videos, quotes or personal statements on a social media account.
  5. Seneca reserves the right to delete any Seneca-affiliated social media account in violation of the Social Media Policy, Respectful Workplace Policy or Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy.
  6. Seneca may modify or delete content on any Seneca-affiliated social media account at its discretion.
  7. Only Seneca-wide social media accounts administered by the Marketing & Communications department will post original content about emergency events or inclement weather unless otherwise directed by the Marketing & Communications department or the President’s Office.

5. Account security

  1. Each Seneca-affiliated social media account must be password-secured by the respective account administrator, supervisor and the Communications department.
  2. Login credentials for each Seneca-affiliated social media account must be shared and maintained in confidence among the respective account administrator, supervisor and the Communications department.

Supporting Documentation

Related Seneca Policies

Related Materials

Approval Date: March 2022

Last Revision: March 2022