We highly encourage each department to have their own designated social media accounts.

For your VCU social media account, assign at least three social media administrators, at least one of whom should be a full-time faculty or staff member. We recommend that a minimum of three full-time faculty or staff members have administrator access or access to the login information and passwords to a social media account, including each unit’s identified social media team leader.

Social Media Policies 

• All assigned social media administrators should have defined social media duties in their official job descriptions.
• Student workers and interns may provide creative support. However, due to their short-term roles, they should not be considered as an administrator of the account. All content submitted by student workers must be reviewed, approved and posted by a VCU faculty or staff social media administrator.
• Posts on social media are communications that should be consistent with other forms of communication in the workplace. At all times, posts, comments and other usage of social media must comply with applicable VCU policies.
• Social media administrators may guide conversations on VCU social media pages but are not authorized to screen comments or posts made to those pages. Social media administrators are NOT authorized to hide or delete a post or block a user unless authorized in writing by the Chief of VCU Police, VCU legal counsel and/or the VCU Threat Assessment Team to mitigate an imminent threat.

Current Platforms 

• Facebook
• Instagram*
• LinkedIn*
• X (formally known as Twitter. If you are interested in using BlueSky, request a meeting with Sue Robinson, director of communications for VCU Libraries at srobinson26@vcu.edu)
• YouTube*

*Marks our priority platforms.

If you need help setting up an account, please submit a form through VCU or contact Sydney Smith at smithsa33@vcu.edu.

Report a Threat or Breach

Threats, harassment or personal information trolling must be reported to socialmedia@vcu.edu. If a threat appears to be urgent, you are encouraged to report this to VCU Police. All emergencies are to be reported to VCU Police immediately at (804) 828-1234. If a threat appears to involve only VCU employees or students, then consult the VCU Threat Assessment Team information available at tat@vcu.edu as described in VCU’s policy on Violence Prevention and Threat Assessment and Management.

If you suspect a security breach on a VCU account or personal account used to access a VCU account, immediately contact both Sydney Smith (smitha33@vcu.edu) and the VCU social media central administration (socialmedia@vcu.edu).

 

For more in-depth policies, visit the VCU Social Media Guidelines page.