Social Media

Social media is an accessible and powerful resource for colleges and departments to expand their reach with timely and creative communications. In addition, advertising through social media platforms can be a cost-effective component of unit marketing plans.

All social media accounts connected to Idaho State should adhere to the following standards:

1. Positively promote the University and increase awareness of Idaho State’s outstanding programs, students, faculty, staff, and alumni. 
2. Support the mission, values, and strategic objectives of Idaho State University in a cohesive and professional manner.
3. Build and strengthen community among students, faculty, staff, alumni, industry partners, and the regional community.

Best Practices

Many of the social media accounts associated with Idaho State are managed by faculty, staff or students throughout the University. We have assembled a fairly comprehensive guide of Social Media best practices to help those who manage their unit's social media accounts. We highly recommend a thorough review of its contents, which include guidelines and useful tips regarding:  

• Setup and administration of accounts
• Selecting platforms to match a desired audience
• Ensuring content and strategies align with University's mission, values, and objectives. 
• Use of content calendars or apps (like Hootsuite) to plan, create, schedule and publish your content.   
• How to properly manage confidential information in line with FERPA and HIPAA guidelines. 
• Using the Federal Social Media Accessibility Toolkit to ensure accessibility for all users. 
• Analytics and tracking tools
• How to compose brief, effective, visual posts with a call to action
• Proper use of approved logos and correct university colors, fonts and graphics. 
• Engaging and cross-promoting with other University social media accounts.  
• Handling negative engagement.

Best Practices Guide

Creative Social Media Ideas

Social Media Guidelines

We trust that as Bengals, friends, and visitors of Idaho State University’s social media, you will engage with each other in a respectful manner and provide valuable discussion. Our social media platforms are used to support community building and respectful engagement.  

To ensure that Idaho State is represented in the best way possible, the University reserves the right to remove content that is contrary to our guidelines, including:

• Spam, unrelated self-promotion, or direct sales pitches  
• Profanity and vulgar or abusive language  
• Harassment, abuse, or threats to others; personal attacks on individuals or groups  
• Derogatory, unprofessional, or disrespectful behavior; anything harmful to minors  
• Behavior objectionable or in violation of any U.S. law; or infringing on intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of third parties  
• Sensitive information (for example, information that could compromise an individual’s safety or public safety)  
• Offensive comments containing terms that target or disparage any ethnic, racial, religious, or other groups  
• Off-topic comments (if you have off-topic comments or feedback that you want to share with the University, please email comments@isu.edu)  
• Multiple identical posts by the same user