Social Media Guidelines
Guidelines for social media at American Sentinel University must be followed by American Sentinel employees or contractors interacting on behalf of American Sentinel who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds or any other kind of social media, both at www.americansentinel.edu and elsewhere. These guidelines must also be followed by anyone using social media accounts that are connected to a university email address.
If an individual signs up as a friend of American Sentinel on Facebook, people can only see a photo and a name, but not any other personal information. The same applies to LinkedIn. An individual can only see more information about people he or she is friends/linked with.
On MySpace and Twitter, all information is viewable by anyone on the Internet. American Sentinel encourages employees not to link their MySpace account to American Sentinel-related social media accounts. If they do, they must follow American Sentinel’s social media guidelines.
Upholding American Sentinel’s Values
Guidelines for functioning in different social media platforms are the same as the regular policies around values, ethics and confidentiality. General posting guidelines that adhere to such values:
- Post meaningful, respectful comments. No spam and no offensive or off-topic remarks.
- Always pause and think before posting.
- Reply to comments in a timely manner when a response is appropriate.
- When disagreeing with others’ opinions, be appropriate and polite.
Disclose Affiliation
If writing about school-related matters that are within an employee’s area of job responsibility, an employee must disclose his or her affiliation with American Sentinel. Using a false name and concealing a relationship is misrepresentation.
Unless authorized to speak on behalf of American Sentinel University, you must clearly state that any views expressed are your own.
Professionalism
Be careful sharing personal information online. Business and pleasure should not be mixed on social network services such as Twitter. If in doubt about the appropriateness of a tweet or posting, American Sentinel employees should seek approval from their supervisor before posting.
Non-public Information
Never disclose online:
- Non-public financial or operational information, including strategies and forecasts. If it’s not already public information, do not share it.
- Personal information about other employees or students.
- Legal information that has anything to do with a legal issue, legal case or attorneys.
- Information that is considered confidential.
