Social Media Guidelines

Guidelines for BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty, staff and students regarding new and existing social media accounts.

REQUIREMENTS

In order to establish a new social media account for your division, department or group, the following is required:

  • To create 30 days of content: Please submit 30 days of content for your proposed account to the Communications Office for review (calendar, Word Doc, list, etc.) before you set up your account. Today’s followers expect continuous communication and current information. Although there are different optimal posting frequencies for various platforms, it is important to post frequently so that your account does not get lost in the newsfeed of your followers.

What will you be sharing? Is it important and frequent enough to set up an account, or can the Communications Office share via @BUMedicine? Consider the following:

    • News – How often does your division, department or group share news? Is it frequent enough that your social media account would serve as a go-to source for this information?
    • Events – How often do you hold or host events? Can you provide content for Save the Dates, RSVPs, event recaps, photo albums, etc.?
    • Visuals – Can you provide photos, illustrations or videos to support your content? Can someone on your team handle your graphic design needs?
    • Accolades – Will you be posting content to highlight or honor your faculty/staff/students?
    • Branding: Since your channel will be representing BU, there should be some type of visual (logo, image, colors, etc.) indicating your relation to the University. Please work with the Communications Office to obtain visuals that align with the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

    Email Communications Manager Mallory Rice at malrice@bu.edu for more information.

    GENERAL GUIDELINES

    For faculty, staff and students with existing social media accounts:
    Source: American Medical Student Association

    • Be professional. Represent the school and the medical/scientific profession with integrity. Adhere to the rules of ethical and professional conduct at all times.
    • Think ahead. Carefully consider the content you post. Exercise good judgement because anything you post can have immediate or long-term consequences and carry the potential for significant public impact or viral spread of content. Be sure to differentiate opinions from facts.
    • Protect client/patient information. Do not discuss confidential information and follow standards of patient privacy/confidentiality outlined in HIPAA and FERPA.
    • Follow copyright laws. Make sure you have the right to use material before publishing.
    • Maintain separation. Avoid interacting with current or past patients and avoid requests to give medical advice (through social media).
    • Use disclaimers. Disclose yourself and provide appropriate disclaimers if your view differs from the School or University. Be sure to reveal conflicts of interest, and be honest about your credentials.

    CONTENT GUIDELINES

    If you identify yourself as Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty/staff/student member in your profile or bio, the following language is suggested for inclusion in your account description:

    1. Views are my own.
    2. Tweets are my own. (Twitter only)
    3. The views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. (If word count limit allows)

    Comments on our social media posts will be deleted if they contain:

    • Hate speech
    • Profanity, obscenity or vulgarity
    • Nudity
    • Defamation to a person or people
    • Name calling and/or personal attacks
    • Comments with the main purpose of selling products
    • Spam comments, such as the same comment posted repeatedly on a profile
    • Other comments that the Communications Office deems inappropriate

    Repeated violations of content guidelines may cause the author to be blocked from all medical campus social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

    SOCIAL MEDIA REQUESTS

    Have an event, news item or other content piece for @BUMedicine to post on social media? Please complete the form on the sidebar menu to submit a request.

    Note: requests must be submitted at least two days prior to your intended posting date.

    If you have a post on your channel that you want shared from @BUMedicine, please tag us and email malrice@bu.edu to request a re-share. You can also let us know about content we should share in advance of the posting date.

    Questions? Contact Communications Manager Mallory Rice at malrice@bu.edu.