Social Media

Stories Told Together

Social media brings the University of Arkansas to life in digital spaces. It is the public voice of the university and draws our campus community closer as well as showing the impact the U of A makes through life-changing opportunities, dedication to Arkansas and determination to build a better world.

There are important stories to tell about life on campus and the work we do to improve lives in support of Arkansas. We need your help to share them.

Basic Content Strategy

Social media works best when people remain at the center of what we share. For this reason, focusing on students, faculty, and staff – the people who make this university such a special place – the central theme of your content strategy should be your main goal. Here are some specific examples:

• Impactful stories that illustrate our land-grant mission of teaching, research, and service to our state
• Consider the university’s guiding principles and unifying themes to help convey your content strategy goals in social media and other narratives. These goals and themes are important in developing impactful and inspiring content.
• What social media viral trends are occurring and how can you creatively use it to highlight something of note in your college/school/department? These trends can be an great way to show how our campus is place of diverse thoughts and experiences with engaging content.
• How can you connect recurring national/global events to your college/school? (Ex: National Arkansas Day on January 11 and National Higher Education Day on June 6)

Before You Get Started: Do You Need a Social Media Account?

Social media accounts are quick and easy to start but successfully maintaining them requires a clearly outlined strategy, goals, and objectives in addition to dedicated time and effort. Your audience will expect consistent updates along with regular interaction with you there. Before starting, consider the following:

• What is your purpose and goal for your social media account? Is there already an established account at the college, school, or unit level where your information could be shared with an already established audience?
  • Sharing information on established accounts expands reach to established and engaged audiences with little effort.
• Are you ready for the responsibility?
  • Do you have meaningful and relevant content to post consistently and the ability to monitor that account daily to interact with the audience?
  • Do you have the time in your work day/week or specific staff to accomplish this task?

Starting a New Account

The following are some basics to keep in mind before starting a new social media account:

• When dealing with social media account names (handles), it is recommended to use “uark” in your name (ex: @uarkfulbright, @uarkart, @uarkasg)
• It is important to have multiple admins (two are recommended (including the primary user) – three is optimal – who are U of A full-time staff/faculty members.
• It’s critical to use a department-based email account as a login credential instead of an individual’s email address to ensure ownership continuity and access when staff changes.
• Contact Roland Liwag, the university’s director of social media strategy, at rliwag@uark.edu with the following details so we can add the account to University Relations’ list of official U of A social media accounts:
  • Social media platform (ex: Facebook/X/Instagram/LinkedIn)
  • Account handle (ex: @uarkfulbright, @uarkasg, @uarkgsie)
  • Account administrators and their contact information (uark.edu email address would be best)

Graphics, Images and Photos

Using photos or graphics on social media is highly encouraged and can help increase your account’s reach and engagement KPIs (key performance indicators). When posting images and/or graphics, keep the following in mind:

• Make sure images (photos and graphics) are sized and cropped for each platform’s specific dimensions.
• When posting a graphic, use approved U of A primary colors.
• The university is a public space. Photos on and around campus are allowed as long as the subject doesn’t have an expectation of privacy. Any photos inside of classrooms or during a class need prior approval from the faculty member using the space.
  • Ex: A photo taken in a residence hall would likely be intrusive, but a photo taken in the Arkansas Union is probably fine.

Profile Bio Copy

Typically located under the page hero image and the account title and handle, your page's social media bio is one of your first opportunities to introduce your account to new users. Think of it as your 10-second elevator pitch or a truncated version of the lede paragraph in your "About Us" webpage.

 Each social media platform has different character lengths and what you choose to include in your bio could vary per account:

• Facebook: 255 characters
• Instagram: 150 characters
• X: 160 characters
• LinkedIn: 2,000 characters

Aside from mentioning your school/college/unit/department's mission, we recommend adding how your account is affiliated to the University of Arkansas.

For example, borrowing from the Graduate School and International Education's bio copy on Instagram:

"Serving all graduate students, all international students, and all domestic students studying abroad at the University of Arkansas."  

Hashtags

Even though hashtag usage has changed in recent years, it still has a place in effective post caption copy. Your strategy might vary depending on the platform, but in general we recommend using fewer hashtags per post (1-3 hashtags work best on most platforms).

The following are some regular hashtags University Relations will occasionally add to posts on main U of A social accounts:

• #uark: General university news and information as well as referring to the U of A as a whole
• #uark[graduation class year]: Content referring to specific cohorts (Class of 2025) or for incoming freshmen (#uark28)
• #arkansas #northwestarkansas #fayettevillear: Geolocation specific hashtags used for certain content emphasizing geographic location

Comments

If there are negative comments on a post or your account is tagged in a negative exchange, contact University Relations for guidance before taking any action. You may include the following statement on your official social media profile page when appropriate:

“We encourage thoughtful discussion about the topics we post. However, if comments or messages contain advertising/spam, are off-topic, offensive, defamatory, infringe someone’s rights, or are a violation of law we reserve the right to remove them.”

Policies

Be aware that the following policies affect social media usage on campus. We’ve summarized them, but for the fine-tuned legal points, please look at the language of the policy itself.

• Political Activity – Board Policy 465.1 – No employee may involve the institution’s name, symbols, property or supplies in political activity.
• University Graphic Identity #208.0 – Official accounts must follow the university’s graphic identity standards.
• University Communications and Brand Usage #325.0 – Establishes brand, style and usage guidelines for the campus.
• Code of Computing Practices #201.0 – General principles regarding the usage of computers and other digital resources.
• Public Information and Media Relations #217.0 – Major campus-wide policies and news should first be reviewed by University Relations. Sports and agricultural publications are exempt from this policy. University Relations is the official office representing the campus with the external media in all emergency situations, or those situations that may have potentially negative implications.
• University Websites and Online Communications #225.0 – Only official webpages can use the university’s logo. University Relations has the right to review official websites for consistency of design, appropriateness of language and site architecture.
• Employee Conduct, Use of Property & Facilities (Staff Handbook - 9.2 on this page) – University equipment should only be used for work-related purposes.

Other General Guidelines

• HIPPA and FERPA: Never divulge the health status of a student or anything that pertains to their grades on an official account without the student’s express permission.
• Posting a co-worker's condition: Never post personal details about a co-worker's or supervisor’s medical condition on social media outlets affiliated with the university. If the person is a public figure, work with University Relations to draft a public statement about that individual.
• Emergency communications: Do not post speculative information during a crisis. Refer all traffic to the university’s official accounts. The U of A’s X account, @UArkansas, managed by University Relations is the lead social media channel for the university in the case of an emergency situation. Contact University Relations immediately if you discover erroneous information about an unfolding crisis.
• Copyright: It’s important to respect copyright law regarding usage of photos/images, video, and audio assets on social media. We recommend minimal usage of stock photography as photos, video and audio created by you will be timelier and more specific than stock assets. If you have any questions regarding copyrights and how that will impact organic content creation, contact Director of Social Media Strategy Roland Liwag at rliwag@uark.edu.
  • You can also use the university’s photo database, Resource Space, for images of campus buildings, people, and events. Contact University Relations or the director of communications in your college/school for access.