Office of Communications & Creative Services

General Guidelines
All content—in the form of blogs, updates, posts, tweets, videos, publications, photographs, music, links, and other digital content—should be posted with the understanding that it may be redistributed throughout the Internet and viewed by the general public. If deleted or modified, older versions may continue to exist online. Please remember to post content that is relevant, searchable, and easy to share with audiences of all ages.

Protect Property
Follow copyright, fair use, and intellectual property rights. Rights and permissions might be needed before posting, sharing, or distributing copyrighted materials, including music, art, photographs, texts, and videos. Please do not post anything that might cause someone to believe that a person’s name, image, likeness, or other identifying aspect of the person’s identity is being used without permission.

Stay Accurate
Get the facts straight before posting them. Please verify information, links, images, videos, etc. Whenever possible, link back to the original source. Review content for grammatical and spelling mistakes. If you make an error, correct it quickly.

Protect the College Identity
The Purchase College “bubble” should not be modified in any way. Each account should contain the name or title of the school, department, or unit within the college. When possible, we recommend the use of the official name Purchase College SUNY.

Connect Thoughtfully
Connecting to other social media members, sites, and platforms builds credibility and community, but it may also give the unintended impression that your site endorses a certain cause, group, or person. Consider carefully who you “friend,” “follow,” link to, or allow into your site and to what extent you will allow comments. Help the Purchase College community stay connected by linking back to the Purchase College home page and other official social media sites.

Remain Transparent
Be honest about your account’s identity. Clearly link pages, account names, and content to a particular school, department, or unit within the college.

Moderate Comments
Social media networks should be monitored and updated on a regular basis by administrators. These platforms are designed for two-way communication and your efforts should encourage fans, followers, and friends to share freely their thoughts with one another by commenting on or sharing stories, videos, links, and other posts. Sometimes the content you post may encourage comments or discussion of opposing ideas. Sometimes a user will post something on your site that can be interpreted as controversial. Administrators can and should respond whenever relevant. Sometimes this means taking the conversation offline. Posts directed at individuals should be written in a respectful manner, and should not in any way be interpreted as combative, demeaning, or otherwise negative. Consider how your response may reflect on you, your department, and the college. Posts that are off-topic, abusive, contain profanity, or are threatening in tone can be deleted immediately. If you are unsure about posting something, deleting something, or responding to a comment, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Communications and Creative Services.

Commercial & Other Uses
Endorsing commercial products, services, or individuals is not allowed, though this policy may be waived for alumni. Social media accounts using the Purchase College name cannot promote a political cause, political party, or political candidate.

Troubleshooting
Be cautious of “phishers.” Phishing is an attempt to gain control of a social media site by deceiving an administrator into revealing the account’s username and password. It is not unusual for an account to have several administrators in the past that may no longer be associated with Purchase College. Once you notice unauthorized access please inform the Office of Communications and Creative Services.

Know When to Ask for Help
Please contact the the Office of Communications and Creative Services if you:

• encounter something you cannot answer;
• see incorrect information about Purchase College;
• aren’t sure how to respond to a comment or post;
• recognize any type of problem;