College Relations is responsible for managing official Chadron State College social media accounts.

• Facebook: ChadronStateCollege
• Instagram: @chadronstatecollege
• LinkedIn: Chadron State College
• Twitter: @chadronstate
• YouTube: Chadron State College

All other accounts mentioning CSC or Chadron State College are not official college accounts. Chadron State College Athletics manage all social media affiliated with the athletic programs.

Guidelines and Rules

Chadron State College clubs, departments, and organizations may create social media accounts, but must comply with the following guidelines.

1. Contact College Relations for a copy of an internal social media directory.
2. The official CSC social media pages do not promote commercial products. Before posting about CSC club or organization products or services for sale, please contact the Chadron State Foundation.
3. First, delete inactive accounts before creating new accounts to avoid confusion for present or current followers who are trying to find you.
4. All Chadron State College clubs, departments, and organizations should consult College Relations before setting up new social media pages to discuss Identity Standards. All new social media pages should have “Chadron State College” in the account name and “CSC” in the handle.
   Example: (Chadron State College Example Club: @CSCExampleClub)
5. In the “about” section of the account, summarize who you are, the purpose and intended audience of your account, and the link to the CSC web page associated with the account.
   Example: @CSCExampleClub: “This account is intended for Chadron State College [major] students or anyone interested in [program of study]. Please show respect for other users and be thoughtful about your posts. Learn more at the Example Club page.
6. Maintaining consistency in social media account names is important as audiences will be able to find your account more easily. Keeping a similar name through all accounts will also make it easier to log in.
   Examples:
   Facebook: CSC Pre-Vet Club
   Instagram: @cscprevetclub
   Twitter: cscprevetclub
7. The account profile picture or graphic should accurately represent CSC and your organization. If applicable, use an approved secondary mark. Secondary marks and general CSC logos are available from College Relations.
   
8. Reset account passwords before students, staff, or faculty leave. Make sure you have a point person who has the username and password. The College Relations Marketing Coordinator is an administrator for multiple accounts on campus and should be added as a backup administrator for continuity.
9. Familiarize yourself with specifications for photos, text, and videos to have the best possible quality. Specifications are noted later in this guide.
   Example: Instagram TV (IGTV) videos should use the MP4 format.
10. Each social media platform has terms and conditions. Please review these as you are responsible for knowing the rules of each platform you join.
11. Research best practices for your chosen platform before starting a new CSC-affiliated social media page. Guidance for each social media platform is subject to change. Check support pages for each platform on a regular basis to ensure that you are up to date on their standards.

Best Practices

1. Be thoughtful about your posts. Do not expect privacy when using social media. Once content is posted, it is available worldwide. Carefully consider this and how the viral dynamics of social media may reflect on CSC.
2. Know your audience. Your online audience could include prospective students, current students, trustees, foundation board members, media, alumni, current employers, prospective employers, colleagues, and peers. Keep this in mind as you create and post content.
3. Keep in mind current social media trends when posting since some viewers may not understand references and could possibly associate a negative meaning to trendy social media posts. Do not assume your audience shares your frame of reference.
4. Strive for accuracy. Check facts before posting. Review content for grammatical and spelling errors. Make sure all links work.
5. College Relations seeks to make a majority of organic posts. Engage with your audience by using questions, surveys/polls, or requesting feedback about your posts.
6. It can be helpful to cross promote or interact (Like, Comment, Share) social media posts from other state colleges (Wayne State College, Peru State College). The promoting of internal CSC departments can also help boost your social media presence and credibility.
7. Make relevant, prompt posts that add value. Keep your language concise. Those making posts should keep in mind they are representing CSC to external audiences with any content including comments, photos, or videos they post.
8. Post often to keep your audience up to date.
9. Inactive accounts must be deleted if not in use. Inactive accounts are defined by CSC as unused in six months. College Relations staff will periodically contact owners/admins of inactive accounts to discuss reactivation or help remove the account.
10. Use the nonskin (yellow) hue when using emojis and avoid using emojis that create a negative or inappropriate connotation for the audience, such as the middle finger, poop, peach, eggplant, etc.
11. Use emojis that can enhance a post, such as an eagle, graduation cap, etc., or to portray what you want to say to your audience.
12. Hashtags can help your post reach a larger audience. CSC branded hashtags such as #ChadronStateCollege, #CSCEagles, and #MyEagleJourney are for public use.

Commenting

1. Use professional judgment when commenting on posts. Chadron State does not tolerate harassing or threatening comments on any CSC-affiliated social media pages.
2. Hide comments that are not appropriate. Consult with College Relations, or report the user if you feel it is necessary.
3. CSC reserves the right to remove/hide comments generally considered negative and disruptive and will ban repeatedly abusive users from posting. Do not “feed the trolls,” which means do not engage in a back-and-forth with negative commenters.
4. Third-party comments posted and displayed on Chadron State College social media are carefully reviewed and posted only if CSC has a vested interest in the event.
5. Set profanity filters high. Demonstrate respect for other users. Page fans should be asked to follow CSC Social Media Guidelines. When offensive content is discovered on any CSC-related page, the user should use the link provided by that social media platform to report such content.

It is important to stay up to date on best practices for posting to social media and interacting with your audience. CSC recommends planning your posting times and posting media that fit the minimum specifications for a given platform. SproutSocial has a number of resources available to help your use of social media to promote your program or club.

1. Social media account managers should follow CSC Identity Standards when creating or maintaining social media accounts.
2. The official Chadron State College accounts reserve the rights to use the Eagle logo with the Chadron State College text.
3. Logos should not be resized, stretched, or distorted in any way. Maintain the correct aspect ratio and intended size of the logo when using it.

Example #1: Facebook

Reasons why this does not comply with CSC Social Media Guidelines:

• The page does not include CSC, Chadron State, or Chadron State College in the name.
• The About section does not summarize who Applied Sciences are or the purpose of the account.
• The profile picture does not accurately represent CSC or the organization.
• This page is an inactive account that cannot be deleted because the administrator is unknown.
• This account is an inside joke that only makes sense to a select group of people.

Example #2: Twitter

Reasons why this does not comply with CSC Social Media Guidelines:

• The logo does not follow CSC Identity Standards. No letters or other graphics should appear over the logo.
• Logos should not be stacked on top of each other. When using affiliated institution’s logos (for example, RMAC) make sure to comply with their guidelines.
• Do not resize, stretch, or distort logos.

Other Examples (Greeting cards sold in former bookstore)

Reasons why this does not comply with CSC Social Media Guidelines:

• Elements have been placed over the logo.

Reasons why this does not comply with CSC Social Media Guidelines:

• The logo is mirrored.