Social Media Guide for Extension

This guide for Extension is supplemental to the Utah State University Social Media Policies

As social media continues to become a primary avenue for people and organizations to communicate, it’s important for Utah State University Extension to have consistent usage guidelines. This policy provides baseline standards for USU Extension-affiliated social media accounts.

Approval & New Account Creation

All new social media accounts must be approved and created by the USU Extension marketing and communications office. Requests may be sent to the Extension marketing manager and should include justification on the use of the platform desired and names and email addresses for at least two administrators, one of which must be a university employee.

Naming

All USU Extension-affiliated social media accounts should have “USU Extension” in the beginning of the account name. Exceptions to this rule include: stand-alone gardens and centers, character limited names (such as on Twitter), or organizations with a national affiliation (such as Utah 4-H or Utah Agriculture in the Classroom). The words “USU Extension” should never be separated. Examples of correctly-named social media pages include:

  • USU Extension – Sample County
  • USU Extension – Sample County 4-H
  • USU Extension – Sample Program

All social media accounts should note their affiliation with USU Extension in the page description. Twitter and Instagram accounts should note the affiliation by using the official USU Extension handle, @usuextension.

Administrative Access

At minimum, 2-3 individuals should have full administrative access (not just editor access) to each social media account. Additionally, all USU Extension-affiliated Facebook pages should be included in the USU Extension Marketing and Communications Facebook Business Manager. Access must be granted, when requested, by Facebook page administrators for pages that aren’t already included in the business manager.

Logo Usage

Logo usage on social media accounts must comply with USU Extension’s visual identity policy, found at https://extension.usu.edu/marketing. Logo policy violations should be fixed, or the account closed. The marketing and communications office may request that accounts in violation be closed.

Inactive Accounts

Accounts that are inactive for a period of three months or longer should be closed, merged with another page, or should have a plan developed for future use.

Other Platforms

LinkedIn – Only the USU Extension central LinkedIn page, or showcase pages from that page, should be used.

Pinterest – Only programs who produce regular, consumer-friendly content should utilize Pinterest. Organizations with limited content are invited to use a board on the USU Extension central Pinterest page.

YouTube - All USU Extension-affiliated online videos meant for public use should be housed on Extension’s central YouTube channel, with the exception of stand-alone gardens and centers or nationally-affiliated programs. Videos that need to be approved and posted on the channel can be sent to the Extension marketing manager or multimedia specialist. Videos meant for internal or limited use may be kept on other channels.

Responsibility

County directors and program directors are ultimately responsible for content posted on any social media account affiliated with any program they oversee.

Compliance and Enforcement

All platform, USU Extension, and Utah State University social media usage guidelines should be adhered to. The USU Extension marketing and communications office is tasked with ensuring that policy is followed. Requests from the marketing and communications office related to this policy should be granted.