Social Media Guidelines Written for Volunteer Leaders
Managing Club/Class/Group Pages
Social media is a great tool for Notre Dame clubs, classes, and groups to promote events, gain membership, share event photos, etc.The most important branding element of a social media presence is a common profile image. This piece of content should be uniform across all social platforms to reinforce brand awareness and allow users to immediately recognize that social network accounts on different platforms represent the same entity.
Facebook is the most recommended social platform for Notre Dame clubs, classes, and groups, and the ideal setup is a public page (not a group or profile). Events can be made and shared with the masses, and small ad campaigns can be executed with target geographic audiences. This approach helps to publicly represent your club/class/group and showcase your activities and community involvement to potential members.
Branding elements for Facebook should be chosen mindful of the fact that a growing number of users access the platform from mobile devices only.
Profile pictures: Facebook profile pictures should be sized at 180x180 pixels, but will scale down to 160x160 and be seen much smaller on mobile devices.
Cover photos: The Facebook cover photo is a great way to engage audiences with gorgeous photos of campus or your club's location. These should be high-resolution images (300 DPI) that are sized at 851x315 pixels.
Twitter is a great place to share news and updates. For a Twitter account to be successful, it has to be active regularly and be responsive to mentions and messages. A club/class/group Twitter account is only recommended if the club/class/group has a dedicated social media manager able to devote the requisite time to manage a Twitter account on top of Facebook.
Branding elements for Twitter should be chosen while being mindful of the fact that 80 percent of Twitter users view the platform from a mobile device. Simplicity will not only more closely align with overall University brand standards, it will ensure readability and recognition of the visuals in your profile.
Profile Picture: Twitter profile pictures are 400x400 pixels, but will scale down and appear much smaller next to your tweets in users’ feeds.
Header Image: Twitter’s header image is 1500 x 500 pixels as viewed on a desktop. Again, it is much smaller on mobile and is built to be responsive, meaning it will change sizes depending on the size of the screen on which a user views it. Normally, Twitter will crop from the top and the bottom, so the safest part of the image is the center.
Because other identifying symbols and information are in extremely close proximity, avoid placement of logos in the header image. Also, be aware of where the profile image overlaps with the header image. As with all imagery of the Golden Dome, be mindful and respectful of the Virgin Mary and be certain that it is not obscured by cropping.
Clubs, classes, and groups can use Instagram to share photos of events and meetings. Instagram is particularly popular with students and young alumni. Recommended to be used with Facebook.
Profile pictures: Instagram profile pictures should be sized at 110x110 pixels.
General Social Media Guidelines
As volunteer leaders, you help represent Notre Dame to our alumni, parents, and friends -- and the public at large. To the outside world, you are what you share, so it’s critically important to be mindful of what you post on social media.
With that in mind, here are a few common-sense guidelines you can use to ensure you help represent Notre Dame and your club in the best possible light.
Do
Be positive
Share things you find interesting/exciting about Notre Dame and about your club/class/group
For your personal account, feel free to share about your professional field/ hobbies/family/interests/local community etc.
Don't
Please note: These guidelines apply to your personal accounts as well as official club/class/group accounts.
Post anything negative about Notre Dame
Criticize students (including student-athletes)
Criticize coaches
Criticize University officials or employees
Take issue with a stance adopted by the University
Attack other people
Use profanity or coarse language
Get involved in heated disagreements or arguments
Reshare content that does any of this
Post confidential University information
Post discriminatory, retaliatory, defamatory, libelous or slanderous, threatening or sexually explicit comments about the University, its employees, students, customers or competitors
Post confidential personal information about students, faculty, staff, or others
Post about recruiting in general, or information and rumors regarding recruits of our athletics teams. Do not interact with recruits or prospects in any sport
For club/class/group pages, avoid using the Golden Dome in profile pictures as this landmark is reserved for use of the official Notre Dame accounts ONLY
Takeaways
Clubs, classes, and groups stand as role models and thought leaders for students, student-athletes, fans, alumni, and others. Critical, negative, or disparaging comments about the University, a sports opponent university, or either’s students, coaches, administration, conference, or fans can cause serious reputational harm to Notre Dame and can damage relationships both within the University and external to the University.Notre Dame has exclusive rights to its name, trademark, songs, mottos, and mascots, and prohibits their unauthorized use. Because registered trademarks and service marks are valuable assets, they must be used correctly to avoid loss or dilution in the marketplace. Please refrain from using registered trademarks on your personal social media profiles in unauthorized ways or in ways that imply you are an official representative or spokesperson for the University.
A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn’t want something reshared on social media, saved in a screenshot, quoted by media, or read aloud in public, your best bet is to not post it in the first place. After all, there are so many good things you could be sharing instead.
Additional Resources
Office of Public Affairs and Communications (OPAC) Guidelines
June 2020 Clubs Newsletter: Social Media Article
Social Media Webinar: During this webinar in 2018, our Social Media Expert, Grace Morrison, explored social media growth, how to prioritize and establish your presence, building your audience, utilizing paid advertising, how to take great photos, and ideas for your club's social media campaign. We were joined by the ND Club of Chicago (AA) to discuss promotion via Facebook Events and the ND Club of Wichita (D) to learn about their successful Instagram engagement. Click here to view the webinar recording and the slide deck.
2018 Alumni Association Leadership Conference - Social Media Workshop slide deck for additional tips and tricks
For further consultation, please contact Grace Morrison '16 SMC.