The information provided below is intended to highlight additional social media policy information and best practices for University of Houston students who maintain UH social media sites as well as personal social media sites.

Maintaining UH social media sites

Legal

Respect copyright law and the rights of others. "Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed." ( read more ). Also, see copyright policy information on uh .edu, as related to file sharing .

It is an express violation to infringe on someone else’s rights of publicity, privacy, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. What does this mean? You may not reproduce, screenshot, modify or redistribute content (text and images) that do not belong to you, and in no circumstance should you remove, alter or conceal any watermark or other copyright identifier incorporated in the content of others.

Utilize available graphics to reinforce the University's brand. Do not abuse logos. Learn more about graphics standards for student organizations.

Adhere to the student handbook (especially regarding academic honesty and student code of conduct) and any/all regular applicable student policies, standards of conduct and applicable law.

Obey the terms of use for your social media platform. These rules are constantly changing, so it is your duty to stay up to date.

Please understand that by posting content to third-party applications such as social media sites, you are almost always releasing ownership rights to and control of that content. For this reason, we ask that you do not share any restricted-use photos that you may have access to.

Advised

You are encouraged to link to your source material any time you are able. This will help reduce the possibility of misinformation.

Think twice about the content you are preparing to post and double-check everything, with special attention to accuracy, spelling and grammar. Also, consider whether or not the content may potentially malign or polarize any person or group.

Respond to comments, posts, mentions and other interactions in a timely manner and with accurate information. Build relationships with other student administrators of social media sites who will be able to help you answer questions quickly and accurately.

If you do not post content that's valuable to your audience, they will stop listening. Give them content they can share or that will help them succeed. Give them opportunities to flaunt their creativity or do something fun. Every time you share a new post, ask yourself, "would I find this valuable?" Also, try to keep your language casual. Ask yourself, "would I speak to a friend like this?"

Cross-promote when you can! See the Social Media Directory for a list of official University sites.

Registering and maintaining your site

Register your site with the Division of University Marketing and Communications. To register, please contact UMC Social Media . Registering your site will allow your site to be added to the UH Social Media Directory .

Maintaining personal social media sites

Legal

Respect copyright law and the rights of others. "Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed." ( read more ). Also, see copyright policy information on uh .edu, as related to file sharing .

It is an express violation to infringe on someone else’s rights of publicity, privacy, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. What does this mean? You may not reproduce, screenshot, modify or redistribute content (text and images) that do not belong to you, and in no circumstance should you remove, alter or conceal any watermark or other copyright identifier incorporated in the content of others.

Adhere to the student handbook (especially regarding academic honesty and student code of conduct) and any/all regular applicable student policies, standards of conduct and applicable law.