Social Media Guidelines

The University's social media accounts are used to engage and inform the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Ragin' Cajuns community and public. Help us keep our social media environment inviting, insightful and constructive.

Respect for civility. We encourage you to interact with each other and with the University in a respectful and meaningful way. Please respect other people’s views, beliefs and emotions, as well as their privacy.

Respect for content. Open dialogue on our pages is essential to our community. We are committed to fostering a learning environment that allows for freedoms of speech and expression in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The University is not responsible for comments or wall postings made by visitors to our page; and such postings do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University.

Respect for our brand. Our brand is unique, important and worth protecting. Our brand identifies and unifies us and helps tell the University story. No one should use our name or marks, impersonate the University or imply official endorsement without our official written consent. We have the legal right to defend our brand against violations.

Guidelines for Faculty, Staff, and Students representing UL Lafayette through Social Media

  • Uphold the university’s mission and values. Always consider whether a message via social media is supporting the university’s goals, programs, and overall brand.
  • Use good judgment about content and respect privacy laws, including FERPA. Confidential University information should not be shared publicly on these social media channels.
  • Be an ambassador for UL Lafayette. Although you may not be speaking on behalf of the university, you still represent it. Faculty and staff should strive to represent UL Lafayette in the best way at all times.
  • Identify personal opinions as your own and not the university’s. You may not use the UL Lafayette name to endorse political candidates (regardless of any connection to UL Lafayette) or promote opinions, products, services, or causes that might contradict the University’s mission and values.
  • Follow university policies and editorial guidelines. While UL Lafayette does not regularly review content posted to social media sites, be aware that all posted content is subject to review in accordance with these policies and guidelines.
  • Familiarize yourself with and abide by the terms of service of any social media platform you are using.
  • Provide proper attribution when using or posting online material that includes direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos, or videos. Include a link to the original material if available.
  • Track and utilize analytics diligently (either the platform's own analytics or Google analytics) to gauge the success and impact of your social media communications.
  • Consider carefully who you “follow” on Twitter accounts to avoid creating the impression that the University endorses individuals, causes, or organizations that might contradict the university’s mission and values.
  • Remember that on Facebook, official UL Lafayette pages should be be “Company, Organization, or Institution” or “Cause or Community” pages which users “like” rather than “friend.”
  • If someone with the media contacts faculty, staff, or students about posts made in online forums that relate to UL Lafayette in any way, contact Communications and Marketing before responding.
  • Protect yourself. Remember that all content contributed on all platforms becomes immediately searchable and can be immediately shared. This content immediately leaves the contributing individual faculty/staff/students members’ control forever.
  • Report any potential or direct threats to the UL Lafayette Police Department immediately. 

Personal Use of Social Media

The social media policy applies to personal activity and/or professional activity that is not part of official UL Lafayette communications, and where you identify yourself as a UL Lafayette employee, either through a bio, comments, or by using your louisiana.edu email address.

The following disclaimer should be added whenever you identify yourself as part of UL Lafayette while not officially acting on behalf of the university:

The views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and they may not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to screen and remove any content or comment posted to official University pages that is deemed to be inappropriate, such as content that:

  • is defamatory
  • violates copyright law
  • threatens the University or others
  • is off-topic
  • is pornographic, or sexually explicit
  • is deployed by a user with an obscene profile image or name
  • contains foul language

At any time, we may block repeated offenders of the aforementioned violations from accessing any social media without notice. Misconduct by students and employees can result in University sanctions.