FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a list of frequently asked questions regarding social media use, as well as tips on some of the primary social media sites. This will be added to regularly.

Social Media Tips

• Respond quickly.
  Respond to questions within 24 hours. Do your best to find the answer, but always provide the relevant contact information for follow-up questions.
• Keep it brief.
  Almost every social media sites limit the amount of characters you may use in a post but try to be even briefer than they require. People move through the Web very quickly and don't have much time for extraneous words.
• Post the right amount.
  Simply having an account isn't enough — you need to populate that page with good content. We recommend a maximum of one post per day on weekdays (ie: up to five posts per week), with at least one post per week as a minimum.
  • Facebook: at least once per week, up to a maximum of five posts per week.
  • Twitter: at least three times per week, up to a maximum of five posts per day
  • Instagram: at least once per week, up to a maximum of two posts per day
• Ask questions in your posts.
  Don't just talk at your readers — engage them. Ask questions in some of your posts and see what kind of response you get via comments from fans.
• Monitor your page, and keep up with the conversation.
  Regularly read all the posts on your page wall, including those posted by others. Sometimes, students will ask important questions via Facebook rather than phone or email. Make sure to find these questions and answer them directly on the page.
• Be courteous.
  Don’t write on social media anything you wouldn’t say to your mom.

FAQ's

1) Am I allowed to create a social media account for my department or organization?

Yes. We welcome departments, colleges and divisions to create their own social media accounts, as long as you let us know about which accounts exist by completing this form.

2) How do I create a Facebook page, and are there any special procedures I should know about?

When creating a Facebook page, it's important to make sure that you are creating a true Facebook Page and not a Facebook Profile. While Pages and Profiles look identical to visitors, behind the scenes, they are created and monitored differently by Facebook.

Short rule of thumb: Pages are for organizations, departments, companies, etc., whereas Profiles are for individual people. Orgs that create personal Profiles, even by accident, may be deleted by Facebook. Problem is, the Facebook home page doesn't make this distinction obvious, nor do they provide a prominent link for Page creation. For your convenience, we've provided it here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Once on the page linked above, choose "Company, Organization or Institution," then select the category "Education" from the menu. Finally, give your page a "company name" that contains CSUSM (eg: "CSUSM Student Life and Leadership," "CSUSM Department of Psychology," etc).

3) Now that I've created my page, are there any rules or guidelines I should follow?

Yes, you are obligated to follow the Social Media Guidelines in all your work as respresenting the University on social media. We also ask all campus accounts to like or follow the official CSUSM accounts listed on the Social page.

4) How do I make my Facebook page and its content more effective?

See Social Media Tips, above

5) I am a student running a recognized student organization's social media account. Can I be added to the directory too?

Right now we are working on a Student Org Social Media Directory that will be housed with Student Life and Leadership. We will send out a communication when this is available.

6) What if I need additional assistance?

Please email kchappell@csusm.edu with any questions, we are happy to assist!

Please feel free to contact Katie Chappell, web and social media specialist in the Office of Communications with any questions.

kchappell@csusm.edu