Social Media

University Relations & Marketing understands that social media is a constantly evolving medium that is used by a large and diverse population, including students, prospective students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and the community surrounding the University.

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Social Media Guidelines

Social networks maintained by the University are places for students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and the community to participate in open dialogue. We welcome the exchange of ideas and encourage all to engage respectfully.  

The University established the following guidelines to ensure content is appropriate and compliant with Stockton’s Code of Conduct and Acceptable Usage Standards of Computing and Communication Technology. The University reserves the right to remove social media posts or block users when comments:  

  • Are profane, abusive or defamatory. 
  • Violate federal or State laws governing speech or contain any content or language that objectively could be construed as bullying, intimidating, harassing or threatening. 
  • Include or disclose personal, sensitive and/or private information or data that relates to an identified or identifiable individual without permission. This includes references to names, likenesses, images, identification numbers, addresses or other data specific to individuals. 
  • Are off-topic or repetitive, including those that are copied and pasted. 
  • Include spam, commercial advertisements or solicitation of funds. 
  • Infringe on copyrights or trademarks. 
  • Encourage illegal activities or violate any federal, State or local laws. 

Comments posted on social networks maintained by Stockton University may not reflect the opinion of the University and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of posts. Please be aware that while moderators oversee their respective pages, we cannot immediately review or respond to every comment posted on a page. 

The University may initiate corrective and/or disciplinary action if social media activity by any member of the University community violates the law or University policy or otherwise subjects the University to potential liability for such acts. 

Members of the University community are encouraged to report any posts that violate Stockton’s social media guidelines by writing to universityrelations@stockton.edu. Please include screenshot(s) of and link to the communication, username(s) of the person(s) involved in the communication and any additional information about the incident as possible.

Social networks maintained by the University should not include posts and/or videos that incorporate copyrighted or unlicensed music.

Social Media Recommendations

At Stockton, we embrace social media and encourage students, faculty and staff to engage in sharing and conversations through these social platforms.

  • Creating a Presence: Prior to creating a social media presence, please contact University Relations and Marketing for consultation and guidance. Before creating a page, consider whether or not you have enough content to post regularly (three to four times per week throughout the year). If you cannot support a page with regular postings, submit a request to University Relations and Marketing, and your content will be posted to the institutional page.
  • Logo Usage: The official Stockton seal and wordmark are reserved for institutional use only and should be used in profile images and cover photos when possible. View the Brand Guide for more on logo usage. Imagery that may be used for cover photos or profile images can be obtained by contacting University Relations and Marketing or by browsing Flickr.
  • Naming Conventions: Departmental social media pages should begin with Stockton University. "Stk" can be used when space is limited. "SU" should be avoided as it could be confused with other universities such as Syracuse University. 
  • Administrators: To ensure that accounts are always accessible even when the primary administrator is out of the office, a second administrator (or more) should be present at all times. If your department is unable to staff a second admin, please contact University Relations and Marketing, and a staff member will serve as a back-up admin to ensure that the account is accessible by more than one person in the event of an emergency.
  • Officially Recognized Pages: University-affiliated pages are defined as pages that are managed by Stockton faculty or staff members and post content related to an academic school or university department. In order to have an officially recognized university-affiliated page, please contact University Relations and Marketing to have your page added to the social media archive.
  • Facebook Group for Admins: The Social Media Admins at Stockton Facebook group serves as a platform for administrators of official Stockton University social media accounts to communicate and share information.
  • Use of Music: Social networks maintained by the University should not include posts and/or videos that incorporate copyrighted or unlicensed music.
  • Facebook logoCreate a custom URL for your Facebook page at www.facebook.com/username.
  • Use photos whenever possible to make your posts visual, but if you are photographing people, be sure to ask them if it's okay to take their picture for social media. Be a photojournalist and capture images that tell a story (i.e. look for details, talk to your subjects to learn more, provide a quote and caption information, include some of the environment to add context to your photo). 
  • Use the “When Your Fans Are Online” feature under the “Posts” tab in Page Insights to determine the best days of the week and hours of the day to post content to reach the largest audience.
  • Create a plan for having an office manager approve individual posts or content that will be posted to the department’s page.
  • Request custom profile and cover imagery through University Relations and Marketing to ensure that the page is consistent with the Stockton brand.
  • Like and engage with other Stockton affiliated Facebook pages and tag them in your posts whenever possible using the @ symbol.
  • Be sure that your department’s website has the Facebook icon displayed and hyperlinked to your Facebook page. Download the icon here. 
  • Use the scheduling feature through Facebook to schedule messages for the day, week or month.
  • Twitter logoRequest a custom profile and header image from University Relations and Marketing to ensure that the page is consistent with the Stockton brand.
  • Use hashtags to organize conversations centered around events or campaigns. The institutional hashtags are #StocktonU and #StocktonUniversity. Other hashtags include #LiveStockton for Residential Life, #StocktonServes for Service-Learning, #PTBOL (Proud to Be an Osprey for Life) for Alumni and #StocktonWorks for Career Education & Development.  
  • Search for topics and conversations to engage in.
  • Include a call to action or a verb if you want someone to watch, click or answer.
  • Photos and videos stand out in Twitter feeds.
  • Identify influencers and build relationships with them by following them, retweeting relevant tweets, using their hashtags and tweeting valuable content to them. If they retweet you in return, this exposes your brand to a large, new audience. 
  • Respond using a direct message if a private conversation is more appropriate.
  • Utilize in-platform scheduling features. 
  • Be sure that your department’s website has the Twitter icon displayed and hyperlinked to your page. Download the icon here. 
  • Host a Twitter chat with an expert by inviting Twitter users to submit their questions during a specific timeframe for answers and information. A chat should be promoted in advance to invite participation and can be archived as a Twitter Moment.
  • Instagram logoIn your profile’s about section, be brief, informative and consistent with your website’s messaging. Include your website URL and a hashtag that your followers should use to engage with you.
  • Use the #stocktonuniversity or #stocktonu hashtag when posting images as well as any other relevant hashtags to extend the reach of your photos.
  • Utilize the Stories feature, which is very similar to Snapchat, to feature behind-the-scenes photos and video clips. 
  • Repost user-generated content. Followers love a shout out or the chance to be featured. 
  • Archive and showcase Instagram stories from a campaign, takeover or event using the highlights feature.
Thank you for being a Stockton social media host. Below is a guide for taking over one of Stockton’s accounts.

View past takeovers in the Instagram story highlights. 

How it Works

You will be loaned a university device that is connected to Stockton’s accounts. Please stop by University Relations and Marketing, located at F-001 (next to the Multicultural Center), to pick up an iPhone.

As a host, please make sure that the people you feature are aware that they will be on Stockton University’s social media, and encourage them to follow the account if they don’t already.

If you are a student club or organization interested in hosting a takeover, email socialmedia@stockton.edu. 

Coverage Suggestions  

  • As the host, please introduce yourself and explain why you are taking over.
  • Feature individuals with short interviews. 
  • After 10 or more segments, viewership tends to drop off.
  • Be consistent and always shoot in portrait orientation for easy viewing.
  • If your student group or program has its own social media, tell followers how to connect.
  • Use the end of the takeover as a way to promote upcoming events and initiatives and thank viewers for watching.
  • Have fun and don't forget about features like links, boomerangs, countdown stickers, questions, polls, etc.
  • Stockton has branded stickers when you search #StocktonU in the Instagram sticker/GIF Library. 

Make a Request

If a department has content that is appropriate for social media, but not enough content to maintain its own departmental social media account, staff and faculty members are encouraged to submit a request to post news and events on the institutional social media accounts. Requests can be made using the University Relations and Marketing request form, which offers fields to input all of the relevant information such as date, time, location, contact e-mail, PDFs, images, etc.

If you have a video that you would like uploaded to the university’s institutional YouTube channel, please use the University Relations and Marketing request form.