Increasingly, NC State colleges, departments, units and programs are using social media outlets to build relationships with their audiences. To help university units make effective use of social media, NC State adopted a social media policy in June 2015.

That policy establishes procedures for launching social media accounts for an NC State unit, obtaining official university recognition and managing accounts in accordance with existing campus and state policies.

The full policy is here, but read on for highlights.

• The Social Media Policy applies to social media accounts created by or representing NC State department or units. It does not apply to student organizations.
• The NC State Social Media Registration system is the starting point for any department or unit seeking to launch a social media account.
• All unit or department social media accounts must have at least two registered university employees serving as account managers.
• Unit and department social media accounts cannot be used for political activities.
• Identification, promotion or endorsement of commercial goods and services provided by non-university organizations or individuals on department or unit social media accounts is strictly regulated. See section 5.3 of the full policy for details.
• The policy creates a Social Media Team to review all social media accounts registered via web registry for adherence to the Social Media Policy. The Chief Communication Officer, in consultation with the Social Media Team, will approve social media accounts for registration.
• All approved, registered social media accounts will be publicly listed in the “Officially Recognized Accounts” section of this web site.