Social Media Accounts

Lenoir Community College Marketing Department has developed these guidelines and procedures to help clarify the risks and best practices associated with social media activities to protect the user and the College. It is the responsibility of the user to read and understand these procedures in regards to social media. These guidelines are broad in nature to accommodate any differences in online venues while maintaining a universal code of conduct.

The Lenoir Community College Social Media Procedure only applies to social media accounts created to represent LCC groups, departments, programs, entities, etc. and does not apply to private individual accounts.

College Officially Recognized Social Media Accounts

For a group to be recognized by the College as an official social media account, the group administrators must seek approval from the Marketing Director.

The Marketing Director will review all social media inquires. This office should also be used as a resource for the college community for any social media needs. The Marketing Director will make the final decision regarding the use of social media. Once approved, the College’s Social Media Coordinator will ensure the pages are created according to social media site’s procedure.

Facebook Use

If an LCC organization, department, group, program, or sports team creates a Facebook, X, or Instagram page, they will be listed on the official LCC social media page. Doing this creates a link from the Lenoir Community College website to your organization’s page.

Account Administrators

All social media accounts officially recognized by LCC must have LCC faculty or staff member as an administrator at all times and must have the Marketing Director and Social Media Coordinator as additional administrators.

Should a LCC employee administrator of an account leave the College for any reason or no longer wish to be an account administrator, it is that individual’s responsibility to designate another LCC employee to be an account administrator prior to removing himself or herself from that role. The Marketing Director should be notified when a new administrator assumes the management of the page.

Procedure

All postings are subject to College policies and federal regulations including FERPA. Disclosure of confidential or proprietary material not in the public domain is strictly prohibited. LCC employees identified as administrators of accounts are held responsible for managing and monitoring content of their officially recognized accounts. Postings are subject to copyright laws. Do not use materials–including photos and music–without permission. Doing otherwise can expose you to legal action by copyright holders.

Administrators are responsible to remove content that may violate the College’s Conduct Policies. Inappropriate posts, comments and exchanges including profanity, harassment, bullying and hate speech are strictly prohibited. LCC has the right to remove any content for any reason, including but not limited to, content that it deems threatening, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, or otherwise injurious or illegal.

When using or posting online material that includes direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos, or videos, always include citations. Provide a link to the original material if applicable.

Refrain from using information and conducting activities that may violate local, state, or federal laws, and regulations.

All social media accounts must post at minimum once per week to remain active and current or will be subject to removal.

Content

Social media postings are in the public domain. This means anyone in the world can see your posts, and your posts can impact you and the College. Social media are public channels and are searchable by standard Web browsers despite your privacy settings. You are responsible for any and all content and exchanges occurring within the pages under your management. Treat online comments the same way you would at a public forum. Use good judgment about content and respect privacy laws. Do not include confidential information about the College, its staff, or its students.

You may post any content that is not threatening, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, or otherwise injurious or illegal.

Representation of your personal opinions as being endorsed by the College or any of its organizations is strictly prohibited. You may not use the LCC name to promote any opinion, product, cause, or political candidate.

By posting content to any social media site, you agree that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to that content, that your use of the content is protected fair use, that you will not knowingly provide misleading or false information, and that you hold the College harmless for any claims resulting from the content.

Unauthorized use and/or creation of Lenoir Community College social media and its pages are strictly prohibited. All pages and related social media accounts require prior approval by the Director of Marketing. Requests for official College social media pages are submitted to the Director of Marketing.