Social Media Policy

George A. Smathers Libraries Social Media External Policy

Purpose

These guidelines exist to inform patrons of the social media policies of the George A. Smathers Libraries. Our policies supplement the official policies of the University of Florida available through the social media practices as well as our own internal policies and procedures guide. In keeping with the Smathers Libraries vision to “ignite curiosity, serve as the locus of knowledge management, and promote intellectual exchange within our diverse global learning community,” the George A. Smathers Libraries find it necessary and appropriate to maintain various official social media platforms. The goal of our social media presence is to complement the strategic directions of the George A. Smathers Libraries in order to better serve the University of Florida community by increasing awareness of resources and services while also serving as an avenue through which members of the community can interact with us.

Official Library Accounts

Only accounts listed on our website represent official George A. Smathers Libraries accounts. Please be aware that there is the chance imposter, parody, and unaffiliated accounts may be created containing content from and/or are about our libraries. While we will ask for offending accounts to be removed, accounts not listed on this page should not be considered official communication accounts of the George A. Smathers Libraries.

Friending and Following

To better interact with the community, Library accounts may follow patrons, respond to comments, and share patron comments provided their account is public. Library accounts may follow accounts that 1) are official UF accounts 2) are related to the larger library/information community 3) are owned and maintained by individuals who identify themselves as UF professors, employees, students, and alumni. Our friending/following of an account and/or our interaction with it does not mean we endorse all content published by that account and/or their views. At any time and for any reason Library accounts may choose to unfollow accounts. Users may also request that they not be followed by Library accounts.

Moderating Comments and Other Content

The George A. Smathers Libraries enjoy hearing from members of the public. However, we request that all comments made on/to social media accounts managed by the Libraries relate specifically to the Libraries or the content discussed in our posts. We also request that the public be aware of and act in a manner consistent with the policies listed in the University of Florida Acceptable Use Policy , UF Student Code of Conduct, and the UF Sexual Harassment Policy regardless of if the member of the public is affiliated with the University of Florida community. We also ask the public not post advertisements to our accounts or pages.

Personal Employee Accounts

This library policy complements the university Social Media Policy. That university-wide policy includes important procedures and standards which apply to library personnel.  The UF Social Media Policy references “Professional Standards” as a key basis for assessing permissible and appropriate social media practices.  These standards are intended to be discipline specific.  For the Smathers Libraries personnel, the applicable professional standards are the Professional Ethics of the American Library Association (ALA), including the clarifying Q&A documents provided by the ALA Committee on Professional Ethics.

Questions?

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any of our social media accounts they can be sent to uflibsocialmedia@ufl.edu.