Social Media Toolkit
What We Promote and Support on Social Media
- University- and school-level initiatives related to academic and artistic excellence, rankings, impact, or reputation
- Current students involved in collaborations, community engagement, or significant opportunities in or outside MGSA
- Alumni with uncommon or inspiring careers who can speak to MGSA’s impact on their trajectory
- Faculty excellence, especially those whose creative work, grants, or expertise relate to current events, trends, or RU/MGSA strategic initiatives
- Donors and their impact on the MGSA student experience
This content is meant to nurture belonging, shape, preserve, and enhance the school’s reputation, and inspire potential
partners to view the arts and MGSA as relevant drivers of change.
To put it simply: Our No. 1 goal is to make people feel good about being part of the MGSA community.
Getting Started
We do not curate the content posted on department-based social media platforms, but if your social media managers have questions about social media best practices, we’re happy to advise. We also host an annual training session for all social media managers.
Mason Gross social media guidelines adhere to the social media guidelines disseminated by Rutgers University’s University Communications and Marketing team. Please remember that when you post to a Mason Gross social media account, you are not speaking for yourself; you are a voice of Rutgers University and must adhere to university guidelines.
If a student is posting for a department account, please ensure that posts go through an approval process that involves a departmental social media administrator (see names below) reviewing and approving all student-generated posts. Once content is posted, it’s out there, even if the content is later taken down. Screenshots of the content can be taken and re-shared.
Content posted by an MSGA account that represents the school, must be free of solicitations, requests for donations, and does not advertise a business, or proffer political opinions or commentary in the name of the school. Please also consider the importance or relevance of the content being posted and ensure that it adds value to our target audiences, such as current and prospective students, alumni, and faculty or staff. If the content is not well positioned for these audiences, re-consider its relevancy.
Do you need a social media account?
Before creating an account, consider whether this is appropriate for your program. Identify what your specialized account can accomplish that the school-wide account cannot. The university’s Social Media Playbook pdf and is an excellent resource. Some questions the playbook prompts you to consider:
- Know your audience. What do they care about? Which platforms are they active on?
MGSA Instagram – primary audience: current/prospective students. Secondary audience: alumni, current/prospective faculty
MGSA Facebook – primary audience: alumni/staff
MGSA Twitter (X) – primary audience: Rutgers media/staff; NJ arts groups; journalists
MGSA LinkedIn – primary audience: alumni - Establish goals. What are you trying to achieve, and why? Who are you trying to reach? What action do you want your audience to take? Ex. You are trying to communicate to current and prospective students the wealth of opportunities available at MGSA and to demonstrate the vibrant community that exists here. You are doing this to boost student morale, retain current students, and attract prospective students. Ask yourself:
Do we want to…
–Provide resources to existing students?
–Promote our school to outside publications, organizations, and collaborators?
–Engage potential applicants?
–Boost morale among existing MGSA community members?
Are we interested in…
–Building a small but interactive community?
–Reaching new audience members?
–Maintaining relationships with former students, artists, and faculty after they leave?Keep these questions in mind as you mull a new social media account. The answers to these questions will determine your strategy and will prove key to your success so that you’re not merely posting but communicating something of value to your community.
- Don’t spread yourself too thin. You don’t need to be on every social media platform. Posting 2-3x/week is sufficient. If you post much more, your posts will get lost.
- Assess how you’re doing. Are you getting likes, comments, and shares?
Platform-Specific Tips
- Facebook: Always use an image; keep your text concise. Tag relevant parties, including Rutgers University and the Rutgers University Alumni Association, as well as Mason Gross and, if possible, anyone who’s connected to or included in the content.
- Instagram: Be sure to use alt text to describe all images. Use the following hashtags: #nj #rutgers #mgsa and a hashtag that describes your department content, e.g., #dance. Tag relevant parties, including Rutgers University and the Rutgers University Alumni Association, as well as Mason Gross and, if possible, anyone who’s connected to or included in the content. Be sure to ask permission and give credit when you’re sharing another account’s content. Our data show that clear, high-quality photos of people give us some of the best engagement— likes, comments, shares, and link clicks are generally much higher on these posts. People want to see themselves, their friends, and their colleagues in action! Flyers, vaguely branded graphics, and low-resolution photos tend to perform poorly, with significantly less engagement.
If you have determined that a new account is essential for your program, please adhere to the following guidelines:
- Choose one social media admin for your account with one back-up. If a student is running your accounts, a faculty or staff member in your department must vet their content before they post. Establish accounts on a shared Rutgers email, not with your personal Rutgers email, e.g., use art.design@mgsa.rutgers.edu, not jsmith@mgsa.rutgers.edu. This helps us maintain access when the account is handed over to someone else. Passwords should be shared with your program’s designated liaison:
–Art & Design: Cassandra Oliveras-Moreno, coliveras@mgsa.rutgers.edu
–Dance: Kayleigh Ford, kf595@mgsa.rutgers.edu
–Filmmaking: Denise Agnew, denise.agnew@rutgers.edu
–Music: Jen Guarino, jen.guarino@rutgers.edu
–Theater: TBD
–Rutgers Community Arts: Jeanette Sternberg, jds431@mgsa.rutgers.edu - Where possible, all social media accounts associated with the school must post a “Statement of Use” (example in accordion below).
- Social media managers should keep track of activity and deliver a report to the appropriate departmental PR rep at least once a year so that they can assess the efficacy of the account.
- Each social media account should post at least once a week.
- Social media handles should start with the word “Rutgers” and then the program, i.e., Rutgers Theater, Rutgers Piano, etc.
- If an account features a “mission” section, accounts must use the department’s official boiler plate (available under Resources).
- Soliciting donations and sharing personal views is prohibited.
Statement of Use
Mason Gross School of the Arts reserves the right to delete user comments that promote commercial ventures or that fail to comply with other University or Facebook policies. Posts that are off-topic, abusive, contain profanity, political campaign materials, or commentary, irrelevant information, or are threatening in tone or attack anyone personally will be deleted immediately. Posts that are determined to be spam will be deleted immediately. Account administrators reserve the right to review all comments and posted materials and delete such materials at any time for any reason. The comments posted by followers of this page reflect the opinions of the individual poster and do not reflect the views of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Statement on Personal Social Media Conduct
From Rutgers University Communications and Marketing
Social media is a public medium. Faculty, staff, and students should always be aware of how they identify and present themselves to the public via their own accounts as they may be seen as de facto Rutgers authorities.
If you distribute or comment on information related to Rutgers via personal accounts, it’s important for you to clarify whether you are doing so in an official capacity or as a private individual. Make it clear that your personal comments represent your own viewpoints and not those of the university or its administrators. Keep in mind that any of your social media conduct may be copied or distributed by others long after you post it. You may be held liable for published information or find that it is used against you in an employment situation. Faculty and staff should also be sure to follow all applicable university policies, including but not limited to those addressing student and patient privacy, when conducting their own activities on social media.
Crisis Communications
Handling Commentary on Social Media
When posting messages relating to sensitive or urgent issues, you can expect to receive comments, replies, and/or direct messages. Keep an eye on your posts’ activity and be prepared to direct comments to those who can answer questions and concerns from your audience, if appropriate. Not all comments require responses. Monitor responses and take action when necessary. If you are unsure about how to handle a situation, please reach out to the Mason Gross Communications team.
- If a post or message contains a direct threat of violence against an individual or group, take a screenshot of the material, hide it from other followers of your page, and report the post/message to RUPD for investigation. Make sure you do not delete these messages or posts in case they are needed for investigation. Never delete comments on posts—even if the comment is saying something unfavorable about your program. Please alert the Communications team, as well.
RUPD contact info: kenneth.cop@rutgers.edu
Communications: publicrelations@mgsa.rutgers.edu
- Please note that direct message responses can be published by the receiving party. All social media posts should be created with the idea that all content can and may be shared more broadly than its original channel.
- For posts that include questions or concerns that you can’t answer, do not be afraid to refer the person to someone else. People often use social media as a tool for communicating with the administration because it’s the easiest route to power, but we don’t have to reply to them on social media.
- Decide what is and is not a crisis. One or two negative comments about a program is not a crisis, but when those pick up steam and people are piling on, that is a crisis. Even negative comments can be addressed with grace.
- As much as possible, keep the conversation off social media, and maintain an even tone. Politely and briefly reach out and provide your email (or that of the person to whom you’re referring the commenter. Do not answer a complaint tit for tat. If someone is especially angry, you will not convince them of anything. Remember, in this case, you are essentially a customer service rep, and you are the voice of the school.
If you are unsure how to handle a situation, contact the MGSA Communications team for assistance.
Book a Social Media Consultation
We host annual social media meetings for all social media managers, in which we review guidelines and best practices. For one-on-one consultations regarding questions about social media, please submit a Marketing Request Form. We’re happy to help.
Social Media Playbook (Video)
This Rutgers-issued video offers helpful tips about frequency of posts, tone, useful hashtags, et al.