Social media house rules

What we expect from our social media fans, followers and wider community.

The University of Manchester’s social media channels share content related to activity at the University and with our many partners. This may include – but is not limited to – stories about our research, history and heritage, cultural institutions and our staff, students and alumni.

We value free debate and discussion, but the views expressed by our social media followers, fans and subscribers are their own and may not represent the views of The University of Manchester, our employees or affiliates.

We want our social media channels to be safe and inspiring spaces, open for healthy and insightful discussion. Please follow our house rules to ensure that everyone has the same positive experience.

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Failure to follow house rules may see your posts deleted and/or reported to the appropriate social networks and your permission to post on University channels revoked.

Privacy

Please do not share any personal information relating to yourself or another individual/individuals, including email addresses, phone numbers or addresses in public posts. Posts or comments that include this kind of information will be removed.

Relevancy

Comments should be relevant to the subject of the original post. Any comments that are unrelated or repeated multiple times will be deleted or reported as spam. Equally, posts that advertise services unaffiliated to those run by the University will also be deleted.

Respect

The University is strongly committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and has zero tolerance to any forms of harassment and discrimination. We will report any comments that include hateful, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, discriminatory or harassing language.

Please use Report and Support to make a formal complaint about the conduct of our staff or students and to access support services related to harassment and discrimination.

Copyright

If you do not own the intellectual property of content, do not post it on social media.

Enquiries

The University’s social media platforms are monitored between 9am–5pm (GMT), Monday to Friday.

The University’s social media team can answer enquiries through our social media platforms. Please remain respectful when asking questions; the team will try their best to answer your question or provide links to advice and support. If the team receives any abuse from a social media user, we reserve the right to ignore or delete your message, report or block your account.

Guidance for staff

If you're a staff member at the University, please familiarise yourself with the Staff Social Media Policy for information on how to use social media effectively and appropriately.

Guidance for students

If you're a student at the University, please familiarise yourself with the Guidance on Social Media for Students and ensure your content is aligned with it. Equally, the Student Code of Conduct remains relevant in the online sphere.

User-generated content

User-generated content can be obtained when the owner of a photo or video shares it with one of the University's social media accounts via message, mentions the account’s handle, uses a hashtag promoted by the account or mentions the Department, group, unit or initiative represented by the account.

If you engage in such actions, then you allow The University of Manchester to use this content on our various social channels. If the user-generated content includes images of individuals other than the owner, the University uses this content on the basis that the owner has permission to share it. The University of Manchester will process any personal data obtained in accordance with UK data protection law. Further information about how we use personal data and data subject rights are available in our privacy notices.