Marketing and Communications

Social media guidelines

At PCC, we recognize social media as a powerful tool for connection and engagement with our students, staff, faculty and the community beyond. Our division is committed to supporting honest, transparent and knowledgeable dialogue with your audiences.

Overall, any accounts associated with PCC should:

  • Provide PCC-related content that is concise and relevant to our audiences.
  • Maintain consistency in its branding and voice, in accordance with our institutional brand.
  • Allow for ease of navigation with consistent updates and management.

Social media is constantly evolving, and these guidelines are subject to change.

Our accounts

The Marketing and Communications Division maintains the official PCC social media accounts:

If you would like to submit content to one of our accounts, please visit our Social Media Post Request form. Our team holds editorial discretion in determining the frequency and focus of material posted to these channels.

Supporting secondary accounts

Departments, student organizations, resources and services are welcome to create their own social media accounts to connect with their audiences. However, these secondary accounts are not managed by the college’s Marketing and Communications Division. Before launching an account, please consider whether your team has the staff and capacity to post regularly, monitor engagement, and maintain the page long term.

Our Marketing Department is available as a consultant and resource. We’re happy to provide guidance, share best practices, and offer recommendations to help your account succeed. Fill out our Project Request form to request a social media consultation with our team.

Our strategy

Goals

As marketing and informational tools for PCC, our purpose is to provide social media channels that:

  • Build and maintain relationships with current students, prospective students, community members and supporters.
  • Encourage discussion of topical events and issues.
  • Provide relevant, accurate, up-to-date and concise information.
Audiences

PCC has identified the following target audiences for social media:

Primary target audience:
  • Current and prospective students
Other audiences identified include:
  • Faculty and staff
  • Alumni
  • Community supporters
  • Business partners
  • Donors and prospective donors
  • Higher education partners
  • Legislators

While social media tries to address the needs of all audiences, our marketing focus is predominantly to communicate with our primary target audience. This allows us to effectively provide content designed to meet PCC’s external marketing and communications objectives.

Content strategy

All content shared on our social channels should be relevant to the work of PCC, and the interests and values of our community. If we post content on behalf of partner organizations, it should support our strategic goals and be consistent with our values and beliefs. Information should be shared from credible sources, and when possible, link back to the PCC website.

More than straight promotion, the goal of social media is to create community, center belonging, and spark conversation and engagement. PCC will limit the number of posts that promote individual classes and programs, and instead, strive to post content that highlights interesting or thought-provoking aspects of programs.

Finally, it is important to reflect the diversity of PCC and our work. No one program, topic, campus, type of post, or issue should dominate PCC’s social media at all times. Content should be posted with a comprehensive approach to our work in mind.

Monitoring policy

All social media accounts must be monitored regularly. The Marketing and Communications Division is responsible for monitoring PCC’s official accounts. For secondary accounts, a qualified staff member should have the responsibility of monitoring those social media accounts daily, and backup administrators/monitors should be designated so there is no gap in the monitoring.

PCC social media account managers should be present and responsive, which helps develop credibility and value. If your team does not have sufficient staffing to support responding to questions or comments within 24 hours, your account should be disabled or deleted.

Quickly address any inappropriate comments, messages or misuse of the sites. Inappropriate comments include content that is spam, off-topic, derogatory, discriminating, threatening, or a violation of PCC policies.

Additional guidelines
Responding to negative comments

Don’t delete negative comments unless they violate college privacy standards, are expressly racist, sexist, homophobic, or are otherwise disparaging to members of a protected group. If a comment is inflammatory or deliberately trolling for a response, do not engage or delete. Hide it instead.

Be prepared to respond to negative or inaccurate posts if response is warranted. Some negative comments do not require a response, while others should be taken seriously and addressed. Factors such as the number of followers and the severity of the conversations should determine if and how you respond. When possible, try to move negative discussions to a private medium – direct messaging, email, phone, etc.

Responding to positive and neutral comments

Keep a friendly and professional tone when posting updates and having conversations with other users. Avoid “corporate” or formal tone, in accordance with the college’s writing style guide and brand voice.

Encourage discussion by asking additional questions, thanking people for comments/sharing, and referring to additional resources (such as the PCC website) when appropriate.

Handling media inquiries

Any media inquiries should be directed to the Office of Public Relations. If you’re unsure, feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.

Avoid partisan dialogue

Refrain from engaging in dialogue that is partisan in nature. As a state school and with our Foundation holding 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization status, do not participate in or condone expressly partisan positions. Also refrain from discussing specific candidates for office.

Refrain from engaging in dialogue that disparages colleagues, partner organizations or critics.

Commercial use and advertising

Staff may not use any PCC social media site for advertising or commercial use.

Logo and trademarks

The logo, name and all graphics on PCC social media channels are exclusive to Portland Community College.

If an image, quote or article is used, attribute it to the original source. Users will properly cite sources, and post only items that are covered by fair use or published under Creative Commons. Otherwise, seek permission first.

Privacy for employees

PCC discourages staff in management or supervisory roles from initiating “friend” requests with employees they manage. Managers and supervisors may accept friend requests if initiated by the employee, and if the manageror supervisor does not believe it will negatively impact the work relationship.

Employees who disclose their roles at PCC on social media should be conscientious about the content that they post, and it should reflect positively on the organization. Even if profile settings are set to private, employees are prohibited from sharing internal or confidential information. This includes information about PCC’s students, its staff and board, as well as donors, contact information for others, and other private information. Employees should also include a disclaimer stating that the views expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect the organization. In reality, anything that you post reflects both on you and on PCC.