Social Media Style
Best Practices
Immaculata’s social media guidelines outline the best practices for social media, including tips for creating engaging content, building a following and managing your online presence.
Hashtags
Hashtags are a powerful tool for universities looking to expand their reach and engage with their audience on social media platforms. Both official and recognized accounts should use one to three relevant hashtags for posts. For accessibility purposes, PascalCase is the standard when using multiple-word hashtags.
- #MightyMacs
- #ImmaculataUniversity
- #BeMighty
Frequently Used Hashtags
University Standard
- #ImmaculataUniversity
- #ImmaculataU
- #Immaculata
- #BeMighty
- #MightyMacs
- #MightyMacsProud
Academic
- #ImmaculataNursing
- #ImmaculataEducation
- #ImmaculataBusiness
- #ImmaculataPsych
- #ImmaculataCUS
- #ImmaculataCGS
Student Life/Admissions
- #IUAccepted
- #IUClassOf2023 (etc. for all class years)
- #MightyMacs23 (etc. for all class years)
- #FutureMightyMac
Athletics
- #MightyMacs
- #GoMacs
- #ImmaculataAthletics
Graduation/Alumni
- #ImmaculataAlum
- #ImmaculataAlumni
- #ImmaculataGrad
Mentions and Reposts
It is important to conduct a thorough pre-screening of third party social media accounts before mentioning them in any University official posts to ensure that the content and reputation of the tagged accounts align with the University’s values and messaging. Only mention if it does not disrupt the flow of the feed or message. While mentioning a specific account, make sure to do so in the caption rather than in the photo itself.
Make sure that when tagging other recognized accounts we are building the tags INTO the captions and not just adding the tags to the end of the posts.
YES
Join the @OfficeOfDiversity for live musical performances, integrated videos and inspiring stories around the power of unity and perseverance!
NO
Join the Office of Diversity for live musical performances, integrated videos and inspiring stories around the power of unity and perseverance! @OfficeOfDiversity
Emojis
Emojis give universities the ability to connect with audiences in a more engaging and authentic way. Emojis can also help to convey the personality and tone of the university, whether it is serious, playful or welcoming. Emojis should be used sparingly, and always match the purpose of the post.
For consistency and inclusivity, use ONLY the standard yellow hand/face emojis when creating captions.
Dates
Write out the days of the week in full (Monday, Tuesday) only using virgules (4/8) when trying to save space.
Month abbreviation should follow the AP Style guidelines, only being abbreviated when a specific date follows: Feb. 19
Times
For times, use a.m. and p.m. (lowercase with periods).
Never use :00 when referring to time.
For time ranges, you may use a dash (-) if both times are exclusively a.m. or p.m., but if the time crosses noon, use the word “to” for differentiation: 8-11 a.m. OR 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Spell out the word “noon” when referring to 12 p.m.: Noon to 2 p.m.
Punctuation & Capitalization
Use only a single exclamation point when signaling excitement in a social post.
If a link populates a social card, use the downward facing arrow emoji.
If a link does not populate a social card, use the right facing arrow emoji.
Em dashes (—) can be used in place of commas, parentheses or colons when needed. Do not mistake the hyphen (-) for the em dash. There should be no spaces before or after the em dash: Immaculata’s commitment to diversity— embracing students of all backgrounds and cultures—is reflected in its student body and academic programs.
When beginning a tweet with an account handle, you must include a . before the handle or the tweet will not show on the main Twitter feed: @ImmaculataU was founded…