Please Note: New social media accounts (including Twitter Accounts) fall under Western's New Social Media process, in partnership with your Communications Officer and Western Communications.
Why Use Twitter?
- To let the world know what is happening here. By posting Western News stories, we can get more eyes on them and help keep the community involved. Some of our posts have been retweeted, or pushed, to other users by the London Free Press. Should the need arise, we also plan to use Twitter during emergencies at Western to help the community stay safe.
- To monitor and passively participate in the conversation about Western. We look for specific keywords and reply or retweet posts when appropriate.
- To communicate with others who might have questions or comments about Western. We have used Twitter to reply and forward contacts about applying to Western to our Undergrad recruiting team.
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Following
Western’s main Twitter presence is @westernu. Additional accounts are listed in our Social Media Directory.
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Posting
Content requests can be sent in advance to social@uwo.ca and should include drafts of the proposed social media posts, following Western's post-request template & process.
For more information on the style of a Western tweet, see "Voice" below.
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Western’s Twitter voice is friendly and professional.
Western never engages in editorializing on Twitter, nor do we offer personal opinions on our own tweets or the tweets of others through any Western-affiliated account. Offering our own opinions through a Western account on a hot topic can reflect poorly on Western as a whole even if good intentions are meant.
Here are some quick guidelines on what we are looking for to keep all our content consistent:
Referring to Western:
On Twitter, when referring to "Western" or "Western University", use "#WesternU" instead.
Tone & Content:
Keep engagement and conversation in mind and try to alternate between promotion and conversation.
Links and photos are optional but can help your posts reach more people and achieve higher engagement.
Character Length:
Tweets are best kept to 117 characters or less.
Facebook Posts are best kept to 209 characters or less.
"Class of …":
On Twitter, use hashtags for classes: i.e. #WesternU2017, #WesternU2013.
On Facebook, consider contacting the Class of Facebook Page for the year(s) in question and asking them to distribute your message.
Links:
When submitting to social@uwo.ca for Western's main Twitter & Facebook accounts, please do not use any URL shorteners.
On Twitter, links add 22 characters to links (please keep tweets with links limited to 117 characters + your link).
Hashtags:
Use Hashtags (i.e. #WesternU, #ldnont) on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Western's official hashtag is #WesternU - use this to reach the Western twitter community.
Mustangs/Sports hashtag is #PurpleReign - use this to reach the Western Mustangs fan community.
Regional Hashtags: London - #ldnont; Toronto - #Toronto or #YYZ; Calgary - #YYC; Vancouver - #YVR or #VanCity.
For examples of Western's current social content, please see www.twitter.com/westernu and www.facebook.com/westernuniversity.
Retweeting
Western retweets messages from other official Western University twitter accounts, as well as members of the campus, London and post-secondary education communities.
Creating an Account
*Twitter is a public platform and any new Twitter accounts should be created in partnership with your area's member of the Social Media Advisory Group.
Western Twitter accounts have a responsibility to respond to incoming questions and comments. To accomplish this goal, all Western Twitter accounts must have a primary account manager responsible for ensuring that the account will be checked a minimum of once every AM and once every PM on business days.
The primary account manager and all additional supporting staff should be subscribed to a mailing list that receives account notifications. Before creating your new account, determine your primary account manager and supporting staff and arrange with ITS to have a mailing list created. You may also wish to include your Faculty or Department Communications Manager included in this mailing list to help them to support your social media work.
Determine your Twitter username. Official Western twitter accounts are all named the same way.
- Western Twitter account usernames all begin with "westernu" followed by the department or project.
- "westernu" is all lowercase.
- Department names start with capitals and acronyms are all uppercase.
- Our template does not use hyphens or underscores to separate words.
Examples: @westernu, @westernuCS, @westernuFM, @westernuBooks, @westernuReg
Enter the email address that will receive notifications for your new account (this is the shared mailing list that will reach the person primarily responsible for the account, as well as additional supporting staff).
- Please create a new unique password for your social media work. It should include both upper and lower case, letters and numbers as well as punctuation.
- You may need to access your Twitter account from a mobile device or home computer and it is best if you will be able to memorize this new password.
- If you like, you can share this password with Communications for support with your new account.
- Please document your password with other departmental, shared passwords in a secure location.
- westernu
- westernuLaw
- westernuArts
- westernuScience
- SchulichMedDent
- iveybusiness
- westernuEng
- westernuFHS
- westernuCS
- westernuReg
- westernuMusic
- westernuEdu
- westernulibs
- westernuITS
- westernuSocSci
Account Settings:
- "Tweets I'm mentioned in are retweeted" (Make sure drop down is set to By Anyone)
- "My Tweets get a reply or I'm mentioned in a Tweet" (Make sure drop down is set to By Anyone)
- "I'm sent a Direct Message"
- "Someone shares a tweet with me"
Profile Photo
Official Western Twitter accounts use a special Photoshop template to help us look like a family and make it easy to tell whether an account is official. The template below will require Photoshop. Please contact social@uwo.ca if you would like to work with Creative Services to create your profile photo for you.
Download:
- Display Image Template (.psd file)
Changing a Twitter Username
Follow the steps below to change a Twitter @username. Please note this should be done sparingly to avoid confusion with your audiences.
Note: In addition to your current Twitter email address, you will need a second email address that you have access to and check on a regular basis.
Step One: What is your Western @username?
- Western Twitter account usernames all begin with "westernu" followed by the department or project.
- "westernu" is all lowercase.
- Department names start with capitals and acronyms are all uppercase.
- Our template does not use hyphens or underscores to separate words.
Examples: @westernu, @westernuCS, @westernuFM, @westernuBooks, @westernuReg
Step Two: Changing your current username
- Login to your current Twitter account
- Click on the Settings icon in the top right corner of Twitter
- Select "Settings" from the menu
- Enter your new username in the Username field
- Scroll to the bottom and click the Save button
- Logout of your Twitter account
Step Three: Protect your old username
- Go to Twitter.com
- Create a new Twitter account using your old @username
- Set this new account to Private (so that you do not collect subscribers on an inactive account)
- Turn on email notifications so that you receive emails when people try to reach you at the "wrong address"
- Populate this new Twitter account with a display name, background, display image, and website link. (Contact social@uwo.ca for Western's standard Twitter display & background images).
- Use the bio field to explain how to find your official account.
Example:
Step Four: Broken Links & Awareness
- Review your website, email signatures and other templates for references to your Twitter account and update to your new username.
- Share your new username with your followers to avoid confusion.
- Touch base with key contacts, partners & peers to alert them of the change.
Example:
Close an Account
Follow the steps below to close a Twitter account.
Step One: Changes to the Account
- Go to Twitter.com and login to the account to be closed
- Set the account to Private (so that you do not collect any new subscribers on an inactive account)
- Turn on email notifications so that you receive emails when people try to reach you at the "wrong address"
- Use the bio field of the account/profile to explain how to find your official account (or the @westernu account if this was your only account)
- Post one final tweet from the account to let the followers know about the change
Example:
Step Two: Broken Links & Awareness
- Review your website, email signatures and other templates for references to your Twitter account and either remove or point to an alternate Twitter account
- Touch base with key contacts, partners & peers to alert them of the change
