SUNY Cortland encourages the use of social media as a way to promote programs and activities. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others help inform students, employees, alumni and fans of events and newsworthy information. It is a fantastic way to connect and engage audiences.
If you haven’t already, register your social media site.
Guidelines
- All social media must comply with all applicable SUNY Cortland policies and guidelines, including but not limited to:
- The Brand Identity Guide
- Information Resources policies
- Human Resources policies
- SUNY Cortland Handbook
- Include contact information on your social media account page. List a primary phone number and email address where users can reach your office or provide a link to your website that lists the appropriate contact information.
- Make sure your content is accessible. See tips below.
General tips
- Multiple channels: Make your social media content available through more than one channel. Provide easy points of entry for more information. Most social media sites allow embedding of widgets on your website.
- Simplicity: When possible, write in plain language, limit your use of hashtags, abbreviations and acronyms.
- Visuals: Photos and video make a difference. Text on its own on Twitter or Facebook can be effective, but if you can include a photo or video, it will be more impactful. Check out our media library for images and see video tips below.
- Text in images: Let photos speak for themselves. While apps like Canva have become popular and allow you to add text over photos or graphics, this can prevent them from being accessible to all viewers. If you do use text in an image, make sure to add that text to the caption or description.
- Time of day: The time of your post can matter. Evenings are generally the best time to post since the audience is larger. Time of day, however, is not a magic solution. Good content will shine any time.
- Frequency: Take time between your posts. You don’t want to compete with yourself for attention in a crowded landscape. It’s OK to post multiple times in one day, but leave a few hours between messages.
- Hashtags: Hashtags are often used as flair but can still help you reach new audiences and connect series of messages. They can also be useful to run and maintain a contest.
Accessibility best practices and tips
These tools that we have come to use and love are often equally important to a person with a disability. It is our responsibility to make the posted content on all of SUNY Cortland's social media sites accessible and in compliance with Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level A and AA, according to New York State and the Department of Justice.
Best practices
- Include descriptive text when you post a photo.
- Add a caption file, Facebook’s auto-captions, or use YouTube’s captioning services for Facebook videos.
- Avoid using acronyms in your posts.
Alt text
Automatic alternative (alt) text is a feature that uses object recognition technology to create a description of a photo for those who are blind or have visual impairments. Learn how to edit the alt text for photo.
Descriptive text
Add descriptive text to the photos that are posted on Facebook. Good descriptive text can both explain and enhance the meaning of the picture. Avoid extraneous textual information in images.
Video captioning
There are two options for adding captions to videos on Facebook: pages can automatically add captions or a SubRip Subtitle (SRT) may be uploaded.
Accessibility updates
For more information on accessibility features on Facebook and to stay updated with new ones, visit the Accessibility page on Facebook.
X
Photos
X allows image descriptions to be added to images in a tweet, but the feature needs to be turned on in your settings on X.
Navigate to Settings and privacy > Accessibility > and turn on Compose image descriptions.
You will now have the option to add descriptions when posting an image.
Best practices
- Add descriptions: After enabling image descriptions, select the image when composing a tweet to add the descriptive text. The limit is 280 characters.
- When tweeting a hyperlink, indicate whether it leads to [AUDIO], [PIC], or [VIDEO].
- Place mentions and hashtags at the end of your tweets.
- Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag — #CortlandPride vs. #cortlandpride.
- Avoid using acronyms.
Best practices
- When uploading an image, add alternative text by choosing Advanced Settings, then Write alt text. Save and finish uploading.
- Add captions to your video posts and reels
- Use the post description area to include a transcription of video posts or to reiterate the text within your image.
YouTube
All videos should have closed captions and, if applicable, audio descriptions. Additionally, a transcript can be helpful for those with both visual and hearing impairments.
YouTube automatically captions many videos, but the transcript should always be checked to make sure it is accurate.
If YouTube does not automatically caption your videos, it may be because:
- The video is too long.
- The audio quality is poor.
- The speech from multiple speakers overlaps.
Learn more about video accessibility in SUNY Cortland’s Policy for Official Video.
Snapchat
Best practices
- Organize your snaps so that they make sense to all users.
- Use the larger text option for captions.
- Make sure there is good contrast and balance between the background and the captions.
TikTok
- TikTok has tools to make your videos more accessible.
Resources
Social media directory
Video tips
Content creators are responsible for following the university’s policies and guidelines. Please review the promotional video guide and contact web.accessibility@cortland.edu if you have questions.
- Orientation: Film in horizontal orientation for YouTube and Facebook videos. Film vertically for TikTok and Instagram videos. Use the same orientation throughout the entire video.
- Length: Most social media platforms favor shorter content. Aim to capture your audience quickly and lead with your most important information. Edit your video to remove unnecessary pauses, filler or repetitions.
- Accessibility: Videos with speech should include captions. Platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram offer automatic captions, but you should review and edit them for accuracy. Some videos may also need a description of visual elements, either as written text or an audio description track. These descriptions aid users who may have trouble perceiving or processing visual information. Not all platforms support video descriptions, so you may need to refer to an accessible version in the post details.
Cortland hashtags
For reading comprehension and clarity, use CamelCase, capitalizing the first letters of compound words: #CortlandPride rather than #cortlandpride.
General usage
- #SUNYCortland: Use for anything related to the university.
- #RedDragonStrong: Show support or encouragement and highlight courage, compassion, solidarity and friendship.
- #RedDragonPride: Celebrate accomplishments, victories and the things that make Cortland and Red Dragons special.
- #CortlandPride, #ProudRedDragon, #RedDragons and #CortlandFamily: Display general school spirit.
- #CaptureCortland: Share photos/short video clips of interesting sights around campus.
- #WhyCortland: Crowdsource responses from alumni, current students, faculty and staff on their positive reasons for coming to Cortland.
Events
- #Cortland21: Append appropriate class year and use for Commencement posts.
- #CortlandReunion: Use for posts related to Alumni Reunion.
- #CortacaJug: Cheer on Cortland in the annual rivalry football game against Ithaca College.
Admissions
#CortlandBound, #TourCortland, #NewDragons21
Alumni
General: CortlandAlumni, #HireRedDragons, #AlumFromDayOne, #ParksAlumniHouse
Regional: #CortlandNYC, #CortlandFLA, #CortlandSYR, #CortlandSOF, #CortlandLAX, #CortlandSAN
Athletics
#OneTeamOneFamily, #RollRed
Fundraising
#CortlandChallenge, #CortlandGives