DCI Group Guidelines for Social Media Sites
CREATING A SOCIAL MEDIA SITE
Thank you for your interest in supporting the promotion of social media at Dulwich College International and Dulwich College Seoul Please ensure that you are aware of the guidance afforded to those who are looking to create and administer social media sites or websites on behalf of the College. Please let the Chair of the Social Media Steering Committee know if you feel that anything in any of our documents is misleading or open to misinterpretation.
Brain McDouall Director of Schools
Creation of Sites
You will understand that staff participating in social media for work purposes are expected to demonstrate the same high standards of behaviour as when using other media or giving public presentations on behalf of Dulwich College International.
The proposed audience and level of interactive engagement with the site, for example whether pupils, College staff or members of the public will be able to contribute content to the site, must be discussed with the Website Editor or Administrators.
Staff must consider how much time and effort they are willing to commit to the proposed site. They should be aware that maintaining a site is not a one-off task, but involves an ongoing time commitment.
There must be a careful exit strategy and a clear plan from the outset about how long the site will last. It must not be neglected, creating a potential risk to the College or group’s reputation and image.
Children and Young People
When creating social media sites for children and young people and communicating with them using such sites, staff must at all times be conscious of their responsibilities; staff must always act in the best interests of children and young people.
If children and young people disclose information or display behaviour or are exposed to information or behaviour on these sites that raises safeguarding or other concerns, appropriate authorities must be informed immediately.
Staff must also ensure that the webspace they create on third party sites complies with the site owner’s minimum age requirements (this is often set at 13 years). Staff must also consider the ramifications and possibilities of children under the minimum age gaining access to the site.
DCI Group Guidelines for Social Media Sites
Approval for Creation of or Participation in Webspace
Dulwich College International social media sites can be created only by or on behalf of the College or group. Site administrators and moderators must be Dulwich College International employees or other authorised people.
Approval for creation of sites for work purposes, whether hosted by the College or hosted by a third party such as a social networking site, must be obtained by completing and submitting the online form on the Dulwich College Seoul Sharepoint. We recommend allowing two weeks for review and approvals.
Content contributed to own or third-party hosted sites must be discussed with and approved by the staff member’s line manager.
Once approval for setting up a site on behalf of the College has been given, the members of staff responsible for social media must be consulted about the purpose of the proposed site and its content, including correct use of DCI crest and logotype.
Be aware that the content or site may attract media attention. All media enquiries must be forwarded to your Headmaster or Head of AMC, immediately. Staff members must not communicate with the media concerning College matters.
Content of Webspace
Staff must not disclose information, make commitments or engage in activities on behalf of Dulwich College International without authorisation.
Information provided must be worthwhile and accurate; staff should remember what is published on the site will reflect on the College’s image, reputation and services.
Staff should stay within the law and be aware that child protection, privacy, data protection, libel, defamation, harassment and copyright law may apply to the content of social media.
Dulwich College International- hosted sites must always include the College social media DCI crest to ensure transparency and confidence in the site. The crest should, where possible, link back to the relevant page on the College website.
Staff must never give out their personal information such as home contact details or home email addresses on these sites.
Personal opinions should not be expressed on official sites.
Contributors and Moderation of Content
Careful consideration must be given to the level of engagement of contributors - for example whether users will be able to add their own text or comments or upload images.
DCI Group Guidelines for Social Media Sites
Sites created for and contributed to by pupils must have the strongest privacy settings to prevent breaches of confidentiality. Students and other participants in sites must not be able to be identified.
The content and postings in Dulwich College International ‐ hosted sites must be moderated.
Moderation is the responsibility of the team that sets up or initiates the site.
The team must designate at least two approved administrators whose role it is to review and moderate the content, including not posting or removal of comments, which breach the rules and terms of use. It is important that there are enough approved moderators to provide cover during leave and absences so that the site continues to be moderated. Behaviour likely to cause extreme offence, for example racist or homophobic insults, or likely to put a young person or adult at risk of harm must never be tolerated. Such comments must never be posted. Please refer to our Safeguarding Policies for further guidance on appropriate content.
Individuals wishing to be ‘friends’ on a site must be checked carefully before they are approved. Their comments must be reviewed regularly and any that do not comply with the Acceptable Use Policy must not be posted (or must be removed if already posted). Approval must also be obtained from the members of staff responsible for social media to make an external organisation a ‘friend’ of the site. - end -
