Digital communication, collaboration & participation

Guidance on using social media

An official University of Warwick social media account is defined as any account representing a department/faculty/team/service or similar in an official corporate context. It does not apply to accounts for individual members of staff using social media in a professional or personal capacity for either academic or administrative purposes.

Further information about using official University of Warwick social media accounts is available from: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/externalaffairs/marketing/digital/social/policy/

If a member of staff is using an individual social media account for work-related purposes, they should be aware of the Warwick Social Media policy (see above link) and also make it clear on their accounts that the views held are their own and not those of the University of Warwick or the Centre for Teacher Education (CTE).

As a member of the University we are covered by the term ‘academic freedom’ which allows us to comment on something that is at odds with our employer in the interest of academic debate. The University and College Union (UCU) has produced comprehensive guidance on academic freedom which is available from: https://www.ucu.org.uk/academicfreedom

The WJETT blog is obviously linked to CTE and the University but the author of the blog post owns the content. In addition the posts are not peer-reviewed; consequently the author is representing his/her own views and not those of the University or CTE. There is a statement to this effect on the WJETT blog.

Many educational professionals have their own separate social media accounts and staff are encouraged to do this (particularly with respect to Twitter accounts) as it gives greater freedom to comment. We would also recommend keeping professional and personal social media accounts separate. Further University guidance on blogging is available from: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/its/servicessupport/web/blogs/