title: The state of social media policies in higher education.
abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the current state of development of social media policies at institution of higher education. Content analysis of social media policies for all institutions listed in the Carnegie Classification Data File revealed that less than one-quarter of institutions had an accessible social media policy. Analysis was done by institution and campus unit, finding that social media policies were most likely to appear at doctorate-granting institutions and health, athletics, and library units. Policies required that those affiliated with the institution post appropriate content, represent the unit appropriately, and moderate conversations with coworkers and external agencies. This analysis may inform the development and revision of social media policies across the field of higher education, taking into consideration the rapidly changing landscape of social media, issues of academic freedom, and notions of interoperability with policies at the unit and campus levels.
authors.affiliation: School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pomerantz
authors.affiliation: School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hank
authors.affiliation: School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Cassidy R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D016134:Organizational Policy; D061108:Social Media; D014495:Universities