Social media is a powerful tool for promoting programs, activities and research from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and UGA Extension. It allows us to engage with our communities, share valuable research and highlight the impact of our work across Georgia and beyond through channels our audiences are already using and engaging with.
By leveraging social media platforms effectively, we can strengthen our connections with stakeholders, enhance public awareness and advance our land-grant mission. By following these best practices, we can maximize the positive impact of our social media accounts while upholding the integrity and reputation of CAES and UGA Extension.
BEST PRACTICES
All social media accounts representing CAES and UGA Extension should share content and engage with the community in a manner that reflects the integrity, credibility and mission of our organization. The following guidelines provide best practices for maintaining an effective and responsible social media presence.
Be professional
All social media activity from official accounts should reflect positively on UGA, CAES and UGA Extension. To ensure your content is professional:
- Use clear and respectful language. Write in a way that is informative, approachable and stakeholder-friendly.
- Share only verified, research-backed information. Avoid speculation, unverified claims and misleading statements.
- Avoid content that could be interpreted as offensive, personal, politically charged or inappropriate.
- Maintain visual quality by using high-resolution images and video. Avoid blurry, poorly lit and unprofessional visuals.
Engage the community
Social media content should be informative and further the credibility of CAES and Extension. Comments can be a great place to encourage constructive dialogue in our online communities. Respond to comments and messages promptly and with enthusiasm, utilizing a voice that is sincere, approachable, confident and inspirational. After all, our research changes lives.
Know your audience
Each social media platform has its own unique audience behavior, content style and algorithm that shape how posts perform. Tailor your content to what your audience values and how the platform surfaces it. Understanding both helps ensure your posts reach your target audience and spark engagement.
| Platform | Audience | Best for | Photo dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|
| All age groups | From students to parents to industry partners, Facebook is a great place to engage with all members of the CAES community and agriculture industry. Stories about research impact with wide-ranging appeal, features on faculty and staff, Extension publications, high-quality photos and videos, etc. are great for Facebook. | Square: 1080 x 1080 Horizontal: 1620 x 1080 Vertical: 1080 x 1350* Stories and reels: 900 x 1600 *Recommended |
|
| Users aged 18 to 35 | Instagram is a great place to reach students, family and community members in a casual setting. People-centric photos and videos, campus scenery and behind-the-scenes perspectives are great for Instagram. | Square: 1080 x 1080 Horizontal: 1620 x 1080 Vertical: 1080 x 1350* Stories and reels: 900 x 1600 *Recommended |
|
| Users aged 20 to 55; generally the LinkedIn audience is more professional | LinkedIn is a great place to reach colleagues, students (especially graduate students), industry professionals, government leaders, etc. Stories about research developments and research impacts, partnerships, industry happenings, job placement statistics, alumni, etc. are great for LinkedIn. | Square: 1080 x 1080 Horizontal: 1620 x 1080 Vertical: 1080 x 1350* Stories and reels: 900 x 1600 *Recommended |
|
| Twitter/X | Users aged 18 to 40 | Twitter is a great place for sharing news and trending topics, timely research developments and other similar announcements. | Square: 1080 x 1080* Horizontal: 1620 x 1080 Vertical: 1080 x 1350 Stories and reels: 900 x 1600 *Recommended |
| YouTube | All age groups | YouTube is great for sharing high-quality videos that add value to your audiences. | Thumbnail: 1280 × 720 Shorts: 900 x 1600 |
Maintain confidentiality
Never share private or sensitive information online. Keep event location information involving minors, such as 4-H events, private. Do not share university-related information that is not a matter of public record. Familiarize yourself with copyright and trademark policies, as well as FERPA guidelines, to ensure your content is in line with UGA Electronic Communications Policies.
Comply with accessibility standards
All CAES and Extension social media content must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Add alt text to images to ensure accessibility for individuals using screen readers.
- Include closed captions on videos to improve accessibility and engagement.
- Ensure graphics including text have proper contrast (4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text).
- For more, please reference the Office of Information Technology’s Digital Accessibility Handbook.
Top tips for faculty
Your personal and professional social media channels can be powerful tools for sharing your expertise, connecting with peers and amplifying the work happening in your field. By using a few key strategies, you can strengthen your online presence and engage with your audience more effectively.
Getting started
- Choose the right platform: LinkedIn is the recommended platform for faculty members who are looking to leverage social media.
- To set up your LinkedIn profile, check out this helpful guide on getting started.
- Use a professional headshot and cover photo: Choose clear, high-quality images that reflect your role and expertise.
- For your profile photo, choose a well-lit, high-quality and recent portrait.
- For your cover photo, choose a photo that showcases your research, teaching environment or a recognizable scene from the UGA or CAES.
- Build your network: Connect with colleagues within CAES, experts at other UGA colleges, researchers at other universities, industry professionals, graduate students, friends who might be interested in your professional work and anyone who you’d like to connect with.
- By building your network of connections, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience with the posts you share.
Posting to social media
- Highlight your expertise: Post about your research, publications, speaking engagements and fieldwork to showcase your contributions and expertise.
- Keep a running list of interesting moments, student achievements and research milestones to post when you are able.
- Always include photos, videos or graphics: In today’s visual age, sharing a text-based post is not enough. Photos, infographics and videos grab attention and boost engagement. To ensure you’ve always got photos to include in your posts, take pictures regularly. Capture moments from your teaching, research, events and fieldwork so you always have visual content ready to share.
- Be mindful: It’s important to gain written consent from all students before photographing and posting pictures of them online, even on your personal channels.
- Share posts from CAES or UGA Extension channels: Sharing posts from CAES or Extension can be a great start, even if you aren’t ready to create your own content.
Content guidelines
Social media is a valuable tool for sharing the work and impact of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension. Content shared on official accounts should align with our mission of instruction, research and Extension while maintaining professionalism and credibility.
What to post
Content should be educational, informative and engaging, focusing on the following:
- Stories of success and impact: Highlight achievements, testimonials and success stories from community programs, research projects and Extension activities.
- Educational resources: Share research-based information that helps the public make informed decisions in areas related to agriculture, natural resources, food, health, youth development and more.
- Faculty and staff spotlights: Showcase the expertise and contributions of UGA Extension agents, CAES faculty and program staff.
- Program and event promotion: Announce upcoming workshops, webinars, field days and other events hosted by UGA Extension and CAES.
- Timely and seasonal topics: Share relevant content based on the time of year, such as gardening tips in the spring or food safety reminders during the holidays.
What not to post
To maintain professionalism and alignment with UGA policies, do not post:
- Political content: As a public institution, UGA must remain nonpartisan. Do not share or engage in political endorsements, opinions or discussions on controversial issues.
- Business promotions: Do not promote or endorse specific businesses, products or services unless they are official partners of CAES or UGA Extension.
- Inappropriate or unverified information: Ensure that all shared content is accurate, research-based and reflects the values of CAES and UGA Extension. Similarly, content should remain focused on professional topics rather than personal opinions or experiences.
- Unrelated topics: Posts should directly support CAES’ mission and audience interests. Avoid sharing memes, viral trends or topics unrelated to agriculture, environmental sciences or Extension programs.
- Copyright infringement: Do not use images, graphics or content without proper permission(s) or attribution.
- Crisis communications: Do not make unofficial statements in the event of a crisis or emergency. Instead, follow UGA’s official communication protocols and refrain from making unofficial statements.
ACCOUNT SETUP and management
Maintaining a consistent and professional brand identity across all social media platforms is essential for strengthening the credibility and recognition of CAES and UGA Extension. To ensure alignment with existing branding guidelines, all accounts representing CAES and UGA Extension should adhere to the following standards.
Requesting an official social media account
Creating a social account for a school, unit or department is a long-term commitment. For this reason, we want to make sure you’ve considered these important questions before requesting a new account be created:
- Is this account necessary, or is there already an account serving this purpose? If so, can you partner with them instead?
- What is the goal of this social media account?
- Who are your target audience(s)?
- How will the content you’re publishing add value to your target audience(s)?
- Do you have time and resources to manage a social media account consistently?
- What is the long-term maintenance plan for these account(s) to keep them active?
The creation of new social media accounts for CAES or Extension departments, offices, units, labs, centers, etc. must be submitted to and approved by the Office of Marketing and Communications (OMC). To request the creation of a new account:
- Fill out the official CAES and Extension social media account request form. You’ll need to have this information on hand to fill out the form:
- Proposed account purpose and audience.
- Names and contact information of account manager(s).
- Confirmation of agreement to adhere to CAES and Extension social media guidelines.
- Await approval from the OMC before proceeding.
- If approval is granted, create the account and utilize the approved social media profile and cover photo options provided in the below section.
- Share login information with OMC (this step is critical).
- Send to Nele Langhof at nele@uga.edu if account is representative of a CAES department, club, office, organization, lab, center, unit, etc.
- Send to Jo McLaughlin at jo.mclaughlin@uga.edu if account is representative of UGA Extension office, organization, etc.
Account naming and identification
- Social media accounts must clearly indicate their official affiliation with CAES or UGA Extension. Examples of appropriate naming formats include:
- UGA Department of Poultry Science
- UGA Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority
- Clarke County UGA Extenison
- Generally speaking, spelling out “The University of Georgia…” is discouraged for the sole reason that brevity is recommended for smaller screen sizes, such as mobile screens which are the most used devices for accessing social media.
- The bio/about section of the profile should also clearly state that the account is an official UGA-affiliated page and include a link to the relevant website (e.g., extension.uga.edu or caes.uga.edu). An example is included below:
- Official account of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences // feeding and fueling the world 🌾🍑 #AgDawgs
🔗 sprout.link/uga_collegeofag
- Official account of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences // feeding and fueling the world 🌾🍑 #AgDawgs
- Avoid using abbreviations or unclear names that do not explicitly reference UGA, CAES or UGA Extension. This ensures clarity and reinforces our brand identity. Examples of inappropriate abreviations or unclear names include:
- @ugagf for UGA Grand Farm
- @sauga for UGA Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority
Profile images
All social media profiles must utilize the pre-approved templates to create their profile image. No other variations, personal photos or unofficial logos should be used. CAES profiles including departments, programs, student and alumni organizations are to utilize a black background. UGA Extension profiles utilize a red background using the UGA brand color bulldog red (HEX #BA0C2F). Georgia 4-H profiles utilize a green background using 4-H green (#339966).
Profile images can be created using the following templates provided by the Office of Marketing and Communications:
Cover images
Cover/header images must also align with pre-approved branding guidelines. Cover images can be created using the following templates provided by the Office of Marketing and Communications.
Logos, colors and fonts
- Consistent branding across all social media accounts for CAES and Extension is essential for building recognition and trust. Using the brand logos, colors and style allows for the CAES or Extension brand to be instantly recognizable and professional, reinforcing brand identity on every platform. A cohesive design builds credibility, and keeps the brand memorable, ensuring followers feel connected wherever they engage with content.
Account management
Accounts must comply with all UGA social media policies, including those related to privacy, ethics and branding. For questions, support or feedback related to social media use, contact the CAES Office of Marketing and Communications at caesomc@uga.edu or visit omc.caes.uga.edu.
- Designate at least two individuals to manage each account to ensure consistent updates, timely responses and oversight. Having multiple administrators helps prevent disruptions due to staff turnover, vacations or unforeseen absences.
- Regularly monitor accounts for inappropriate comments or messages and address them as needed. This includes removing offensive or spam content, responding to misinformation and ensuring that discussions remain professional and aligned with UGA policies.
- Maintain login credentials securely and update them when personnel changes occur. Use a secure password manager or institutional account management system to store credentials safely. When staff transitions happen, remove access for departing employees and update passwords to prevent unauthorized use.
- Strongly recommended: Add a representative of OMC as an administrator to prevent lockouts and ensure continuity. This provides an extra layer of support in case of lost credentials, sudden staff departures or account access issues. If OMC is an admin, we can assist with recovery and maintain institutional control over official accounts.
- Follow primary CAES and UGA Extension accounts. CAES and UGA Extension have social media channels on all major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. These accounts regularly spotlight our various departments and programs. Interacting and resharing content from flagship CAES and UGA Extension accounts can provide excellent content for your own department, program or county pages.
| Flagship Accounts | X | YouTube | URL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGA CAES Accounts |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| CAES Student Accounts | | | | |||
| CAES Alumni Accounts | | | | | ||
| UGA Extension | | | | | | |
| Georgia 4-H | | | | | | |
Toolkits
The Office of Marketing and Communications provides social media toolkits complete with imagery and sample post copy to provide social media managers with the materials they need to promote CAES and Extension online.