Have you ever struggled with telling someone “no” when they wanted a piece of content posted on your district’s social media accounts? Have you ever wanted a list of exactly the types of things you do want staff to submit for social media?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions – keep reading!

Our membership group recently had a work session where we created a one-page document to help with both of these issues. You may have specific things that you want to add, modify, or remove from this list, but please use it as your jumping off point!

#NewAuburn Social Media Posting Guide

We love using social media to celebrate our students and staff. You can submit your photos, videos, and stories to socialmedia@gmail.com. Occasionally we may use social media for emergency or urgent information, but that is not the primary goal of social media. Our social media pages are not just a bulletin board of upcoming events or reminders. 

We are looking for stories that highlight:

• Student learning
• Student & staff achievement
• Everyday kindness
• Sports, organizations, and other events – photos from the action (not announcement or PDF flyers)
• Videos or photos about your upcoming event or fundraiser. We may post a flyer, but we will not post it multiple times. Use your own communication channels to promote your event.

We are not looking for:

• Events or organizations that are not tied to the school district
• Go Fund Me or charitable funds for a specific student or staff member. We can’t share this on our official school pages, but you can share this individually or on unofficial parent and community groups.
• Reminders about a specific event that only pertains to a small group of students (ie Forensics bus leaves at 2:00 pm today)

The content you submit will be posted within 5 days of your submission. We can’t post everything received the same day you submitted it. We also share stories in a variety of ways, including posts, stories, reels, and more. We will determine the best way to share your story provided.

Student photos submitted should NOT be included on the do not photo list. We have a small group of kids each year that opt out of having their photos shared online. Please double-check before sending.

Thanks for being an active storyteller for #NewAuburn! The community loves to support the learning that happens in our school district.

OK, now it’s your turn! Modify each paragraph to fit your school or district.

Section 1: Introduce your overarching purpose for the school’s social media. Explain how staff can submit content to you. 

Section 2: List the kinds of content you want to receive. 

Section 3: List the kinds of content you do not wish to share.

Section 4: Explain the timeline and how their content will be distributed.

Section 5: Review the opt-in or opt-out policy to address students who can’t be pictured on social media.

Section 6: Thank and encourage your staff!

Add this simple project to your summer “to-do” list, so you have a handy printable and digital guide to share with your colleagues in the fall! This goes hand-in-hand with your fall staff training for social media as well as resources for new staff members to get them involved with social media. Good luck, and please let me know how it goes!