Social media profiles at MIT Libraries

The Marketing and Communications Officer oversees all use of social media for the MIT Libraries.

Policies and best practices

When we post to social media outlets on behalf of the MIT Libraries, our postings represent the Libraries’ brand/identity, as well as the larger MIT brand. With this in mind, we follow MIT's social media guides for MIT communicators.

We also use the following best practices in our social media posts and interactions. We strive to:

Be friendly and approachable, informative and entertaining

• Use a tone that is upbeat and personable. See below for more information about the Libraries’ voice on social media.
• Use the first person plural “we” when speaking for the Libraries 
• Avoid using library jargon
• Post content that is useful to the MIT community and beyond

Be a good neighbor

• Re-share posts by fellow MIT accounts 

• Be an active participant in the MIT community—stay aware of current MIT events and initiatives, and find ways to join the conversation. 

• Be an active participant in the greater academic library community.

• Give credit to ideas and content from others.

Be helpful, responsive, and transparent

• Respond promptly and thoughtfully to any questions (that are not spam).
  
• Let people know we do not answer reference questions via social media and refer MIT community members to Ask Us.
• Don’t engage if a comment is threatening, harassing, or obscene. If you are truly concerned that someone poses a threat or is harassing a member of staff, alert Libraries leadership; we have a protocol for online harassment.
  
• See MIT guidance on trolling.

Be thoughtful and judicious with potentially sensitive content

• Be mindful of the diversity of our audience and sensitive to a wide range of views and perspectives
  

• Engage with topics around diversity, inclusion, and social justice, but do so thoughtfully. Make sure our messages are in keeping with the Libraries’ mission/vision/values, MIT values, and general tone of all official communications from the Libraries.

• It's not always necessary to address controversial topics or current events. If we must, is good practice to look to communications from MIT leadership

• Be conscious of previously scheduled posts when news breaks or tragic events happen -- the tone or content might not be appropriate in light of what’s happening.

Accessibility

• All videos must be captioned (including Instagram Reels)
• All images on Twitter/X should include alt text
• It is our practice to include alt text/image descriptions within the caption on Instagram
• Put hashtags in camel case  (e.g., #WomenAtMITWednesday)
  
• Put hashtags at the end of text where possible

What/how to post

The Libraries’ voice

Engaged, friendly, irreverent, caring, approachable, down-to-earth, fun, knowledgeable, helpful, collegial, goofy/nerdy, open, human, supportive, relevant, welcoming, balanced (academic and fun, work/life), global/part of a bigger conversation

Should I Post It?

• Does it reflect our brand?
• Does it reflect the unique culture of MIT? Does it make people feel connected to the campus? (nostalgia, hacks, campus vistas, history of MIT, Archives, quirkiness)
• Does it reflect our values (of MIT, the Libraries, and/or librarianship)?
• Does it help someone get something done?
• Is it an event or resource relevant to the MIT community?

How staff can contribute: Send your ideas!

The social media team encourages creative input from all Libraries’ departments and staff. If you'd like to have something posted through any of the social media platforms, email us at socialmedia-lib@mit.edu. Submitting an idea does not guarantee it will be shared. Photos must be in focus. 

If you have already submitted a marketing request form to promote an event or service and checked the "social media posts" box, please do not submit an additional request via email to the social media team. 

We encourage submissions such as:

• Unique photos of library spaces
• Suggestions for an ongoing series (e.g. #MarbledMonday on Instagram) 
• Interesting, little-known facts about MIT history or Libraries collections, especially as they relate to current events, milestones, or anniversaries
• Positive feedback from a library user (quoted with their permission)
• Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life at the Libraries