Social Media Guidelines

Social media is a popular and powerful set of online tools for communication, engagement and connections across communities.

Value to IFLA

Social media provide value to IFLA members by providing:

  • Insight into IFLA’s advocacy activities and professional activities, and potential for direct contribution;
  • Forums to discuss  professional issues with colleagues, on topics of interest to members;
  • Amplification of events including Presidential Meetings, annual Congress;
  • Links to relevant and timely news and issues (knowledge sharing).

Social media at IFLA

IFLA Headquarters manages IFLA accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo and YouTube, which represent the main outlets for official IFLA news and information via social media.

IFLA Headquarters supports use of social media by:

  • Utilising social media channels to raise IFLA’s profile in the broader environment;
  • Monitoring mentions of IFLA across social media, amplifying communication as appropriate;
  • Providing guidance to Officers on use of social media;
  • Managing notice and takedown procedures for content hosted on the ifla.org domain (sites such as Twitter and Facebook have their own takedown procedures).

It is up to each IFLA unit (Strategic Programmes, Divisions, Sections and SIGs) how they prefer to communicate, bearing in mind issues of geography, technology access and cost, and reporting requirements. There is no obligation to use any particular social media site to communicate with members. IFLA provides blogs and mailing lists.

Your own social media accounts

Basic principles

Any content shared on an IFLA social media account should consider these basic principles:

  • Be accurate, timely, professional:
    • Make sure that you have all the facts before you post. Cite your sources. Respect privacy and copyright – don’t post personal information without consent, and only use third-party materials (such as photos) where you have permission to do so. Choose administrators for social media accounts who can monitor and respond in a timely fashion. Write in an engaging, active tone;
  • Be considerate of IFLA’s name and branding:
    • You may not imply IFLA endorsement of statements, events, products or services without written permission;
    • You must not modify the IFLA logo. You may choose an avatar or other image to represent your account, such as the section name. 
    • Utilise the expertise of your IFLA community.  Make sure that standing committee members are participants and contribute to the dialogue.  
  • Be transparent:
    • Identify yourself and take responsibility.  When participating in or maintaining a social media site on behalf of your IFLA unit, clearly state your role and goals. 

Naming social media accounts

IFLA units must clearly name themselves when creating social media accounts. You may use an acronym or the full name. For example:

IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section

or

IFLA ARL

Other considerations

Section Information Coordinators, SIG conveners, and other persons responsible for social media, blog and other content disseminated by IFLA units, must be a member of their standing committee and abide by IFLA’s Rules of Procedure

It is good practice for more than one standing committee member to have access.

Accounts that are no longer necessary should be deleted.

Questions about content

If you have any questions about content, seek guidance from IFLA Headquarters or your section Chair before posting.  Please contact webmaster@ifla.org for more information.

IFLA reserves the right to remove or retract any content that is deemed to be inappropriate, inaccurate or in violation of copyright. Such content includes, but is not limited to, content that is unsolicited, commercial, off-topic, abusive, obscene, in violation of copyright laws, otherwise unlawful, fraudulent, or threatening.