Practices to avoid

Short-term campaigns

Take care not to give users the impression that you are interested in setting up a fully interactive profile or page if that page is then neglected or abandoned after it has achieved a one-off short term purpose. This is particularly true if a community of interest has formed around the page or profile.

Community campaigns

It may be possible to hand a limited-life Heriot-Watt page or profile over to the community which has grown around it, after a campaign has come to an end (eg a Freshers’ Group on Facebook). This should be planned in advance before the page is created. It may then become necessary to remove some or all of the Heriot-Watt branding. It may also be useful to add a disclaimer to the effect that this site was created by Heriot-Watt but is now being run by the community.

Ghostblogging

‘Ghostblogging’, writing and publishing blog posts under someone else's name (usually done by a paid writer on behalf of a corporate), is generally considered bad practice. If Heriot-Watt launches a blog, a designated owner (single employee or a team) should take responsibility for writing, publishing and monitoring the comments of the blog, and this should be made clear on the blog.

Black hat SEO

‘Black hat’ SEO activities include breaking search engine rules and regulations. Heriot-Watt staff must act transparently, honestly and with integrity when undertaking SEO techniques. Appropriate and relevant keywords and tags should be added to social media entries using the means provided. (For example, using the tag facility on Flickr or the hashtag facility on Twitter.)

Personal blogging

As an employee of Heriot-Watt, you should be aware that posting information about Heriot-Watt can not be isolated from your working life. Any information published online can be accessed around the world within seconds and will be publicly available for all to see.