Requirements & Best Practices

Legal Requirements

Photo/video subjects, including employees and students, must sign a Marketing consent form before publication. Contact Marketing for a copy of this form.
Content should reflect your department and UVA’s views, not your own.
Sharing from another account is fine. Don’t upload an image if you/UVA didn’t take/create it. This includes memes.

Consider your primary audience: Are you addressing their questions/concerns? Using plain language? Could you offer the content in another language?
Use emotion and storytelling to connect with your audience.
Use trending topics, holidays, awareness days/weeks/months or hashtags for content ideas and to increase engagement on your post.
If you have multiple platforms, decide which platform is the best place to share your content. Don’t post the exact same message across your different platforms.
Remember accessibility:
- Add alt text describing your feed photos (for example, “Two nurses talk with a patient in the hospital lobby”) when uploading.
- Avoid difficult-to-read color contrasts, like white text on a light blue background. Use WebAIM’s contrast checker.
Frequency: Stay consistent and try to post at least once a week. More is better. Inactive accounts reflect poorly on your department and UVA.

Photo subjects should be wearing appropriate PPE or masks and socially distanced. Avoid groups larger than 5 people.
Stay up to date on optimal image & video sizes and dimensions. The original pic or video from your phone is usually a safe bet.
Photos:
- Have a clear subject and keep it simple.
- Sometimes it’s better to have the subject off center.
- Try to use natural light, and don’t over-edit or use filters too much.