Facebook

Facebook is the world’s largest social network with over 1.74 billion users.  It provides a place for connection via sharing photos, videos and text updates.  Users create personal profiles and establish relationships with people and companies. 

Timeline

Your Facebook Timeline details all of your personal activity on Facebook.  It’s called a timeline because it can include information, memories and milestones in your life.  What you choose to show — from photos you post to your relationship status — is based on your privacy preferences. 

Status updates

A status update is anything that you decide to share with Facebook friends.  Through a status update, you can communicate your current activity or location; post a link sharing a recent article; mention or “tag” friends who you want to include in a conversation; and share photos, videos and thoughts.  Facebook status updates made by your friends appear in your news feed. 

Fans

Facebook users who join a page because they have a particular interest in the topic or a connection with the brand/product. 

“Likes”

The “like” button can be found on nearly every piece of Facebook content: status updates, photos, comments, brand Timelines, apps and even ads.  By “liking” something you can communicate your support of activities, brands, links, products and more.  You can now even add emotions, such as "love", "haha", "wow", "sad" and "angry". 

Comments

Respond to a post written by the page or by another fan with the “write a comment” box. 

Shares

A person or page can share content from another post on his or her own page by using the “share” feature. 

Just like people, brands can create Facebook Timelines with which consumers can interact.  Brands can build their following by encouraging Facebook users to click the “like” buttons on their page, which then shares the users’ preference for a brand with their personal network.  Many major brands use Facebook to start conversations, share deals and seek feedback from consumers and fans.  Companies such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks have tens of millions of fans interested in their latest company news. 

Use the following name guidelines to create your handle and Facebook URL.  Since you should use the same handle for Facebook as you use for Twitter, consider keeping your handle as brief as possible, so as to reduce the number of characters it will take up in links and tweets. 

If you're located at CU Denver, use "CU Denver" followed by the name (if short), abbreviation, or acronym for your department.  Some examples:

Your “About” description should include a link to your department website.  The “About” section of your page should also reference the larger school or college with which your unit is associated. 

We strongly encourage units to use the same profile icon for Facebook as they do for Twitter.  You can request your social media icon via e-mail by contacting socialmedia@ucdenver.edu. 

Departments are responsible for finding their own cover photos for Facebook.  This image should be at least 820 x 312 in size.  Smaller photos will appear pixilated.  The resolution should be set to 72 dpi.  We recommend an engaging photo that includes people and action, preferably one which strongly references your campus location.  Feel free to check out the CU Denver Facebook page for some ideas. 

Facebook also allows you to use video files in the cover photo area.  The video should be at least 820 x 312 and can be 20-90 seconds in length in a MP4 format. 

Familiarize yourself with the options available to your page by clicking “Edit Page,” then “Edit Settings.”  You can control what visitors to your page can post, as well as whether visitors only see posts by your page as their default view or all posts and comments left on your page. 

If you want to encourage conversation among your users, choose to allow others to post to your page, choose to show the box for “Recent Posts by Others” at the top of your page, and choose to show the “message” button on your page.  When allowing others to post on your page, be sure to regularly monitor your site for inappropriate content that may need to be removed, as well as posts and messages that require replies.  Refer to our moderation guidelines when hiding/removing comments or banning/blocking individuals. 

Familiarize yourself with the “Notifications” options available to your page by clicking “Edit Page,” then “Manage Notifications.” 

Be sure that the email address for your page is up to date and choose whether you would like to receive notifications about page activity by email, Facebook or mobile app. 

Add additional page administrators who can monitor and post to your page by clicking “Edit Settings,” then “Manage Admin Roles.” 

You can post a simple text post, embed a link with a preview image, post a photo or video, or create an event or milestone. 

Photo posts tend to have the largest reach with Facebook users, so create your post as a photo whenever possible.  Use the photo description as a place for relevant information.  Keep text accompanying photos as brief as possible.  Include a link to more information, if applicable, and use a link shortener (bit.ly) to keep long links from overpowering the rest of your post.  Over the past few years, video has taken over and now reaches the most individuals, so if the resources are there, incorporate video when possible. 

Avoid creating a Facebook event for every event in your department.  Reserve Facebook events and event invites for only the most important occasions, as a regular onslaught of event invitations can be off-putting to fans. 

When including a link in your post, pay attention to how Facebook pulls an image and text from the corresponding Web page. 

Insights can be a helpful tool to identify the kinds of posts that are popular among your fans and if certain posts prompt a large upswing in “likes” or “unlikes” on your page.  If “unlikes” are consistent, you may be posting too often or on topics that aren’t interesting to your fans.  Remember that every day will be different based upon follower interaction, conversation and trends. 

There are several ways to help proactively generate “likes” for your page.  You can find the option to “like as your page” by clicking the dropdown menu near the like button on that page.  Consider “liking:”

Facebook pages from other university entities

Pages with similar interests at other colleges/universities

Experts, companies or organizations related to your page

Competitor organizations, which can be used to stay on top of industryhappenings

Examples of Facebook insights. 

Tag other Facebook accounts in posts when applicable.  When you mention another account with an @reply or in your post, Facebook allows you to “tag” other Facebook pages. 

Respond when necessary.  It is important to be responsive, engaging and helpful when responding to posts.  Answer questions that are asked of you and if you find yourself answering the same question over and over, add a proactive post on the subject to your editorial calendar so fans can be aware and you can cover your bases.  Always make sure the information you are responding with is correct – don't be afraid to ask leadership! “ Like” comments that are particularly engaging, or respond with thanks.  Politely correct posts that include misinformation.