Closing accounts

Closing social media accounts

Using social media requires ongoing work.  The managers of those accounts must continue to post, monitor and respond as appropriate.  If you decide to stop using a social media account, it is important to think about how that might impact on WSI/OTEN's (and perhaps your teaching section's) reputation. 

For example, imagine how you might feel in the following situation.  Your friend told you what a fabulous experience they had when studying CII Puppet-making and how great it was to be able to get information from the Puppet-making Facebook page.  So when you decided to enrol in CII Puppet-making you liked the Puppet-making Facebook page and then posted a question about enrolling.  What you didn't know was that the person who managed the Puppet-making Facebook page had left and no-one was monitoring and responding to that page.  The following week you decided to ring the college and discovered that enrolments had closed the day after you had posted and the class was now full.  You would not be able to enrol in the course for another semester.

Using social media results in accounts being created on various social media platforms. Each of those accounts will require a log in (username and password) linked to an email account.   When using social media it is important to use a number of community managers/administrators, if possible, and to keep a record of account logins, passwords and associated emails to ensure accounts do not become inaccessible.  Ensure that you check WSI's policy and procedures for social media use.

If it is decided to stop using an account, it is a good idea to ensure that information is posted on the account indicating that the account is no longer being used and providing information about where to go for more information.

 

Resources

• Abandoned social media: when nothing is better than something