Social Media Guidelines

A Note on Social 

The Advancement Communications and Marketing Team is responsible for app social media posts published to the official @BCAlumni channels.

Using social media as a “brand,” in this case, as Boston College Alumni Association or @BCAlumni’, is not all that different from communicating as the BC Alumni brand from more traditional channels like print. The same adherence to brand ethos and mission should be followed, as should most all the brand styles. However, social media accounts, even those of brand (or in our case, a university) are interpreted as an individual by users, and therefore tone and some brand style principles must be adjusted to resonate as authentic with the social audience. 

Social Tone & Voice 

The tone of BC Alumni’s social accounts, across all platforms, is spirited, smart, and accessible. As our avatar on Facebook is Baldwin, our tone is truly modeled after the heart of our most engaged alumni: supportive, community-driven, and nostalgic for the full Boston College experience. Though the BC Alumni accounts speak with an institutional voice, it is slightly informal (in comparison to the Boston College social accounts) while remaining articulate. We take the tone that a chapter leader or Reunion Chair might take: welcoming, informative, and imbued with school spirit. We are optimistic about, engaged with, and inspired by Boston College and its alumni family. 

Special Style Considerations 

Since social media is a much less formal channel of communication, there are some style guidelines that should be modified. ACM follows these guidelines, and continues to evolve them over time: 

  • Using “BC” to refer to Boston College is fine on social media, even as the first mention in a post. It is encouraged, though not required, to either tag the Boston College account or write out Boston College in full upon first reference in a post, if character count and context allow. 
  • Proper syntax and punctuation–in particular, full sentences and periods– need not be used on Instagram Stories, but should be used across all other platforms. 
  • Omit periods for most two-letter abbreviations, acronyms, or initialisms (ie: am, pm, SJ, US)
  • Omit periods in initialisms, including academic degrees (ie: MBA, MSW) 
  • Capitalize official names of Boston College campuses and buildings, however, short hands like “Mods” or “The Rat” are fine to use on social media. 
  • Use “first-year” as opposed to “freshman”, as this gender-neutral term is inclusive and preferred. 
  • When referring to BC as its traditional nickname, the Heights, be sure not to capitalize “the” unless it appears at the start of a sentence.
  • Do not spell out numbers, even small denominations like “one” or “five”, on social media.