RiAus Online Communications Policy
This document is designed to help you navigate online environments. It will give you tips on how to shape conversation about the importance of science and education, and provide direction for blogging and interaction in social media.
RiAus employees and volunteers are encouraged to contribute to online spaces such as blogs, social networking sites, wikis, forums and photo and video sharing sites.
As a not for profit organisation, RiAus relies on keeping a good name in the community and maintaining the trust of all its current and future stakeholders.
This is a ‘living document’ and will provide relevant guidance on an ongoing basis.
There are lots of great gadgets, software programs, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 tools out there for you to use. You can have a powerful voice in telling your stories and those of RiAus.
Please remember: Be honest, straightforward, and respectful, and you will enjoy everything you do on the web. If you are unsure about anything we said please contact us at science@riaus.org.au
Download the RiAus Online Communications Policy (219 kB PDF)
Rules of online engagement
Be transparent
Please make it clear to readers that the views expressed on the blog, website or social media channel are yours alone and do not represent the views of the organisation. Unless given permission by the RiAus Digital Communications Manager, you are not authorized to speak on behalf of RiAus, nor are you allowed to represent that you do so.
Be ethical
Do not forget to respect Copyright Laws and fair use of copyrighted material, such as images, videos and articles.
RiAus operates on a Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0). This means you can share (copy, distribute and transmit) and remix (adapt) our work. However, you must attribute the work to RiAus and you may not use the work for commercial purposes.
If you choose to share your political or religious views online, make it clear that you are representing yourself and not RiAus.
You should also respect your commitment toward RiAus
Remember that anyone can read what you post online. Before you hit publish, think about the effect of your actions to others. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do offline.
Don’t reveal confidential information
If you blog about RiAus or mention RiAus in your online communications, please talk about your good work and connect to your readers, friends and followers. Please respect the privacy and confidentiality of RiAus, our stakeholders and communities.
Be accurate (write what you know)
Although your blog posts or social media comments may be primarily made up of personal opinion, do your research well and check that your facts are accurate.
Tell us about your blog or social media account
If you haven’t already done so, tell us about your blog or social media account. We would love to help you share your thoughts with the community, and we respect your good work.
Be generous
The Internet is all about connecting.
If you see something interesting, valuable or relevant, link to it. The more you link to relevant material, the more contacts you will make and the more popular your own blog will become.
Be a good blogger
RiAus is proud to share information about science and provide education for all our readers.
Writing captivating online content takes hard work and commitment. If you decide to jump into the blogosphere, do so with a commitment to post regularly and well. Link to others and show your personality. Make it interesting and have fun!
If you make a mistake
If you make a mistake, admit it. Be upfront and be quick with your correction. If you’re posting to a blog, you may choose to modify an earlier post—just make it clear that you have done so.
Don’t publish content which makes you even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
RiAus social media presence
Why are we present in the online space?
RiAus’ purpose on social media is to provide, discuss and engage in various science and education related topics as well as present its own resources.
RiAus on Twitter
Twitter is a ‘microblogging’ platform which allows users to post and exchange short messages (up to 140 characters in length) and converse publicly with other users via a mobile phone or web browser. Twitter allows users to share links to online information, publish photographs and share other media such as videos.
RiAus currently operates the following Twitter accounts:
@Ri_Aus for general information about RiAus events, news, blog posts, career and volunteer opportunities, live-tweeting and content related to our mission.
@FreeRangeSci for general information about our Free Range Science program in regional Victoria.
Twitter content
RiAus Twitter accounts are managed by the Digital Communications Manager.
If you follow RiAus Twitter accounts you can expect around 20 tweets a week covering topics including but not limited to:
- RiAus updates about upcoming and past events, video content, blogs, news, pictures.
- Posts about news, events, and organisations related to our mission.
- Our weekly newsletter.
- Regular live coverage of events
- Re-tweets from relevant users.
The Digital Communications Manager updates and monitors RiAus Twitter accounts during the hours of 8:00am – 8:00pm Monday to Friday, with occasional updates on the weekend. Twitter may occasionally be unavailable and we accept no responsibility for lack of service due to Twitter downtime.
Following and ‘unfollowing’
RiAus welcomes all new followers and will follow relevant users with a particular interest in science and technology, volunteers, partners and other parties where there is a clear link in communicating and receiving information relevant to the RiAus mission.
Being followed by RiAus does not imply endorsement of any kind.
As part of account maintenance and monitoring, the Digital Communications Manager regularly reviews accounts RiAus is following. This may result in ‘unfollowing’ accounts if appropriate.
Hashtags (#)
Using hashtags is a common practice on Twitter, which help filter information based on keywords. They also allow to identify ‘trending’ (popular) topics.
RiAus will use hashtags when providing information about RiAus events, news, information related to our mission, or live-tweeting.
Established hashtags regularly used by RiAus include, but are not limited to:
#RiAus, #Science, #Scicomm, #Adelaide #Name of the city we present our activities
@Replies and direct messages
RiAus welcomes feedback and ideas from its followers. We will read your replies and direct messages and ensure they will be forwarded to the relevant people in the organisation, although we reserve a right not to respond to all messages.
Methods of contacting RiAus for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us and Media Enquiries sections of the RiAus website.
RiAus on Facebook
RiAus is using the second most popular website in the world, Facebook, to build a community of engaged followers, promote its presence, share events, and create conversation among science professionals and the public.
RiAus currently operates the following Facebook accounts:
www.facebook.com/thescienceexchange
Content
RiAus Facebook pages are managed by the Digital Communications Manager.
If you join the RiAus Facebook pages you can expect around 2-3 updates per day covering topics including but not limited to:
- RiAus updates about upcoming and past events, video content, blogs, news and ‘inside RiAus’ information about staff, volunteers and other stakeholders.
- Posts about news, events, and organisations related to our mission.
- Posts about new content on our other digital channels, for example videos on YouTube, Vimeo, new Flickr photos.
- Our weekly newsletter.
- Occasional online competitions.
- Mentions of our partner organisations, stakeholders and their activities.
The Digital Communications Manager updates and monitors RiAus Facebook pages during the hours of 8:00am – 8:00pm Monday to Friday, with occasional updates on the weekend.
Please note that RiAus will remove all inappropriate content, comments which are not relevant to our mission and/or may offend our community.
