Social Media Policy Statement

This policy statement outlines our use of social media.

We encourage and welcome open, lively debate via our social media channels including

• Research Autism online events at www.researchautism.net/online-events
• Facebook at www.facebook.com/ResearchAutism
• LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/research-autism
• Twitter at https://twitter.com/ResearchAutism
• YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheResearchAutism

However the decision to publish comments received via these channels remains at our discretion. The views expressed by any third parties are solely theirs and are not necessarily endorsed by Research Autism.

Moderation guidelines

We ask you to please bear in mind our guidelines when submitting comments via our social media channels.

We will normally approve comments for publication as long as they:

• are on-topic. Please don't post messages that are not related
• do not continually repeat comments already made
• respect other people. Comments should not be malicious or offensive in nature, and should not constitute a personal attack on a person's character
• don't incite hatred on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality or sexuality or any other personal characteristic
• are reasonably concise, and don't constitute spamming of the site
• don't impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or organisation
• are not party political in nature.
• don't include swearing, hate-speech or obscenity
• don't break the law - this includes libel, condoning illegal activity, and breaking copyright
• don't advertise commercial products and services - you can mention relevant products and services as long as they support your comment
• are in English - unfortunately, we do not currently have the resource to moderate comments in other languages

if you are aged 16 or under, please get you parent/guardian's permission before submitting a comment.

We reserve the right to suspend or remove comments at any time. Where we choose not to publish a comment for a reason other than those listed above, we will reply to the commenter by email explaining our reason and inviting them to make appropriate changes so that the comment can be reconsidered.

Pre-Moderation versus Post-Moderation

We post-moderate most of the comments we receive via social media channels, such as Facebook.

'Post-moderation' means that we check what you have said after it has been published.  We monitor our social media channels during normal working hours (09.00 - 17.00, GMT) and aim to process comments as quickly as possible.

We pre-moderate all of the comments we receive via our own online events system at www.researchautism.net/online-events

'Pre-moderation' means that we check what you want to say before we publish it during an online event. Comments are checked during the event and published as soon as possible, if we are happy that you have followed our moderation guidelines.

This is not about censoring your views. The aim is to ensure that comments relate to the particular subject being discussed. Moderation will not be used to suppress legitimate, reasoned discussion.

Sometimes there is a delay in publishing comments whilst we seek information from various sources to be included in our response to questions.

We read every comment, and respond wherever we can.

Content

Research Autism uses social media as one tool in our efforts to communicate clearly, quickly and in an engaging manner to people interested in our work.

Social media content delivered by Research Autism includes (but is not limited to):

• links to our news releases, research projects, funding apeals etc.
• links to relevant information produced and published by other organisations
• interesting facts, quotes or observations related to our work
• topical questions related to our work intended to provoke discussion

Social media as a source of official policy

Any comments we make via social media channels should not be considered as the authoritative source of information from Research Autism.

Any change or evolution in our official position on any subject will be communicated through more traditional channels: official publications and statements on our website, speeches, and media releases.

Following/Likes

Research Autism's decision to follow or like a particular account on a particular social media channel does not imply endorsement of any kind. We follow accounts we believe are relevant to our work. This could include following the accounts of companies and other commercial enterprises (and/or their employees) who comment on Research Autism and related issues.

Complaints, Media Requests and Personal Issues

We encourage you to follow traditional channels to make a media request or complaint.  Those channels are listed on our website.

Research Autism Staff Using Social Media

Some Research Autism staff comment on social media under their own names or pseudonyms. Despite their professional affiliation with Research Autism, their comments do not represent the official position of Research Autism, and should be considered the product of each individual as a private citizen.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact info@researchautism.net

Version 1.00 |  Publication date: 27 February 2014  |  Review date: February 2017

Related Pages

• Online Events
• Our Events

Updated

25 Oct 2017

Next Review

01 Feb 2017