ifad social media guidelines

IFAD social media guidelines: How to get the most out of

social media tools Prepared by: Roxanna Samii, IFAD

Social media icons: Courtesy of http://geekfairy.co.uk/category/free-social-media-icon/

Table of Contents IFAD social media guidelines: How to get the most out of social media tools ....................................... 1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3

What is social media? ..................................................................................................................... 3

Guidelines for general use of social media ......................................................................................... 4

Useful tips ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Guidelines for use of IFAD’s official social media accounts ................................................................ 7

IFAD social media channels ............................................................................................................... 10

Blog ............................................................................................................................................... 10

Facebook and Google+ .................................................................................................................. 10

Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook photo album......................................................................... 11

Linkedin ......................................................................................................................................... 11

Slideshare ...................................................................................................................................... 11

Storify ............................................................................................................................................ 11

http://geekfairy.co.uk/category/free-social-media-icon/

IFAD 2 Updated on 15 October 2014

Twitter ........................................................................................................................................... 11

YouTube ........................................................................................................................................ 12

How to react to posts about IFAD on social media platforms .......................................................... 13

Annex I: Links to IFAD social media channels ................................................................................... 14

Annex II: Glossary .............................................................................................................................. 14


Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide IFAD’s workforce (staff – fixed and temporary,

consultants, anyone with an IFAD contract, regardless of type and duration) with practical advice on

how to engage with social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Flickr,

YouTube, Slideshare, Wikis, Blogs and others.

Many IFAD colleagues use social media for personal and work-related purposes. The guidelines

below are for:

general use of social media

use of IFAD’s official social media accounts

What is social media?

Today the internet and social media have become preferred communications channels for many because they allow us to easily connect and engage in conversations. The “social” web has fundamentally changed how we use the Internet. Instead of using the web as a tool to look up information, we are now inserting ourselves into the web and using it to connect with other people.

The advent of web2.0 and social networking has encouraged organizations to use these channels as

advocacy tools to inform, curate content, educate the public about their work and to strengthen

existing partnerships and forge others.

At IFAD, social media and online collaboration platforms are allowing us to engage with our existing

stakeholders and connect with new ones. Since 2010, IFAD has extensively used social media tools

to:

advocate for increased investment in agriculture

share rural development and agriculture related information

contribute to the broader rural development discourse

report back and keep colleagues informed of workshops, learning events and of visits to

IFAD-funded projects/programmes

report live from events across the globe

engage in dialogue and debate with our stakeholders, partners, advocates and friends

IFAD encourages staff to use these tools so that they can contribute to expanding and strengthening

the organization’s advocacy work and to further increase our visibility in the rural development

arena. Using social media gives us a range of opportunities to familiarize people with IFAD’s mission

and activities.


Guidelines for general use of social media

It is in IFAD’s interest that staff are aware of and use social media tools. IFAD encourages staff to use

social media tools to conduct business and requests that staff adhere to the guidelines below.

In the social media world, your professional and your personal life are intertwined. Written

conversation in social media networks, while personal, can still be found in search engines such as

Google.

The social media world does not use the mantra “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, but rather

“What happens in Vegas, stays on Google!” This is why you need to consider personal conversations

as public, rather than private.

IFAD’s reputation for impartiality and objectivity is paramount. To this end, if you are discussing

IFAD’s business and/or work-related issues on social media, you must:

identify yourself as part of IFAD’s workforce

be open and transparent

not commit IFAD to any action, unless you are authorized to do so

stick to your area of expertise

post meaningful and respectful comments. Do not spam and do not post offensive

comments

respect confidentiality

be polite when you disagree with opinion of others

add value

not use the internet to attack or abuse colleagues

create excitement and be passionate and enthusiastic

not establish social media channels on IFAD’s behalf and not establish social media channels

using IFAD’s name and logo

admit if you make a mistake

IFAD also encourages IFAD-funded projects and programmes to share updates and impact stories via

personal and/or project-specific social media channels. When relevant, please use IFAD-specific

hashtags (see page 8). If appropriate, staff should make reference to @ifadnews on Twitter and

Instagram and tag IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) on Facebook and Google+.


If you wish to set up a work-related social media channel, please consult the Communications

Division. If you’re not sure about a blogpost, or how to comment or respond to a post, please

consult with your supervisor and/or the Communications Division.

If a member of the media contacts you, please notify the Communications Division. They will

determine how best to handle the inquiry.

Useful tips

The tips below cover best practices and offer recommendations on how to make the most of social

media tools.

Be a good ambassador: Be aware that your behaviour and opinions on social media channels

directly or indirectly reflect on the organization. Make sure your profile picture or avatar reflects

your professionalism. Promote IFAD’s social media channels such as Twitter, Social Reporting Blog,

Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+(See Annex I for a complete list), by adding them to your

email signature block and/or documents you produce.

Be honest, transparent and open: If you are blogging about your work, identify yourself and clearly

state you are working for IFAD. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, be the

first to point it out by making it clear that you are expressing your own opinion. Bear in mind that

transparency does not mean disclosing confidential and/or proprietary information. And remember

not to disclose confidential information on your personal blog, microblogs and websites. If you make

a mistake, admit it and correct it.

Be passionate, enthusiastic and engaged: Share the passion you feel for your work and talk about

your successes and challenges. If you are writing a blog, encourage your readers to provide feedback

and comment. Read the contributions of others and see how you can contribute to the

conversation.

Be responsible: You are responsible for what you write and how you behave on social media

channels. You are encouraged to participate in online social media, however, you are urged to do so

properly and to exercise solid judgment.

Be conversational: Talk to your readers and avoid being pedantic. Do not be afraid to bring in your

personality. When communicating on social media, consider content that is open-ended and one

that solicits response, so that you can engage in a conversation. Cite others when you blog and

solicit comments.

Be respectful: Respect your audience’s privacy, respect your colleagues and peers. Respect your

“competitors”. Disagree in a respectful manner.

Be conscious when mixing professional and personal: Sometimes the professional and personal

may intersect. While respecting freedom of speech, as an IFAD employee and international civil

servant, you have certain obligations and need to abide by IFAD’s code of conduct and staff rules.

Be aware of global implications: Your interactions on social media channels can have global

significance. The way you answer a question online or write may be appropriate for some parts of


the globe, but considered inappropriate or illegal in other parts of the world. Therefore, keep the

“world view” in mind when engaging with social media tools.

Bring value: The best way to get your thoughts and words across is to write things that people will

value. Write informative, interesting and thought-provoking content. Help build a sense of

community by sharing and discussing your experiences and challenges. Talk about projects you are

involved in and working on. Social communications help people to familiarize themselves with IFAD’s

work. If what you write helps people do a better job, understand what IFAD does, learn and gain

knowledge, enhance their skills, solve problems, overcome challenges, then you are adding value.

Do not forget you are responsible for what you write. Aim for quality and not quantity.

Build relationships: Engage with your audience and build trust to develop “relationships” rather

than just exclusively using social media as an advocacy tool.

Correct mistakes: If you come across a misrepresentation of IFAD’s work, identify yourself and

correct the mistake. In most cases people do not mind being corrected. However, if you get the

feeling that someone is deliberately misinterpreting what you are saying, ignore them. If you are in

doubt and not sure what to do, please contact the Communications Division. On the other hand, if

you have made a mistake, do not hide it, be open and admit it.

Give credit where credit is due: Do not claim authorship for something that is not yours. If you are

using third party content, make sure you have permission to use it and provide appropriate

attribution. Do not use copyrighted and trademarked content without asking permission. Respect

Creative Commons Licencing1.

Know that the internet is permanent: Once information is published online, it becomes a

permanent record. Remember on the internet everything stays on Google!

Respond to constructive criticism: Turn negative comment into positive discussion. Thank the

commenter and engage them in a conversation. Remember, when responding you are representing

IFAD. Take time to read between the lines and understand the arguments. In correcting factual

errors and responding be respectful, sincere, confident and truthful. If you are not sure how to

respond to criticism, please consult the Communications Division.

Safeguard IFAD content: Staff are encouraged to share IFAD content through their personal social

media accounts. When sharing original IFAD content – that is text, audio, video and photos produced

by IFAD and shared on IFAD’s website and/or IFAD’s social media channels – from your personal

social media accounts, please make sure you attribute it to IFAD. Should you wish to use IFAD

content on your personal or third party sites, please indicate the source and if in doubt, contact the

Communications Division. Content produced for internal IFAD use cannot be published on external

sites. Copyrighted IFAD content can be made available upon request.

Safeguard IFAD’s name: You may not use IFAD’s name to endorse or promote any product, political

party and/or political opinion. IFAD is seeking to consolidate its brand and boost its existing web and

1 Creative Commons Licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. Creative Commons provides a more flexible copyright model, replacing "all rights reserved" with “some rights reserved”.


social media channels. You are requested not to fragment IFAD’s brand and identity by creating

pseudo IFAD accounts. If you need to create web and/or social media channels on IFAD’s behalf,

please consult the Communications Division.

Separate opinions from facts: When interacting on social media, make sure you separate opinions

from facts.

Spread the work and connect with people: Do not talk about yourself exclusively, but also share the

successes of your colleagues, peers and IFAD as a whole. Make sure you’re connected with IFAD’s

social media channels (see Annex I for complete listing).

Think of CNN, your mother and your boss: Do not say anything online that you would not be

comfortable seeing quoted on CNN or other television networks, discussing with your mother or

explaining to your boss! Remember, there is nothing private on social media and all your posts and

comments may be traceable.

Use a disclaimer: If you publish on a third party website or on your personal blog, use a disclaimer

similar to:

“The information posted on this blog and/or website are my personal views and opinions

and do not necessarily represent IFAD’s positions, strategies or opinions”

Write what you know: When writing about agriculture and rural development-related issues, write

in first person and stick to your areas of expertise. If you are writing about an IFAD-related topic and

you are not the topic expert, make it clear to your readers, or co-author the piece with the topic

expert.

And last but not least: when in doubt, ask!

Guidelines for use of IFAD’s official social media accounts

Annex I provides a list of IFAD’s official presence on social media channels. IFAD uses social media

channels to increase its global presence by reaching out to a broader audience and providing a wide

range of content and information in real time.

Like other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and UN agencies, we have established our

presence on the some of the most popular and strategic social media channels.

Communications Division is responsible for establishing IFAD’s presence on social media channels.

To create a new IFAD presence, please consult with the Communications Division.

To ensure authenticity and safeguard IFAD’s brand, IFAD official social media accounts:

follow and adhere to the guidelines and best practices listed above

carry IFAD’s logo and respect the corporate identity.

Staff representing IFAD on social media channels are responsible for:

listening to and monitoring social chatter


branding IFAD across social media platforms

sharing IFAD’s messages across social media

promoting IFAD’s social media profile

engaging with stakeholders and partners through social media

Content on IFAD’s official social media channels will:

be of highest possible quality and reflect IFAD’s corporate image

welcome and encourage feedback, participation and conversation

provide real-time news

promote programmes and announce new initiatives in a conversational manner

provide a human face to IFAD’s activities through stories

report live from key events

IFAD holds the copyright to content created for the organization and posted on social media

channels (tweets, videos, audio, photos and blogposts).

Hashtags

IFAD uses hashtags to aggregate, organize and discover relevant posts. All IFAD-sponsored events

and events where IFAD is involved carry a hashtag such as #iyff14, #fafo14 and #agtalks. As a

development organization, we engage in and contribute to on-line conversations by using well-

established hashtags such as #globaldev, #agriculture, and others.

Over time, we’ve institutionalized a number of IFAD-specific hashtags such as the ones listed below.

You are encouraged to use these and others as and where appropriate.

#ifadinvests (used to raise awareness about IFAD brand and messages that talk about

investing in agriculture, people, smallholder farmers etc.)

#ifadclimate (used for climate change related content)

#ifadgender (used for gender and woman empowerment related content)

#ifadafrica, #ifadasia (used for regional content)

#ifadgc (used for Governing Council)

#ifadar (used to refer to IFAD Annual report)

#ifadag (used for agriculture related content)


#ifad (used to identify IFAD colleagues, e.g. #ifad Brizzi – and/or IFAD publications and other

content)


IFAD social media channels

Blog

IFAD’s social reporting blog is a platform for IFAD staff in the field and at headquarters to share

insights and experience and to report live from events. The content of blogposts reflects the views

and opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the organization.

Contributors to IFAD’s social reporting blog are invited to observe the guidelines listed above and,

when creating blogposts they are expected to:

write professionally and accurately

respect the organization, colleagues, partners, other IFIs and UN agencies

honour privacy rights and respect confidentiality

refrain from discussing confidential topics and internal matters and sharing proprietary

information

IFAD encourages staff to use this channel as an advocacy tool for IFAD’s activities. To join the IFAD

blogger community, contact the Communications Division.

Facebook and Google+

Facebook and Google+ are online social networking sites where members share what is on their

mind, create photo albums, post photos and videos, exchange instant messages with other

members, send internal e-mail to other members, find and add friends and become fans of groups

and organizations.

IFAD uses these channels to raise awareness about its activities at global, regional and country level.

We also uses these social media channels to share rural development and agriculture-related

information.

IFAD-specific content on these channels follows IFAD’s social voice with the aim of spurring

interaction, engaging in a conversation and having a dialogue with our fans through virtual chats and

by sharing facts, figures, statements, images, videos and rural development news.

IFAD content on these channels:

has a welcoming tone

encourages feedback and participation

helps facilitate conversation and exchange of ideas

provides snippets of IFAD’s activities (photos, videos, links to blogposts, human stories)

IFAD’s Facebook and Google+pages allow fans to post links, status updates and to comment on

IFAD’s post.

http://ifad-un.blogspot.it/

https://www.facebook.com/IFAD?ref=bookmarks

https://plus.google.com/u/0/104946654582685330240/posts


The Communications Division monitors content posted by fans. Inappropriate content and spam

items are reported and removed.

Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook photo album

Photos are the most uploaded content in social media space. IFAD project-related and corporate

photos are stored in the corporate image bank. Instagram, Pinterest and the Facebook photo album

are used to share “social” and “amateur” photos, such as images from learning events, missions,

corporate activities and events like the Governing Council.

In general, uploaded photos should have captions, credits and photo albums should have meaningful

names that include the event’s date. Where possible use geotagging to indicate the location where

the photos were taken.

Contact the Communications Division to upload photos on Instagram, Pinterest and the Facebook

photo album.

Linkedin

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service and is mainly used for professional

networking. IFAD is currently using for job advertisement and to showcase our work and mission.

Slideshare

SlideShare is a social media channel used for sharing PowerPoint presentations and documents in

PDF format. It has a vibrant professional community that comments and downloads content.

Content posted on Slideshare can be embedded in blogs, websites and shared through social

networks such as Facebook and Twitter. It also provides statistics on how many times a

presentation/document is downloaded and viewed.

IFAD is currently using Slideshare to post event-specific powerpoint presentations and documents.

Contact the Communications Division to upload presentations on Slideshare.

Storify

Storify is a social network service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social media

such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. IFAD uses Storify to collect and consolidate nuggets and

soundbites from an event into a story that can be shared for further engagement with its audiences.

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking site where members can post short updates. Sharing blog

headlines, real-time updates, news releases, testimonies, statements, public service

announcements, accomplishments, job announcements, fact sheets and reporting live from events

are all effective ways to use Twitter. Statistics, facts, figures, soundbites and informative news items

are amongst the most popular content on Twitter.

IFAD uses Twitter to share messages and news in real time and to raise awareness about our

activities. Unlike Facebook, where only fans can see your updates, content sent through Twitter is

searchable and visible to the entire internet community.

http://instagram.com/ifadnews

https://www.pinterest.com/ifad/

https://www.facebook.com/IFAD/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifad

http://www.slideshare.net/ifad

https://storify.com/ifadnews

https://twitter.com/ifadnews


The IFAD social reporting team uses IFAD’s official Twitter account to report live from events.

Typically, IFAD tweets use the following hashtags: #ifad, #agriculture, #globaldev, #agchat. In

addition to these tags, IFAD uses event-specific hashtags such as #GC2011, #rpr2011.

YouTube

With more than one billion unique users visiting each month, YouTube is the world’s most popular

video-sharing website. The site allows users to view and share videos, to leave comments, and

subscribe to their favourite channels.

IFAD uses YouTube to share approved corporate video productsincluding video stories about IFAD-

supported projects,short interviews and event-specific videos that are suitable for general

audiences. IFAD’s YouTube channel serves as a repository for hundreds of video stories, making it a

great source for those searching for video content for events.

For further queries about IFAD’s YouTube channel, contact the Communications Division.

http://www.youtube.com/user/IFADTV


How to react to posts about IFAD on social media platforms

Source: UNDP – Adapted for IFAD


Annex I: Links to IFAD social media channels

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ifad/107399332627995?ref=ts

Google+: https://plus.google.com/104946654582685330240/posts

IFAD social reporting blog: http://ifad-un.blogspot.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ifadnews

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifad

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ifad/

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/ifad

Storify: https://storify.com/ifadnews

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ifadnews

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/IFADTV

Annex II: Glossary2

Blog: A blog is an “online journal” that is updated on a regular basis with entries that appear in

reverse chronological order. Blogs can be about any subject. They typically contain comments by

other readers, links to other site, photos and videos.

Creative Commons: Creative Commons is a not-for-profit organization and licensing system that

offers creators the ability to fine-tune their copyright, spelling out the ways in which others may use

their works.

Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing refers to harnessing the skills and enthusiasm of those outside an

organization who are prepared to volunteer their time contributing content or skills and solving

problems.

Embedding: Embedding is the act of adding code to a website so that a tweet, video or photo can be

displayed while it’s being hosted at another site. Users now watch embedded YouTube videos or

view photos on blogs rather than on the original site.

Facebook: Facebook is a social networking site that allows users to create a personal profile, add

other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update

their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, and Facebook pages of

organizations.

Geotagging: Geotagging is the process of adding location-based metadata to media such as photos,

video or online maps. Geotagging can help users find a wide variety of location-specific information.

2 Courtesy of socialbrite.org/sharing-center/glossary (accessed on 30 December 2010)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ifad/107399332627995?ref=ts

https://plus.google.com/104946654582685330240/posts

http://ifad-un.blogspot.com/

http://instagram.com/ifadnews

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifad

http://www.pinterest.com/ifad/

http://www.slideshare.net/ifad

https://storify.com/ifadnews

http://twitter.com/ifadnews

http://www.youtube.com/IFADTV


For instance, one can find images taken near a given location by entering latitude and longitude

coordinates into a suitable image search engine.

Google+: Google+ is a social network that allows you to share content with your peers and

communities.

Hashtag: A hashtag is a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to

tweets. Similar to tags or labels on blogposts, you can add hashtags to Facebook, Google+, Instagram

and Twitter posts by prefixing a word with a hash symbol (or number sign). Users use hashtag to

aggregate, organize and discover relevant posts.

Instagram: Instagram is a fast and fun way to share photographic and video updates about IFAD’s

work on the ground and offers a new way to see and interact with the world.

Metadata: Metadata refers to information — including titles, descriptions, tags and captions — that

describes a media item such as a video, photo or blog post.

Microblogging: Microblogging is the act of broadcasting short messages to other subscribers of a

Web service. On Twitter, entries are limited to 140 characters. Microblogging is also known as

microsharing.

Social media: Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are

published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, Facebook, Twitter or photo and video

hosting site. More broadly, social media refers to any online technology that lets people publish,

converse and share content online.

Social networking: Social networking is the act of socializing in an online community. A typical social

network such as Facebook allows you to create a profile, add friends, communicate with other

members and add your own media.

Storify: Storify is a social network service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social

media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Tags or labels: Tags are keywords added to a blog post, photo or video to help users find related

topics or media, either through browsing on the site or as a term to make your entry more relevant

to search engines.

Tweet: A tweet is a post on Twitter, a real-time social messaging system. While everyone agrees on

usage of tweet as a noun, people disagree on whether you “tweet” or “twitter” as a verb. RT stands

for retweet: Users add RT in a tweet if they are reposting something from another person’s tweet.

Twitter: Twitter is a popular social network that lets members post updates of no more than 140

characters. People have begun using Twitter in interesting ways to point to news stories, to raise

awareness about their activities and much more.

Web2.0: Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the Web, which enables people to share

different types of content, ranging from text to photos, audio and video files.Web2.0 has

transformed the Internet to become a platform for self-expression, education and advocacy.


YouTube: YouTube is the world’s most popular video hosting site.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Contact information

Roxanna Samii

IFAD - Team Leader, Field Communication and Capacity Development

[email protected]

Tel: +390654592375

Credit – These guidelines build on similar documents produced by a wide range of organizations.

IFAD benefitted particularly from the efforts of BBC, British Telecom (BT), CISCO, CocaCola, CNN,

IBM, INTEL, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Harvard Law School,

Mashable, Oracle, SAP and the United Nations Communications Group.

IFAD thanks colleagues from FAO, Full Circle Associates, the United Nations Secretariat, UNICEF,

UNDP and the World Bank for peer reviewing this document.

mailto:[email protected]

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