¶ Overview
The largest fraction of your time and energy spent during your term on board will be on social media. A majority of the community relies on social media to keep updated on events, news, and the efforts of the MSA.
Take caution with commenting and posting on all platforms. Take space, make space and don’t be excessive. Consider that social media is permanent before you make a post. The community at large may not understand the intention and meaning behind your comments or posts, so as a board member try to stray away from joking/joshing on social media. Oftentimes for community members who may not know you or your relationships very well, it can easily be seen as bullying, inappropriately timed statements, etc. Remind your other board members of this as well.
You are encouraged to take pictures at events and socials, but if someone does not want to be photographed, do not pressure them. If you’re asked to take down a picture of someone, please do so immediately, no questions asked. Make sure that all the pictures that are posted are appropriate and not overtly unflattering or embarrassing.
¶ UC Berkeley MSA Group
The Facebook group is geared towards being a platform for community members to discuss their needs with each other. Board should act as moderators of these discussions.
¶ Posts
| Types | Description |
|---|---|
| Housing Posts | Housing posts are made year round, but are especially prevalent in the summer. Don't approve the posts, but direct members to the respective Sisters' and Brothers' Housing groups, as well as the MSA Housing Portal. These exist to make the process smoother and to reduce the clutter in the MSA group. (An exception would probably be if a sister was posting on behalf of a brother and vice versa). |
| ASUC Campaigning | The Facebook group is not a platform for campaigning of any kind. Any and all campaign posts should be deleted. One post should be made by a board member endorsing the MEMSSA candidate. |
| Other | For the most part other posts should be fine to approve. Obviously if any posts or comments have any form of harassment or bullying, that's cause for deleting. There may posts that can cause controversy because they mention sensitive issues. Use your best judgment and remember that decisions made on MSA's platforms are a reflection on MSA. |
¶ Members
There are three questions that need to be answered before someone can be admitted into the group:
- Are you a current or incoming UC Berkeley student? If yes, then please share your official Berkeley email.
- Are you considering attending UC Berkeley?
- If you answered no to the previous questions, please share your reasons for requesting to join this page. JZK!
Try to limit the space to UC Berkeley students to give others a safer space and to be able to better control who sees content. Don't try to vet who is and isn't Muslim-indentifying, many prospective reverts try to join the group to learn more about Islam and find a community. Besides UC Berkeley students, many people will join the group because they're local and want to find a community, or because they want to share information. This is generally fine. If someone answers only "Yes" to one or more questions, they most often are random Facebook users trying to gain access to the group for whatever reason. Don't approve them.
Be careful when you accept members into the Facebook group! Members will assume this is a safe place to post sensitive content that only other MSA members will see. If you or board are careless with vetting, there will be potential Zionists or FBI agents in the group. Take this process seriously.
¶ UC Berkeley MSA Page
The Facebook page is meant as a way to spread the news of events, socials, and any pressing information that the community needs. It works alongside the newsletter in this regard. The Facebook page is visible to the public, and more accessible to the community when it comes to information that needs to be marketed heavily.
¶ Posts
The MSA Facebook page is useful for sharing posts on a broader level. This can mean events as well as public statements.
¶ Inbox
The Facebook page is one avenue for general members to reach board to ask questions or state concerns. All of board has access to viewing these messages, but it is primarily the responsibility of the Communications Director to respond to them.
Most Frequently Asked Question: Salaam! Will there be Jummuah on campus today?
An important rule of thumb on Instagram is to not follow community members with the MSA account. While this may be a good way to attract new followers, many people who accept our follow don't realize that there is a team of people behind the account who can now see all of their private posts. When the account is passed on to another Communications Director, they now have access to private accounts of people they don't know.
¶ Posts
Posts on Instagram should highlight the community and our programming. This can be done through regular posting about events as well as community-focused social media campaigns (Humans of MSA, MSA Summers, etc.). You should also post pictures from socials here. This allows the community to see and know each other, and to have a presence in MSA's brand.
¶ Stories
Stories are great for posting event graphics and reminders the day of! They are also good for posting updates from socials and events in real time.
Tip: Polls, questions, and quizzes are great ways to get involvement on the Instagram!
Just like the Instagram, the MSA Twitter should not follow personal accounts. The Twitter account should be used to mainly share important news (MSA public statements, large scale events, etc.)
¶ Comprehension Quiz
If you were instructed to read this page as part of an online training curriculum, you must submit this quiz and answer all questions correctly. In the case that you do not answer a question correctly, you may view which questions were incorrect and take the quiz again.
