1. Social media accounts are encouraged throughout the SCA to make communication easier between official groups, events and officers and the populace.  It’s also a good way for the general public to get to know us.

2. Common sense is the key. Please use courtesy, professionalism and good judgment when sharing official information or messages through social media.  Be mindful that anyone outside the SCA may read your comments.

3. It’s perfectly acceptable for anyone in the populace to re-distribute official news or announcements via social media, provided the content was first published via official means such as a branch newsletter.  In fact, this is encouraged to ensure the widest reach possible!

4. For the SCA, a social media “presence” or space could be any one of:

• A Facebook page or group created for an SCA registered branch, Tidings-published event, or office
• Any social media profile or account (such as Twitter) created for an SCA registered branch, Tidings-published event, or office
• A blog site for an SCA registered branch, Tidings event, or office
• A YouTube channel or photo-sharing site (like Flickr or Picasa) for an SCA registered branch, Tidings event, or office

5. If a “presence”, or an individual’s comment made on a “presence”, is meant to be official then it is governed by the policy.

6. To be compliant with the policy, official “presence” accounts must:
• Reference a specific disclaimer (as provided in the policy document, see Tools for examples); and
• Be fully administered by at least two officers of the branch, preferably including the Seneschal. For event pages, at least the event steward/autocrat plus one other officer of the sponsoring group must administer accounts. Two of the branch’s officers would also be acceptable if the steward is not generally online.

7. Please notify Ealdormere’s Social Media Officer if you create a new, official social media presence for use by your local branch, event or office.  A list will be created to track of all of these presences.

8. Avoid using SCA-centric jargon on official presences since these may be very confusing for the general public.  Use “real world” terms where possible (such a substituting “President” for “Seneschal”, etc.)

9. Pictures are the lifeblood of social media. Try to include a relevant photo/image or even a video clip with each post, especially on sites like Facebook or Google+.

10. Please read the policy for more details before using social media for an official SCA account.

11. For a bit of background on the policy and its development, you can check out the East Kingdom Gazette’s article with an interview of the Society Social Media Deputy.