GSA Social Media Policy
The GSA maintains a Twitter account, a Facebook page, an Instagram account, a LinkedIn account, a Bluesky Social account, as well as a YouTube Channel. We ask those tasked with administering these accounts to ensure that our tweets and posts fall into one of the following categories:
- Information about our organization’s own programs. This includes news about the conference, grant or research or hiring opportunities, and shared information from affiliated organizations. Affiliate organizations and their members may request promotion of events of scholarly endeavors;
- Professional news about or from our members. Members are welcome to directly message the accounts to pass on information they would like to see on the GSA account;
- General information about the multidisciplinary and diverse worlds of Germanic studies in academia and history in general;
- General engagement with German studies content that connects academic scholarship to a broader interest in and expands the diversity of German Studies as whole.
The GSA encourages and supports the use of social media by staff and members to share scholarship, news and engage in multidirectional conversations with a growing community of audiences from around the world.
By connecting scholars, institutions, departments, as well as industry partners who collaborate within the field and across disciplines, the GSA is extending its reach beyond its annual conference. As higher education becomes more representative of authentic diversity in scholarship, German Studies scholars recognize that social media channels present a venue to participate in the continuum of the field. Media channels offer opportunities to listen, observe and expand research methods and teaching practices into a more inclusive and accessible space.
These guidelines provide information on the use of official GSA social media channels by staff, members and committees directly affiliated with the GSA. It is important to stay mindful of the overlap between personal and professional expressions posted for the public. This is especially important when research interests and scholarship intersect, as they often do.
Anyone posting on behalf of the GSA in any professional capacity must conduct themselves with respectful consideration to members and affiliates of the Association and the greater public. Posts must always be considerate of the rights of others and respect the dignity of each individual. The GSA will not tolerate online harassment, discrimination in any and all forms from its members posting on behalf of the GSA.
Guidelines for GSA Network Coordinators/Co-Coordinators, Committee Chairs, Directors, and Communications Staff
As scholarship becomes more representative of the authentic diversity of our populations, the GSA and its social media channels should have at least one of its aims to open the potential for collaborations across disciplines with a view to situate the future of German Studies within the broader context of the humanities.
- The GSA will not tolerate any content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, veteran status, employment status, or physical or mental disability;
- No content that aims to defame, abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others, or violate their legal rights;
- No confidential or proprietary information about the GSA, its employees, board, council, or committee members;
- No posting illegal, obscene, defamatory, discriminatory, or threatening content;
- The sharing of links by the GSA does not imply endorsement by the organization of the views expressed there. However, the GSA recognizes that retweets and other modes of sharing are often understood to be tacit expressions of support. Retweets need to be framed to be sure they follow GSA guidelines. GSA staff reserves the right to edit or remove posts;
- In the event of a factual error or violation of these guidelines, prompt and appropriate edits must be made to the original post.
- Avoid promoting personal views not shared by the GSA as an organization and all potential conflicts of interest:
- At all times and in every case, those who post must make any organizational/professional affiliations clear when posting about those affiliations;
- When posting any kind of review- or endorsement-like content about a particular product, service, or tool, those who post must disclose their relationship to said product, service, or tool, even if they do not stand to make a profit;
- No member of any GSA committee with permission to post on the website or social media outlets may post any announcement or content about his/her/their own university or project while representing the GSA, with the exception of occasions where the GSA committee member is also part of the leadership of a German Studies-related organization (such as the German Studies Collaboratory or German Quarterly). Exception requests must be sought and permission granted by the GSA President and/or Executive Director in advance of posting;
- GSA members can (and are encouraged to) post this sort of content through their own personal accounts, and solicit the GSA that this content be posted on their behalf;
- Tweets should support the general mission of the GSA (as listed in the bylaws).
Because GSA Networks and Committees are formal GSA-constituted bodies subject to the control of the GSA, Network Coordinators/Co-Coordinators and Committee chairs/co-chairs wishing to establish/maintain a social media channel for their Network or Committee understand that
- the GSA is legally responsible for any content posted via GSA Networks or Committees social media channels, and that any such content thus reflects on the Association as a whole, and
- any content posted in GSA Networks or Committees social media channels must adhere to the internal and public-facing guidelines laid out in the GSA Social Media Policy.
Should the GSA President and/or Executive Director find that a GSA Network or Committee has not adhered to the internal and public-facing guidelines laid out in the GSA Social Media Policy,
- the GSA President and/or Executive Director will issue a cease and desist order for the Network or Committee to delete the account[s] in question, and
- it will be the responsibility of the Chair/Co-chairs or Coordinators/Co-Coordinators of the Network or Committee alone, and not of elected/appointed officers of the GSA, to publicly manage any fall-out resulting from inappropriately handled social media content and/or interactions.