Langston University

Below you will find instructions for creating accounts on Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter and LinkedIn. If you wish to create an account on a platform not listed, please contact the Office of Public Relations at lupublicrelations@langston.edu for guidance. Please note that in accordance with state E.O. 2022-33, university offices and departments are not permitted to create or maintain TikTok accounts. 

Step 1: Create a service account 

The first step to creating any university social media page is to ensure you have access to a service email account for your department that is not tied to any individual employee. Users are not permitted to use personal emails (such Gmail accounts) or emails assigned to individual employees (ex. john.smith@langston.edu) to create social media accounts representing Langston University. Services accounts must be used to sustain continuity of accounts. 

If your department does not have a service account, please contact ITS to inquire about setting one up.   

Step 2: Choose your platform 

Facebook/Instagram 

To create new accounts with Meta, it is easiest to start with an Instagram account. 

• Go to Instagram (app or browser) and select “Create New Account” 
• Create a username and click “Next” 
• If you are logged in on other accounts, it will ask you to use that Accounts Center to create the page. DO NOT do this. Select “Use mobile number or email” 
• Create a password 
• Enter a date in the “Birthday” space. If you cannot think of a date, use March 12, 1997 (centennial anniversary of Dear Langston) 
• Next, it will ask you to sign up with a phone number. DO NOT do this. Instead, choose “Sign up with email” and enter your department’s service account email. 
• It will send an email to verify the account. Follow the instructions within the email to verify the account. 
• Once your Instagram account is set up, follow these directions to create a Facebook account from an Instagram Profile 

X/Twitter 

• Go to X.com/signup and select “Create Account” 
• Create a username 
• When it asks to input your phone number, select “Use email instead” 
• Enter your department’s service account email 
• Enter a date in the “Birthday” space. If you cannot think of a date, use March 12, 1997 (centennial anniversary of Dear Langston) 
• Click “Next” 
• It will send an email to verify the account. Follow the instructions within the email to verify the account. 

LinkedIn 

• Go to the LinkedIn sign-up page 
• Enter your department’s service account email and create a password, then click “Agree & Join” 
• Enter your office or department name and click “Next” 
• Fill out any additional information when prompted 

Step 3: Notify Public Relations 

When you have successfully created your account, send an email to the Office of Public Relations at lupublicrelations@langston.edu to notify them of your new social media account. Please include your username or a link to your page so that Public Relations can follow your new account from the main Langston University account.

All content created for social media must adhere to Langston University’s Brand Guidelines. This includes proper use of logos, colors, fonts, campus imagery and AI. 

Langston University faculty and staff have access to AdobeExpress to edit photos and create graphics and videos for social media. To access AdobeExpress 

1. Go to express.adobe.com
2. The sign-in page will appear and ask you to sign in with your email or to continue with Google, Facebook or Apple. Below that, click where it says “More sign-in options.” 
3. Select “Continue with Microsoft”
4. Sign in using yourLionKey

Once you have successfully signed in, you can reach out to the Office of Public Relations at lupublicrelations@langston.edu for a link to Langston University’s AdobeExpress Brand Kit for access to logos, color palettes and pre-approved templates. 

Please review Best Practices for Accessibility and Proper Use of Social Media before you post any content on your university social media account.

Langston University values inclusiveness and strives to make our digital content accessible. All social media accounts representing official Langston University offices, departments or clubs should follow the guidelines below to ensure our content remains accessible. 

Please also familiarize yourself with the updated federal Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). Oklahoma ABLE Tech also offers Digital Accessibility Resources you can utilize. 

Captions, Links & Hashtags 

Captions should be written in clear, straightforward language that is easy to understand for a broad audience. Complex terminology should be avoided when possible. Captions should use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. For digital and web content, Langston University follows AP Style. 

Emojis should only be used at the end of sentences. Avoid repetitive emoji use. Avoid special character fonts or platform bold formatting, for screen readers may skip or misread those elements entirely. Do not use emojis to replace certain letters or words in your captions. 

If your caption includes a link, make sure the text preceding it is descriptive about the link’s destination. For example: 

• Bad
  🎟️: URL
• Good
  Buy tickets: URL
• Better
  Buy tickets for the President’s Scholarship Gala: URL 

Additionally, links should not be excessively long. If the page you are linking to has a long URL, you can use a free URL shortener such as Bitly or TinyURL. 

DO NOT include links in Instagram captions. Instead, you can add a link in your profile’s page information and include “link in my bio” in the caption. 

When using hashtags, make sure to use camel case. Camel case is when you capitalize the first letter in each word of a hashtag. For example, use #WeRoar instead of #weroar.  

Photos & Graphics 

When posting photos and graphics, always include alt text descriptions of what the image or graphic depicts. 

• How to add alt text to Facebook 
• How to add alt text to Instagram 
• How to add alt text to LinkedIn 
• How to add alt text to Twitter/X 

Alt text descriptions should give a clear, meaningful description of what an image depicts, including relevant context or humor that adds to the post’s message. Keep the description simple and focus on the most important elements first. Do not use flowery language. 

• Bad example:
  A hard-working student studies on a bench while enjoying a sunny day on campus.
  
• Good example:
  A student sitting on a bench while reading. 

Ideally, alt text descriptions should be under 100 characters or about 25 words. You do not need to include the words “image of,” “picture of” or “graphic of” as screen readers will already include that when reading alt text. 

When possible, avoid embedding text directly into images. When text must be included in a graphic, include the information in your post’s caption, too. Additionally, add the text to the alt text description. 

Text in graphics must follow the university’s brand guidelines regarding fonts and colors. Text color combinations must provide sufficient color contrast to ensure legibility. 

You should always run your graphics through an accessibility checker before posting. Consider adding Accessibility Assistant to your AdobeExpress account or using an online visual accessibility checker like CalcToolify. 

Videos 

You must include closed captions on all videos. Your captions should follow along accurately with any speaking parts, identify the speaker, and include descriptions of meaningful sounds such as music or cheering. 

• How to add closed captions on Facebook 
• How to add closed captions on Instagram 
• How to add closed captions on LinkedIn 
• How to add closed captions on Twitter/X

All posts made on social media by accounts representing Langston University–to include photos, graphics, videos, captions and comments–are subject to Langston University’s Brand Guidelines. Additionally, content created for university social media accounts or posted on behalf of the university is the property of Langston University.

All representatives of the university are asked to use proper public decorum when interacting on social media on behalf of the university. Langston University reserves the right to remove content and/or comments including threats, harassment, spam, knowingly false statements, and any content misrepresenting the institutional brand made by non-institutional accounts on official university posts.

To ensure the proper representation of Langston University’s brand online, please familiarize yourself with these guidelines for proper use of social media.

1. In your capacity at LU or when posting on behalf of the university, you are prohibited from posting copyrighted materials.
2. All university, college or department-level social media accounts must be managed by an official LU service email account. Services accounts are used to sustain continuity of accounts.
3. Official university social media accounts are monitored by the Office of Public Relations. When you create a social media account for your office or department, you must notify the Office of Public Relations. You must grant administrative access to the Office of Public Relations if requested by a member of the Public Relations team.
4. All paid placement marketing advertisements placed on social media sites must be developed or approved by LU’s Office of Public Relations prior to implementation.
5. Content must be current, reliable, accurate and grammatically correct. Content may utilize email addresses, social media accounts (@), quick urls and other generally recognized methods of online communication.
6. If your account remains dormant (no activity or posts) for three months, the account will be deleted.
7. The university has the authority to edit social media content produced on behalf of the university if such content is contrary to the best interests of LU.
8. Langston University has the authority to discipline an employee who uses LU social media outlets to disclose confidential student information, to impair working relationships at the university, or interfere with the regular working operations of the university. University grievance procedures will apply to such disciplinary action.
9. Social Media training is available if needed. Please contact the Office of Public Relations at lupublicrelations@langston.edu to schedule training.

The Office of Public Relations will issue notices to remove any content violating these guidelines. Accounts may be suspended or terminated if violations persist.