Setting Up an Account

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site that connects people to other individuals. Organizations and brands are able to create pages and groups to also connect to these individuals. It is a network driven by status updates, games and applications, and content sharing such as links and photos.

Pages vs. Groups

  • Pages typically work best for most uses. A page allows a brand or entity to connect with people without using a personal account. Applications can be added to increase the personality of the brand. An example of a page is Facebook.com/ufhealth. A person can “like” the group and be able to see updates. Not all updates a page makes are seen by a person – it depends on how often they interact with your pages content. This is why creating engaging content for your audience is key.
  • Groups are designed to be more personalized, especially around common interests a group may share. Group pages are maintained by moderators and all members contribute to discussion and can post. All members of a group receive notifications when new content is posted. Groups do not have to be approved through our account registration process, as they do not serve as official university channels of communication.  Patient Support groups managed by UF Health are not approved due to PHI concerns.

Creating Your Account

  • To make your Facebook fan page, you can set it up from your personal account. To set up your account, follow the instructions provided by Facebook. You will want to set up at least two administrators for this account, with one serving as backup in case there are access problems with the original account.
  • Creating a fake account as the administrator of an official Facebook page is strongly discouraged as it runs counter to Facebook’s Terms of Service.

Picking & Setting Up A Username

  • When choosing your username, make sure it is as literal and identifiable as possible. You want people to be able to search and find you. Don’t make it so abstract that they will not be able to become a fan of your page. For example, the University of Florida’s Facebook page is titled “University of Florida” and the url is Facebook.com/uflorida.
  • Avoid the use of punctuation in the username – although Facebook allows this, it can some times confuse link shorteners and links from shared content and thereby break the link.
  • Don’t hesitate to contact the UF University Relations Office if you have questions or need assistance in selecting a name for your account.
  • Once you’ve considered a name, go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and see if the username you chose is available. Remember, once you select a username it can not be altered. Learn more from Facebook’s Help Center.

Twitter 

Twitter defines their site as “an information network made up of 280-character messages from all over the world.” Essentially, Twitter is a short dialogue where people can post about anything, and have conversations back and forth. A tweet can be no longer than 140 characters.

The following are symbols and definitions that you should familiarize yourself with for your department’s Twitter account:

  • Username: Also known as a Twitter handle. Must be unique and contain fewer than 15 characters. Is used to identify you on Twitter for replies and mentions. 
  • @: The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets, like this: Hello @Twitter! When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile.
  • Reply: A Tweet posted in reply to another user’s message, usually posted by clicking the “reply” button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with @username.
  • Mention: Mentioning another user in your Tweet by including the @ sign followed directly by their username is called a “mention”. Also refers to Tweets in which your username was included.
  • Retweet: To retweet, retweeting, retweeted. The act of forwarding another user’s Tweet to all of your followers. Someone else can also perform this action, which is still called a retweet.
  • Trending Topic: A subject algorithmically determined to be one of the most popular on Twitter at the moment.
  • Hashtag: The # symbol is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet.
  • A complete list of definitions can be found at Twitter Support.

Creating Your Account

  • The easiest way to set up your Twitter Profile is to first create an e-mail account for your specific department. You don’t want to use your personal account.
  • Navigate to http://twitter.com/, enter your Department’s name and click the yellow button on the right hand of your screen.
  • Fill in the first field with your Department’s name.
  • Select a username from one of the usernames Twitter suggests, or create one that best suits your Department. Try to make your username as short as possible – when others retweet messages from your tweet stream, the length of your name reduces the number of available characters in their tweet, which might mean they will cut out or edit your tweet to make it possible to send (which can result in an electronic version of the ‘Telephone Game’ of misunderstood statements)
  • Enter a password and make sure to document this for later use. It’s advised that your password contains letters, numbers, and symbols.
  • Enter the email address you made for your department.
  • Fill in the Captcha with the correct letters.
  • Pick sources that are related to your Department.
  • Search for UF Health, and follow all of the current Twitter accounts affiliated with the institution.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking site that users utilize to connect with their professional community. You can “link” yourself to contacts in past careers and your current career and update your contacts on new projects or ventures you have in the works.

You can create your account at LinkedIn.com. Listed below are some ways LinkedIn suggests for you to best operate your account.

  • List all of your education and current and past positions on your profile.
  • Create a catchy summary paragraph with professional highlights of your career.
  • Make sure to add a profile picture.
  • Import your contacts from your e-mail address to instantly create your network. You can also check the list that LinkedIn will provide.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can upload, view and share videos from around the world.

Currently, UF Health only supports a central UF Health YouTube channel. Units can request the creation of a separate YouTube channel for the purposes of acting as a video library, to serve videos to a website or group of websites; for example, the College of Pharmacy maintains a YouTube channels for educational videos used on their continuing education websites. These video libraries are not made available to YouTube search.

Instagram

Instagram is a social networking site for sharing photo and video content between individuals, groups and businesses. Users can post content to their feed to remain on the page indefinitely or to their Stories which disappear after 24 hours. Video-only content can be shared via the Reels function and longer-form video content can be shared in the IGTV function of the site.

Linking Instagram and Facebook

Instagram is owned by Facebook. As a result, it is possible to share content from an Instagram account directly to Facebook by linking the accounts together. To link your Facebook and Instagram accounts, navigate to Settings in your Instagram account’s sidebar in the upper right corner and select “Account” from the menu. Under “Sharing to Other Apps”, select Facebook and log in.

Once your Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, you have the option to share Stories and posts to Facebook.

Creating an Account

To create an Instagram account, navigate to Instagram’s home page and follow the instructions provided, using the email created for the account and a relevant username. When selecting a username, try to make the name short and literal so that it is easier for users to navigate to your account and interact with your content. If possible, we recommend using the same name across all of your accounts on social media platforms to make it easier for your audiences to find you. 

Personal vs. Professional Accounts 

To switch this account to a business account, navigate to Settings in the account sidebar in the upper right corner and select “Account” from the menu. At the bottom of the menu, select “Switch to Professional Account”. A range of categories will appear to describe your professional page; you have the option to hide or display this information on your profile. You can then add contact information to your account or connect to a Facebook page.

Professional accounts offer different features and insights than personal accounts do. You will have access to insights about the users engaging with your content and the performance of your page over time.

Links In Bio

Instagram does not permit users to insert links in post captions, but there is space for a single link in your profile’s bio. Adding a link enables users to easily navigate to resources and drives traffic to a site. We recommend using a third-party link creation tool such as https://lnk.bio/. The tool allows you to use your one link to directs users to a links menu that can mimic the style of your page.

Note: Keep the login for the tool in a safe, secure space, so you don’t lose access in the future! 

To add a link to your bio:

  • First, create an account with a third-party link creation site and follow their instructions for adding links and content to the page.
  • In Instagram, go to the “Edit Profile” button beneath your bio.
  • In the space that says “Website,” copy and paste your third-party link.
  • Select “Done” in the upper right corner when finished.