The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Office of Public Affairs (OPA) conducted a short training session on the UPOU Social Media Policy and Guidelines. The training aimed to orient Social Media Policy Administrators and Designated Information and Public Service Offices (DIPSO) regarding the revised UPOU Social Media Policy and Guidelines.
Dr. Myra Almodiel, Director of OPA, officially started the program with a warm welcome for all attendees. She shared her gratitude for the support the offices readily extend to the initiatives of OPA and expressed her hope that the training will equip the participants to use social media and its affordances in the best possible means without compromising their personal and professional capacity as employees of UPOU.
Ms. Anna Cañas-Llamas, Information Officer, presented the purpose of the training, as well as an introduction to the policy, saying that the policy covers all employees, including faculty, REPS, administrative staff, and even Contract of Service (COS) staff members. She also clarified that the policy is not meant to restrict academic freedom and academic discourse. Ms. Cañas-Llamas also shared the general uses of social media allowed for UPOU employees.
Ms. Lovelyn Petrasana, Junior Community Relations Associate and the lead Social Media Manager of all UPOU accounts, then delved into the policy details. She presented the official social media accounts of UPOU, the creation aspect, and the management and administration of social media pages on various social media platforms. She also presented the best practices of OPA, especially in making captions, using the necessary hashtags, answering inboxes and comments, using design templates, and handling spam messages.
A question and answer session followed after the presentation, during which participants were able to clarify some of their concerns. Dr. Almodiel, Ms. Cañas-Llamas, and Ms. Petrasanta readily answered their questions and shared that the training will be converted into a course open to all employees through the UPOU Workspace.
The training ended with the announcement of the availability of the UPOU VIG Course on the Workspace, which employees may take to learn how to properly use the UPOU Seal, colors, and other official branding elements.
More than 30 employees from all the university offices attended the training.
Written by Anna Cañas-Llamas♦ Edited by Myra C. Almodiel ♦ Photos by Anna Mhari Duria
