Social Media Guidelines

Overview:

When posting on social media platforms members must ensure their activities are consistent with the high principles of the profession. Information on the Faculty of Advocates’ professional standards can be found here: https://www.advocates.org.uk/about-advocates/professional-standards

The general principles of professional conduct by an advocate cover the requirement for absolute independence, building trust through displaying personal integrity and maintaining confidentiality. Members should bear in mind that they, like all other social media users, can be held personally and legally responsible for the publicly made opinions and comments they post online, even on personally maintained sites and pages.

As a general rule of thumb when posting on any social media platform, whether in their personal or professional capacity, members should use common sense and be aware of privacy issues.

Even if you use disclaimers such as ‘the opinions expressed are my own,’ you are still responsible for what you say. What you say publicly may impact you professionally.

Whether you intend to do so or not, if you identify yourself with the Faculty of Advocates in any way (e.g. including ‘advocate’ in your bio) you become a de facto spokesperson of the Faculty.

You must respect intellectual property, copyright, and trademarks when posting on social media platforms. If the content of a post does not belong to you and you do not have permission to use it, either do not post it or make sure you add an attribution recognising the original owner.

 

The Faculty of Advocates’ official social media accounts:

 

 

Following these will ensure that members are updated on all news released by the Faculty of Advocates, news generated by the individual stables, posts and comments from other advocates, and other issues relevant to our stakeholders, and other organisations or people that are followed by the Faculty accounts and those that follow the Faculty accounts.

 

Quick Do’s and Don’ts:

  • DO include the Faculty of Advocates as your representative organisation in your social media bio if you plan to discuss work in your social media posts.
  • DON’T engage with competitors in an inappropriate way.
  • DO share Faculty’s social media posts, events, and stories.
  • DON’T share confidential information.
  • DO state in your bio that the views you express on social media are your personal opinion.
  • DO report harassment you experience or notice to the moderators or administrators of the relevant social media platform.
  • DON’T engage with trolls, negative coverage or negative comments.
  • DON’T assume that information posted online is truthful.
  • DON’T forget that once something has been posted online, it will stay online. Deleting a social media post will be of no real use if someone else has already taken a screenshot of it!

 

To keep yourself (and the Faculty of Advocates) safe:

  • Choose strong passwords.
  • Use a different password for every social account.
  • Don’t use the same passwords used for any of your other personal or professional accounts.
  • Limit the personal and professional information you share.
  • Make sure your Internet connection is secure.
  • Do not download or click on suspicious content.
  • Only activate geolocation services on apps when necessary.
  • Practice safe browsing.
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