Be a good ambassador. Be aware that your behaviour and opinions on social media channels directly or indirectly reflect on IFAD. Make sure your profile picture or avatar reflects your professionalism.
Be honest, transparent and open. If you are blogging about your work, identify yourself and clearly state you are working for IFAD. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, be the first to point it out, and make it clear that you are expressing your own opinion. Bear in mind that transparency does not mean disclosing confidential and/or proprietary information. If you make a mistake, admit it and correct it.
Be passionate and engaged. Share the passion you feel for your work and talk about your successes and challenges. If you are writing a blog, encourage your readers to provide feedback and comment. Read the contributions of others and see how you can contribute to the conversation.
Be responsible. You are responsible for what you write and how you behave on social media channels. Exercise solid judgement.
Be conversational. Talk to your readers and avoid being pedantic. Do not be afraid to bring in your personality. When communicating on social media, write in an open-ended way that solicits responses to start a conversation. Refer to other people’s posts when you blog and solicit comments.
Be respectful. Disagree in a respectful manner. Respect the professionalism, and also the privacy, of your audience, colleagues and peers.
Be careful when mixing professional and personal. Sometimes professional and personal lives intersect. As an IFAD employee and international civil servant, you have certain obligations. On social media just as in the office, you must abide by IFAD’s code of conduct and staff rules.
Be aware of global implications. Your interaction on social media channels can have global significance. A style of writing that is appropriate for some parts of the world may be considered inappropriate or illegal in others. Keep the ‘world view’ in mind when engaging with social media tools.
Bring value. Post things that people will value. Write informative, interesting and thought- provoking content. Help build a community by discussing your experiences and challenges. Talk about your projects. Social communication helps people to learn about IFAD’s work. You add value if your posts help people do a better job, understand what IFAD does, learn about rural poverty, enhance their skills, solve problems, contribute to solutions or overcome challenges. Aim for quality over quantity.
Build relationships. Engage with your audience and build trust to develop a relationship. Do not just use social media as an advocacy tool. Correct mistakes. If you come across a misrepresentation of IFAD’s work, identify yourself and correct the mistake. In most cases people do not mind being corrected. However, if it appears that someone is deliberately misinterpreting what you are saying, ignore them. If you are not sure what to do, please contact the Communications Division.
Give credit where credit is due. Do not claim authorship for something that is not yours. Make sure you have permission to use third-party content and provide appropriate attribution. Do not use copyrighted or trademarked content without asking permission. Respect Creative Commons licensing.
Remember that the internet is permanent. Once information is published online, it becomes a permanent record. Everything stays on Google!
Respond to constructive criticism. Turn a negative comment into a positive discussion. Thank the commenter and engage them in a conversation. When responding, remember that you are representing IFAD. Take time to read between the lines and understand the arguments. Be respectful, sincere, confident and honest when correcting factual errors.
Safeguard IFAD content. Staff are encouraged to share IFAD content through their personal social media accounts. When using your personal accounts to share original IFAD content – text, audio, video and photographs produced by IFAD and shared on IFAD’s website or social media channels – make sure you attribute it to IFAD. When posting IFAD content on personal or third-party sites, indicate the source. Do not publish content produced for internal IFAD use. Copyrighted IFAD content can be made available on request.
Safeguard IFAD’s name. You may not use IFAD’s name to endorse or promote any product, opinion or political party. IFAD is seeking to consolidate its brand and boost its web and social media channels. Please avoid fragmenting our brand and identity by creating pseudo-IFAD accounts. If you need to create web and/or social media channels for IFAD, please consult the Communications Division. Separate opinions from facts. State clearly what is fact and what is opinion.
Spread the word and connect with people. Do not just talk about yourself; share the successes of your colleagues and peers and IFAD as a whole. Make sure you are connected with IFAD’s social media channels.
Think of CNN, your mother and your boss. Do not say anything online that you would not be comfortable seeing quoted on television, discussing with your mother or explaining to your boss. Remember, there is nothing private on social media – all your posts and comments may be traceable.
Use a disclaimer. If you publish on a third-party website or a personal blog, use a disclaimer similar to: “The information posted on this [blog/website] is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent IFAD’s positions, strategies or opinions.”
Write what you know. When writing about agriculture and rural development-related issues, write in the first person and stick to your areas of expertise. When writing about an IFAD-related topic on which you are not the topic expert, make it clear to your readers, or co-author the piece with the topic expert.
Be honest, transparent and open. If you are blogging about your work, identify yourself and clearly state you are working for IFAD. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, be the first to point it out, and make it clear that you are expressing your own opinion. Bear in mind that transparency does not mean disclosing confidential and/or proprietary information. If you make a mistake, admit it and correct it.
Be passionate and engaged. Share the passion you feel for your work and talk about your successes and challenges. If you are writing a blog, encourage your readers to provide feedback and comment. Read the contributions of others and see how you can contribute to the conversation.
Be responsible. You are responsible for what you write and how you behave on social media channels. Exercise solid judgement.
Be conversational. Talk to your readers and avoid being pedantic. Do not be afraid to bring in your personality. When communicating on social media, write in an open-ended way that solicits responses to start a conversation. Refer to other people’s posts when you blog and solicit comments.
Be respectful. Disagree in a respectful manner. Respect the professionalism, and also the privacy, of your audience, colleagues and peers.
Be careful when mixing professional and personal. Sometimes professional and personal lives intersect. As an IFAD employee and international civil servant, you have certain obligations. On social media just as in the office, you must abide by IFAD’s code of conduct and staff rules.
Be aware of global implications. Your interaction on social media channels can have global significance. A style of writing that is appropriate for some parts of the world may be considered inappropriate or illegal in others. Keep the ‘world view’ in mind when engaging with social media tools.
Bring value. Post things that people will value. Write informative, interesting and thought- provoking content. Help build a community by discussing your experiences and challenges. Talk about your projects. Social communication helps people to learn about IFAD’s work. You add value if your posts help people do a better job, understand what IFAD does, learn about rural poverty, enhance their skills, solve problems, contribute to solutions or overcome challenges. Aim for quality over quantity.
Build relationships. Engage with your audience and build trust to develop a relationship. Do not just use social media as an advocacy tool. Correct mistakes. If you come across a misrepresentation of IFAD’s work, identify yourself and correct the mistake. In most cases people do not mind being corrected. However, if it appears that someone is deliberately misinterpreting what you are saying, ignore them. If you are not sure what to do, please contact the Communications Division.
Give credit where credit is due. Do not claim authorship for something that is not yours. Make sure you have permission to use third-party content and provide appropriate attribution. Do not use copyrighted or trademarked content without asking permission. Respect Creative Commons licensing.
Remember that the internet is permanent. Once information is published online, it becomes a permanent record. Everything stays on Google!
Respond to constructive criticism. Turn a negative comment into a positive discussion. Thank the commenter and engage them in a conversation. When responding, remember that you are representing IFAD. Take time to read between the lines and understand the arguments. Be respectful, sincere, confident and honest when correcting factual errors.
Safeguard IFAD content. Staff are encouraged to share IFAD content through their personal social media accounts. When using your personal accounts to share original IFAD content – text, audio, video and photographs produced by IFAD and shared on IFAD’s website or social media channels – make sure you attribute it to IFAD. When posting IFAD content on personal or third-party sites, indicate the source. Do not publish content produced for internal IFAD use. Copyrighted IFAD content can be made available on request.
Safeguard IFAD’s name. You may not use IFAD’s name to endorse or promote any product, opinion or political party. IFAD is seeking to consolidate its brand and boost its web and social media channels. Please avoid fragmenting our brand and identity by creating pseudo-IFAD accounts. If you need to create web and/or social media channels for IFAD, please consult the Communications Division. Separate opinions from facts. State clearly what is fact and what is opinion.
Spread the word and connect with people. Do not just talk about yourself; share the successes of your colleagues and peers and IFAD as a whole. Make sure you are connected with IFAD’s social media channels.
Think of CNN, your mother and your boss. Do not say anything online that you would not be comfortable seeing quoted on television, discussing with your mother or explaining to your boss. Remember, there is nothing private on social media – all your posts and comments may be traceable.
Use a disclaimer. If you publish on a third-party website or a personal blog, use a disclaimer similar to: “The information posted on this [blog/website] is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent IFAD’s positions, strategies or opinions.”
Write what you know. When writing about agriculture and rural development-related issues, write in the first person and stick to your areas of expertise. When writing about an IFAD-related topic on which you are not the topic expert, make it clear to your readers, or co-author the piece with the topic expert.