Social media in your personal life
Be aware of the permanence of anything you post online. You should not post anything that:
- you would not want in the public domain
- you would not be willing to say personally to another individual
Remember that anything you post can reach a wider audience than you originally intend. While we would encourage you to keep your online profiles under strict privacy settings where appropriate, using privacy settings does not prevent your content from reaching a wider audience via screenshots, bystanders or compromised security.
Everything you do online leaves a digital footprint, which prospective employers will often look at when deciding whether you're the right person for a vacancy.
Your responsibilities on social media
You are personally responsible for your own communications on social media. You should take extra care when you can clearly be identified as a student at the University.
You should refrain from posting:
- confidential information
- details of complaints/legal proceedings involving the University
- personal information about another person
- anything from a fake account or an account using another person's name
- anything that is illegal, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, obscene, indecent, defamatory or hostile
- anything that will compromise the safety or reputation of the University or anyone associated with it
Cyberbullying
The University will not tolerate any form of bullying by our students or staff. Any student who is a victim of cyberbullying will receive our full support.
The University considers cyberbullying to be any of the following activities which occur via social media or other online communications channels, such as email or instant messaging:
- Maliciously spreading rumours, lies or gossip
- Intimidating or aggressive behaviour
- Offensive or threatening comments/content
- Posting comments/photos etc deliberately mocking an individual with the intent to harass or humiliate them
If you are being cyberbullied
The following advice applies for complaints against both students and staff.
If you are being cyberbullied, you should first take personal action. Contact or speak to the person directly, explaining what you consider to be unacceptable about their behaviour, and ask them to stop.
If you do not feel comfortable contacting the person directly, you can seek advice beforehand from:
If the behaviour persists, you should report the issue using the button below but please do so only once you have taken personal action. Include as many details as possible and rest assured that your complaint will be confidential.
Report harassment