SIAM Social Media Policy and Guidelines

SIAM manages and maintains several social media pages and online networks in order to enable employees, members, authors, bloggers, and those in the larger applied math community to share information; generate discussion, seek help; discuss problems; support collaboration; and build relationships. While SIAM staff oversees these platforms, the nature of discussion is a reflection of all individuals who take the time to participate in and contribute to the online community.

The rapid growth of social media and its ease of use make it a great channel for communication. By the same token, however, it also holds the potential for unintended consequences if used inappropriately or irresponsibly.

The following guidelines are suggestions for best practices in SIAM’s online networks and social media pages based on the objectives of SIAM, involvement by members, and the goals fulfilled by social media generally. They are by no means exhaustive. We expect all who participate in SIAM’s social media communities to follow these guidelines. We also expect individual users to exercise their own judgment on the content they post. Please be advised that these rules will continue to evolve as social media evolves, and as membership consensus and forms of interaction change. Please check back periodically to make sure you are up to date.

For the purposes of this policy, ‘social media’ defines any facility or portal for online publication and commentary, including but not limited to, SIAM Connect, SIAM blogs and wikis, and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations to any other kind of publication or commentary. This policy is in addition to and complements any existing or future SIAM policies regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the Internet.

 

FOR ALL USERS

These rules apply to anyone who participates in or contributes to SIAM’s various social media pages, including but not limited to SIAM Connect, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Own your own words. Do not post anonymously, impersonate someone else, obscure your identity, or use pseudonyms or false screen names. We believe in transparency and honesty. Use your real name, be clear who you are. You should have permission if you use the words of others. Do not post material that is protected by copyright, such as images or complete articles copied from another source, unless you are the copyright holder or have the author's permission. Fair use allows the posting of small excerpts; web links to the full articles, when available, are encouraged. We expect users to respect copyright, fair use, brand and trademark, and attribute any shared content to the source, provided appropriate permissions have been obtained.

Confidential information. It is perfectly acceptable to talk about your research work, enable discussions, have a dialog with the community, and share publicly-available content, but please refrain from publishing confidential or proprietary information. Confidential information includes things such as unpublished and sensitive research work, an organization’s internal communications regarding future ventures, and details of yet-to-be-implemented projects. Social media is an inherently insecure communication platform, so when in doubt about the confidentiality or privacy requirements of a certain piece of information, please refrain from sharing it.

Be cautious with personal information. Users of SIAM’s social media pages are expected to exercise good judgment in sharing sensitive information. Be wary of posting details that may be used for identity theft and scam.

Be lawful. Do not post information or conduct an online activity that may violate applicable local, state, or federal laws and regulations. Remember that everything online is discoverable.

Be respectful. Any online community is expected to reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view. The best way to interact with people is to respect their right to an opinion, even if you do not share it. You may challenge an idea but please do not attack the person with the idea, and do not abuse on the basis of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or profession. Harassment (i.e., addressing an individual to cause distress, embarrassment or other discomfort) of any kind will not be tolerated.

Be professional. While advocacy for issues that relates to the professions is acceptable, please refrain from topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory, such as politics and religion. Unconstructive, threatening, profane, vulgar or generally abusive language will be deleted and users posting such content will be banned from using our social networks.

Assume goodwill. Assume that people have goodwill toward you, and if you see something contrary to that, question it, but do not assume that the person is attacking you. Even if you have a right to be angry or frustrated, yelling at other users isn't helpful. If you continue to have a problem with another member, contact SIAM’s Public Awareness Officer at [email protected] for help in resolving the issue.

Stay on topic. Your comments should be relevant to the area or topic where they are placed for meaningful and appropriate participation. Please do not post duplicate messages. Do not spam by re-posting the same content repetitively or in multiple places. Such content may be moved or deleted.

Share, link, broaden. We believe in sharing and linking to the best content from anywhere on the web. If you find content that will be of interest to our community, feel free to share or link to it as long as it is relevant.

Maintain purpose. Community forums are for discussion, not advertising. Do not hijack or redirect the discussion to self/organization-promoting content. Promotional messages, when discovered, will be deleted by SIAM staff. Please refrain from promoting your job listings, events, surveys, products, or services. Self-promoting behavior can lead to you being banned from using our social networks. If you are replying to an inquiry for recommended products or services, you may reply in the spirit of discussion and information-sharing. Please note that SIAM maintains separate pages for advertising positions, products, and services: if you want to advertise, please visit our advertising page.

 

FOR BLOGGERS

All content posted by authorized bloggers must comply with SIAM mission and goals and must be deemed of value to SIAM’s audience comprising professional mathematicians, computational and other scientists, students, educators, policy makers, readers with an interest in mathematics, and the general public. Please refrain from expressing personal or political opinions that are irrelevant and/or controversial, unless expressly pertinent to the article or post. Content dealing with applied mathematics and computational science research, education, publications, literature, policy, funding, events, and milestones are welcome. Focus on current events and their broader implications in the mathematical community as well as insights into the real-world relevance of mathematics and related STEM fields is encouraged.

You are solely responsible for any blog content (hereby referred to as “submission”) to SIAM Blogs. Submissions do not reflect SIAM’s opinions or policies.

You agree that you will not submit any text, photograph, video and/or audio recordings, or otherwise post any item which:

By making a submission, you warrant and represent that:

By submitting content to SIAM Blogs, you waive, and agree not to bring at any time, any claims of any type whatsoever against SIAM or its affiliates, or their officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors or suppliers in any way arising from or relating to submitted content, including without limitation any claims asserting: (a) infringement of rights of publicity or misappropriation of likeness or image; (b) invasion of privacy; (c) any allegedly false or misleading portrayal of you); (d) infliction of emotional distress (whether intentional or negligent); (e) breach of contract; (f) copyright or trademark infringement; (g) defamation; (h) fraud; or (i) false designation of origin.

 

FOR SIAM EMPLOYEES

Employees are free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with this policy and are subject to this policy to the extent that they identify themselves as SIAM employees (not including incidental mentions of place of employment in personal blogs or pages on topics unrelated to SIAM). All employees are personally responsible for their posts and participation. They are expected to exercise their best judgment and ascertain that opinions expressed are their individual viewpoints and do not represent the official views of SIAM. In the same vein, they are to refrain from using the SIAM name and logo to promote or endorse any third-party product, personal cause, or political party.

 

EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN SOCIAL MEDIA ON BEHALF OF SIAM

For those employees that communicate SIAM announcements and messages through social media as part of their job responsibilities.

Seek approval. Any message that acts as the official voice or position of SIAM must be approved by the Executive Director.

Be transparent. If you participate in social media to communicate for SIAM, clearly state your role and goals. If you use a SIAM username to post content, ensure that the message directly reflects SIAM’s goals and objectives.

Be Accurate. Make sure you verify any information you are posting, and cite and link to sources wherever possible.

Be responsible. Participating in social media on behalf of SIAM is not a right but a privilege that needs to be taken seriously. Failure to abide by these guidelines could put an employee’s participation at risk.

Be timely. Monitor postings regularly and aim for standard times for postings, without overloading the community with excessive updates.

 

Notification of violation

SIAM’s various social media channels exist to be beneficial to you. If, for any reason, an incident occurs that violates our policies, we expect that you will bring it to our attention immediately so that we may resolve the matter with the least possible damage.

 

Disclaimer

SIAM accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on SIAM’s interactive websites or lists by others, including but not limited to SIAM Blogs, SIAM’s social media pages, SIAM Connect and SIAM Blogs comments sections, discussion forums and listservs. User-submitted content does not reflect SIAM’s opinions or policies.

 

Copyright ownership and policy

Copyright, and all intellectual property rights in the contents of the SIAM website, www.siam.org, are the exclusive property of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (“SIAM”), except for content that is clearly user-generated and posted by persons other than employees and staff of SIAM.

SIAM grants users a revocable license to display and electronically copy, download and print hard copy versions of the material contained on the SIAM site for personal and noncommercial use, provided any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice that appears on the material copied, downloaded or printed is not modified or deleted. Please contact [email protected] for permission to reproduce or distribute materials found on the SIAM website. You may freely link to any public SIAM web page from personal or organizational websites.

 

Copyright Infringement Claims

Notification of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to [email protected].

Please include all of the following in your notification:

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