8AIR FORCE SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE7 AIR FORCE SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE
Tips
Tips
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6
social
media
useful
1 No classied information
Don’t post classied, sensitive or
For Ocial Use Only information
(for example, troop movement,
force size, weapons details,
etc.). If in doubt, talk to your
supervisor or security manager.
2 Stay in your lane
Discussing issues related
to your career eld or personal
experiences are acceptable and
encouraged, but you shouldn’t
discuss areas of expertise where you
have no rsthand, direct experience or
knowledge.
3 Obey applicable laws
You must keep federal law,
Department of Defense directives and
instructions, Air Force instructions and
the Uniform Code of Military Justice
in mind when using social media in
ocial and unocial capacities. As an
Airman, you are on duty 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
4 Dierentiate between opinion and
ocial information
Yes, tell them what you think…just
make sure you state that this is your
opinion and not that of the organiza-
tion.
5 Use your best judgment
What you write may have serious
consequences. Once you post
something on social media, you can’t
“get it back.” Even deleting the post
doesn’t mean it’s truly gone. Ultimately,
you bear sole responsibility for what
you post.
6 Replace error with fact
When you see misrepresentations
made about the Air Force in social
media, you may certainly identify and
correct the error. Always do so with
respect and with the facts. When you
speak to someone who has an
adversarial position, make sure what
you say is factual and respectful. Don’t
argue, just correct the record.
7 Be aware of the image you present
Any time you engage in social me-
dia, you’re representing the Air Force.
Don’t do anything that discredits you or
our service.
8 Be cautious with information sharing
Maintain privacy settings on your
social media accounts, change your
passwords regularly and don’t give out
personally identiable information. Be
cautious about the personal details you
share on the Internet.
9 Avoid the oensive
Don’t post any defamatory,
libelous, vulgar, obscene, abusive,
profane, threatening, racially or
ethnically hateful or otherwise
oensive or illegal information or
material.
10 Don’t violate privacy
Don’t post any information that
would infringe upon the proprietary,
privacy or personal rights of others.
tips
What’s
geoagging?
Geotagging adds geographical
identication data to photos,
videos, websites and text
messages through location-
based applications. This
technology helps people nd
images and information based
on a location from a mobile
device or desktop computer.
How should
Airmen use
geoagging?
Airmen should be cautious
when enabling the geotagging
feature on mobile, location-
based apps because they
could potentially create
personal and operational
security risks. Disable
geotagging at sensitive or
deployed locations.
11 Don’t violate copyright
Don’t post any information or
other material protected by copyright
without the permission of the copyright
owner.
12 Don’t misuse trademarks
Don’t use any words, logos or other
marks that would infringe upon the
trademark, service mark, certication
mark or other intellectual property
rights of the owners of such marks
without owner permission.
• The Air Force Symbol visually
represents our service’s brand
identity. To use the Air Force Symbol on
a social media platform, you must
follow display guidelines found at
http://www.trademark.af.mil.
13 No endorsements
Don’t use the Air Force name to
endorse or promote products, political
positions or religious ideologies.
14 No impersonations
Don’t manipulate identiers in your
post in an attempt to disguise, imper-
sonate or otherwise misrepresent your
identity or aliation with any other
person or entity.
15 Don’t promote yourself for personal or
nancial gain
Don’t use your Air Force aliation,
ocial title or position to promote,
endorse or benet yourself or any
prot-making group or agency. For
details, refer to the Code of Federal
Regulations, Title 5, Volume 3, sec.
2635.702, Use of Public Oce for
Private Gain, in the Joint Ethics
Regulation or Air Force Instruction 35-
101, Public Aairs Responsibilities and
Management.
16 Follow terms of service
Become familiar with each social
media site’s terms of service and
follow them. For example, having two
personal proles on Facebook violates
their terms of service.