Yammer Usage Guidelines
Usage Guidelines
Follow These Guidelines When Interacting With the Stony Brook Yammer Community
Basic Guidelines
These guidelines are not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather an outline of things to consider when being active in the Yammer community.
- Accountability: Take responsibility for your postings, clearly differentiating opinions from fact. By posting content, you agree that you are solely responsible for the content you create. Neither the content you post, nor the links to other web sites, are screened, approved, reviewed or endorsed by Stony Brook University.
- Accuracy and Transparency: The text and other material posted are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice or information of Stony Brook University. Use your real name and a real photograph of you in your profile so it easier to know who you are.
- Common Courtesy: Don’t do anything that will reflect negatively on you or your colleagues.
- Policy: By joining the Stony Brook Yammer network, you are agreeing to abide by Stony Brook policy for the responsible use of information technology. Violation of the policy may result in suspension of network access or other information service privileges, disciplinary action, and legal proceedings.
- Be Social: Try to engage the network in productive discourse and work to follow the Stony Brook social media guidelines.
Using Appropriate Language and Tone
- Be tolerant of others’ opinions, avoid antagonizing anyone, and take the high road when provoked. Remember, you are a member of the Stony Brook community, and so represent not only your department but also the University itself.
- Don’t overreact to the appearance of negative content, but do address it. Keep in mind that removing a negative post may put an idea out of sight, but discussing and deconstructing it has the power to change minds.
Choosing An Audience
When choosing an audience be mindful of the following:
- Who will benefit most from my post?
- If I am asking a question, where am I most likely to receive an appropriate answer?
- Does my post contain too many words, or too few?
- Is my post meaningful in any way?
- How might the language use and tone of voice in my post be perceived?
These are only a few guidelines of questions you should ask yourself before making a post. There may be times when posting an article to the entire organization may be appropriate, and other instances where your post would be best seen by only certain groups and/or people. Think before you post.
Acceptable Files For Upload
Uploading files to yammer allows you to collaborate on documents and utilize material to support your conversations and interactions. When uploading files be sure to keep in my mind the following:
- Files should be relevant to the group and/or current topic.
- Files uploaded to yammer for the purpose of collaboration should never be considered final documents or deliverable items. Always recreate final documents and save elsewhere.
- As always, files should be appropriate for professional use.
Creating A Group
Yammer groups are a powerful resource and are beneficial when working on a project; or if you would like to connect with other like minded members of the University for a productive purpose. Consider these questions before creating a group in Yammer:
- Is there an established group that may fit my current needs?
- Will this group be beneficial to the development and engagement of the campus community?
- Should the group be private or public?
- What is the main purpose for the creation the group?
These simple questions will help to keep the Yammer community organized and free of duplicate and unnecessary groups, thereby creating an environment for open communication and valuable dialogue.
