Social Media Guidelines

Official social media accounts of UTA colleges, departments, and programs are key to communicating UTA's brand to the University’s social media audiences.

The following guidelines are unique to UTA-affiliated social media channels. These guidelines are subject to changes and updates as existing social media platforms are updated and new platforms are adopted.

Creating a Social Media Profile

Creating social media content and managing a profile or profiles takes time, planning, and strategic thinking. Content published on social media is public-facing and requires a commitment to UTA’s Brand Guidelines and Editorial Guidelines.

There are alternative avenues of digital communication and marketing if you cannot dedicate the time and commitment needed for social media content creation and management.

  1. College, department, or program newsletters
  2. UTA blogs available through CampusPress
  3. MavWire or TrailBlazer
  4. Update your website frequently and include up-to-date news and events
  5. Submit your upcoming events to the UTA Events Calendar
  6. Promote student organization events through MavOrgs Events
  7. Consolidate your social media presence with your parent college or department

UTA-affiliated social media account handles (for X/Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube):

  • Need to include “UTA” or “UTArlington” at the beginning of account handles to make the account identifiable as part of the UTA brand.
  • UTARI-affiliated accounts should include “UTARI” at the beginning of the handle to be identifiable.
  • Though the UTA Brand Guidelines do not allow for abbreviations, acronyms, or initialisms, there is an exception for using them for University social media account handles because of character and word limitations.
    • If an abbreviation of the college, department, or program is used in the handle, use the University’s acronym, “UTA.”
    • If an acronym for the department or program is used in the handle, use the University’s abbreviation, “UTArlington.”
  • Place the University’s acronym or abbreviation in front of the acronym or abbreviation.
    • Examples of permitted handle placement:
      • @UTA______________
      • @UTArlington__________________
      • @UTARI_________________
    • Examples of nonpermitted handle placement:
      • @______________UTA
      • @______________UTArlington
      • @______________UTARI
  • Keep your account handles consistent across platforms.
    • Currently, X/Twitter and YouTube allow the usage of camel case for account handles (means including capitalization). Instagram currently does not permit camel case. Camel case is required to use if the platform allows it. Thus, it is permitted that X/Twitter and YouTube handles be camel case and Instagram be all lowercase if the characters are the same.
    • Examples of using proper camel case handles:
      • X/Twitter and YouTube: @UTARadio or @UTAAlumni
      • Instagram: @utaradio or @utaalumni
    • Examples of improper camel case handles:
    • X/Twitter and YouTube: @UTAradio, @utaRadio, or @UTAalumni
  • For the account name (X/Twitter and Instagram, list the proper name of the college, department, or program. Using the University’s abbreviation or acronym in the profile name is permitted to maintain brevity.

Questions? Email accessibility@uta.edu

As of Jan. 23, 2023, UTA has been taking steps to follow Gov. Greg Abbott’s Dec.7, 2022 directive to state agencies to ban the video-sharing application TikTok from all university-owned and state-issued devices and networks due to potential international government surveillance risks. Chapter 620 of the Texas Government Code, effective Sept. 1, 2023, makes this ban permanent, including the prohibition on other “prohibited technologies”.

To comply, the University has been restricting access to the app on UTA-owned computing devices and UTA wired and wireless networks. Prohibited technologies also include use of the mobile video editing app CapCut, which is owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. Stay updated on the Texas Department of Information Resources’s list of prohibited technologies and avoid using them for UTA business.

Currently, Facebook and LinkedIn do not use social media handles for pages and groups.

  • Use “UTA” or “UT Arlington” at the beginning of the page name.
  • UTARI-affiliated accounts should use “UTARI” at the beginning of the page name, followed by the college’s, department’s, or program’s name.
  • Include the college’s, department’s, or program’s official name on the second half of the page name.
    • Examples of permitted page names:
      • UTA Department of __________
      • UT Arlington College of ___________
      • UTA Office of ____________
      • UTARI __________________
    • The exceptions are UTA’s main and UTARI’s main Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
      • “The University of Texas at Arlington” is used to distinguish itself.
      • “UT Arlington Research Institute” is used to distinguish itself.
  • If the organizational name is more than two words, use “UTA” instead of “UT Arlington” for brevity.

Selecting a Profile Picture

Profile pictures are also known as avatars, thumbnails, or icons for social media accounts. They visually identify whom it represents and belongs to.

These profile icons and their design elements are the only authorized images available for UTA-affiliated social media profiles. Use the organizational icon that most closely represents the organization’s UTA account or its parent UTA organization. For organization icons not listed, use the UTA icon. These icons and designs are limited only to UTA social media profiles, not for print or other online uses.

When designing and uploading social badges, utilize the following suggested dimensions for the profile picture to display properly on each individual platform:

  • X/Twitter: 400 x 400 pixels
  • Instagram: 320 x 320 pixels
  • Facebook: 170 x 170 pixels
  • LinkedIn: 400 x 400 pixels
  • YouTube: 800 x 800 pixels

When resizing a social media profile picture, ensure that:

  • The UTA logo and identifying text below are centered horizontally and vertically.
  • The UTA logo and identifying text have proper clear space and are not cut off when displayed in a circle.

UTA Tower on a sunny day
Approved Example
The Blaze icons is limited only to UTA Athletics and teams use and may not be used by other UTA-affiliated organizations.

Social media platforms (X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube) allow a few sentences to describe the page owner. The following information is permitted:

  • Website or relevant websites
  • Achievements or awards
  • Services provided
  • Mission or vision statements
  • Contact info

Certain social media platforms will allow a cover photo that appears at the top of the profile. The platforms and the recommended image proportions are as follows:

  • X/Twitter: 1500 x 500 pixels
  • Facebook: 851 x 315 pixels
  • LinkedIn: 1128 x 191 pixels
  • YouTube: 2048 x 1152 pixels

To maintain brand identity, use hero images (top web banner photos) from the UTA home page or the designated college, department, or program webpage. Use the same cover photo across social media platforms that allow cover photos.

The example below was captured from imagery that was featured on UTA’s homepage and properly placed in a social media cover photo.

Banner Picture Sample

Written content

  • Social media captions must follow the UTA Editorial Guidelines and the AP Style Guide.
  • Proofread for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors before posting.
  • Hashtags can be used to increase post searchability.

Common UTA-affiliated hashtags include:

  • #UTArlington
  • #UTA (used for X/Twitter due to character limits)
  • #MavUp
  • #ForeverMaverick
  • #UTAProud
  • #MaverickFactor

Still image content (graphics and photos)

  • When including photos of people, be mindful of how they are being presented. Avoid posting photos that are unflattering to the people in the image.
  • Avoid posting photos of people wearing attire affiliated with non-UTA institutions.
  • Avoid posting content containing inappropriate imagery and wording.
  • All social media graphics must follow the UTA Brand Guidelines when it comes to colors, fonts, and usage of the UTA logo.
  • Avoid placing QR codes on social media graphics since viewers mostly view social media through their mobile phones and cannot scan QR codes internally through their mobile devices.
  • Create multiple dimensions for social media graphics that may be posted across multiple platforms.

Below are some recommended dimensions based on the platform:

X/Twitter

  • Landscape Posts: 1600 x 600 pixels
  • Square Posts: 1200 x 1200 pixels

Instagram

  • Square Posts: 1080 x 1080 pixels
  • Landscape Posts: 1920 x 1080 pixels
  • Portrait Posts: 1080 x 1350 pixels
  • Stories: 1080 x1920 pixels

Facebook

  • Square Posts: 1080 x 1080 pixels
  • Landscape Posts: 1920 x 1080 pixels
  • Stories: 1080 x1920 pixels

LinkedIn

  • Square Posts: 1080 x 1080 pixels
  • Landscape Posts: 1920 x 1080 pixels

Video Content

  • Keep video length brief for mobile-centric platforms like X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
  • Longer-form video content (over a minute) should be reserved for YouTube.
  • The minimum resolution for video uploads is 1080 pixels.
  • Recommended video dimensions:
    • X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube: 1920 x 1080 pixels
    • Instagram and Facebook Reels: 1080 x 1920 pixels
  • Featuring minors (individuals under 18): In accordance with COPPA and FERPA, refrain from featuring any individual under the age of 18.

UTA strives to be as inclusive and accessible as possible in the digital space and is required to be accessible to those with disabilities as a public institution. The following practices need to be incorporated into all UTA-affiliated social media content:

Hashtags

When including any type of hashtag, use camel case and include a space in between each hashtag.

Examples: #MavUp, #ForeverMaverick, or #UTArlington

Color contrast

All text must maintain a 3.1:1 color ratio.

Refer to the color chart provided by UTA’s Digital Design Guidelines of accessible color contrasts for text.

Contacts and Resources

UTA colleges, departments, and programs utilizing social media are asked to collaborate and coordinate work with MME in using social media as part of their organization’s communications strategies. MME stands ready to share best practices and support organizations to achieve maximum results.

MAVWIRE 2025 ARCHIVE TRAILBLAZER 2025 ARCHIVE

Social Media Guidelines

The purpose of this page is to display usage suggestions for fonts to e used for UTA's digital products.

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