Best Practices for Social Media Use at the Annual Meetings

AAR and SBL promote the academic study of religion and the bible across many channels: print, online, and the Annual Meeting. Social media outlets, especially "live-tweeting," can be an important means for continuing the conversation beyond the audience of an Annual Meeting session. These guidelines are intended to craft a forum that encourages an open discussion while maintaining the integrity of the scholar's work.

1. Attendees are encouraged to live-tweet at the Annual Meeting using the official 2020 Annual Meeting hashtag (#sblaar20).

2. Program unit chairs are invited to create hash tags for the unit to be published in the Annual Meeting Program Book.

3. Presenters may request that the presentation not be broadcast across social media. Similar to a presenter's requests not to be filmed or recorded, attendees are asked to respect the presenters' wishes.

4. Attribution is key. List the speaker's name and presentation title; refer to a social media handle, if known.

5. Clearly define where the idea originated. Note direct quotes within quotation marks. Make it clear when you are summarizing an argument and when you respond with your own opinion or interpretation of it. Note when the presentation is over.

6. Be respectful, even if you disagree.

7. Keep the dialogue going—bring responses from social media into the meeting session (e.g., ask questions posed to the author from the Twittersphere) and remember to use the meeting hashtag (#sblaar20) so you can see who is responding to the same session you are.