STAFF SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Transcription

1 STAFF SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY July 2015

2 AIMS To safeguard and protect both members and staff when using social media. To ensure that members and staff can use social media with confidence. APPLICATION Given the persistent 24/7/365 nature of social media usage and its tendency to bring private and personal spheres into close alignment or overlap, staff should consider this policy as representing a guide to correct conduct at all times. INTRODUCTION Staff members need to be aware that their social media activity can be easily viewed by young people, and that therefore their professional position can be compromised. Vulnerable young people may use social media in an inappropriate way and it is important that staff recognise when this occurs and act accordingly. The pace of change of technology, and social media in particular, means that no policy can cover every social media site or application in complete detail. Four key principles shall nevertheless apply at all times: 1. Staff must not use social media in a way that could bring NYCGB into disrepute; 2. Staff must not mention any members directly or indirectly on social media; 3. Staff must not use personal social media accounts to share information with or to contact young people; 4. Any attempt to contact staff by students must be reported to the Head of Safeguarding and recorded. Additionally: 5. Staff members should never use personal devices to take photos and videos of young people.

3 1. STAFF USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS 1a. FACEBOOK Staff must ensure that their personal Facebook privacy settings are appropriate. If they have a professional page or account then the posts may be public, be aware that young people will be able to see these and they must ensure that the content is therefore appropriate. Personal accounts should be used with a constant reminder that young people can and will try to find out about staff members using their social media accounts. Staff accounts should be secure and information shared privately. Guidance for ensuring appropriate account privacy settings are included in Appendix A to this policy. Staff should never: Contact young people using Facebook (either publicly or privately); Send or accept friend requests from young people who are members of the choir; Share any photos of young people from their accounts (as per safeguarding policy) any photos will be shared from the official NYCGB page and account; Interact with a young person s personal Facebook account (e.g. likes, shares, comments). Staff should: Share and interact with posts from the official NYCGB Facebook account; Post about courses generally, never mentioning individuals; Suggest ideas and content for posts to the NYCGB Marketing Manager. 1b. TWITTER Young people may well follow staff on Twitter, particularly as many staff use twitter for professional purposes. If staff have a personal Twitter account then it is advised that they ensure that young people cannot access it by selecting the option to protect my tweets. Staff must make sure that any public content is appropriate. Staff should never: Use Twitter to contact young people; Send private messages to young people via Twitter; Follow young people on Twitter; Tweet photos of young people; Share photos from a young person s personal Twitter account; Interact with a young person s personal Twitter account (e.g. favourites, shares, replies).

4 Staff should: Interact with the official NYCGB Twitter account (favourites, shares, replies); Tweet generally about courses making use of NYCGB handles and hashtags, never mentioning individual members; Suggest ideas and content for tweets to the designated course Social Media Manager (see 2b and Appendix B). 1c. INSTAGRAM Staff should ensure that any public photos are appropriate. Staff should not follow young people on Instagram, nor should they comment on young people s photos or posts. 1d. SNAPCHAT There will never be a scenario in which any form of contact between a young person and staff member on Snapchat is appropriate. As per the NYCGB Safeguarding Policy, staff should not take photos or videos of young people using Snapchat. 1e. OTHER All other social media sites or applications should be used following the principles laid out in this policy. Staff should not be using social media to contact young people. The only photos of young people that should be shared on social media should come from the official NYCGB social media accounts. 2. USE OF THE OFFICIAL NYCGB SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS 2a. FACEBOOK The NYCGB Facebook account is managed by the NYCGB Marketing Manager who is one of two account admins along with the NYCGB Head of Safeguarding. Requests for posts via this account should be made to the NYCGB Marketing Manager. 2b. TWITTER The NYCGB Twitter account is primarily managed by the NYCGB Marketing Manager. During residential courses, login details are shared with designated course Social Media Managers who tweet news and media relating to their course for the duration of their course. At the end of each residential course period, the account login details are changed. The Social Media Managers abide by the code of conduct set out in Appendix B to this policy. 2c. INSTAGRAM The NYCGB Instagram account is managed by the NYCGB Marketing Manager. Request for posts via this account should be made to the NYCGB Marketing Manager.

5 CONCLUSION This policy is complimentary to the NYCGB Safeguarding Children and Adults Policies, Procedures and Codes of Safe Conduct. Senior NYCGB members in positions of responsibility, e.g. National Youth Choir section leaders, should be fully aware of this policy and model responsible use of social media. If staff are concerned about young people or staff members then they should directly contact the Head of Safeguarding, Trustee for Safeguarding or the NSPCC. FURTHER INFORMATION Further information can be obtained from: NSPCC CEOP Policy created: July 2015 Review date: July 2016

6 APPENDIX A ACCOUNT PRIVACY SETTINGS GUIDANCE FOR STAFF Further information and instructions can be found at: 1. Ensure all posts are Friends Only 2. Check your general privacy settings

7 Check that the setting for Who can see your future posts is set to Friends.

8 Use the Limit Pasts Posts feature to ensure that anything you have previously shared is visible only to your friends.

9 APPENDIX B CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DESIGNATED COURSE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS USING OFFICAL NYCGB TWITTER ACCOUNT 1. The Social Media Manager shall substantially abide by the guidelines for personal use set out in this policy and the NYCGB Safeguarding framework and shall not: Use the NYCGB Twitter account to contact young people; Send private messages to young people via the NYCGB Twitter account; Follow young people on Twitter from the NYCGB Twitter account. The Social Media Manager may: Favourite and share NYCGB-related tweets displaying an NYCGB handle and/or hashtag (but not reply). 2. The Social Media Manager may under the following circumstances take photos or videos of young people to tweet: Another NYCGB staff member must be present; The location must be a rehearsal or communal social activity venue (but not houses/dormitories, etc); The photo/video must be taken on an NYCGB-owned device: o Course laptop o Course phone o Course huddle o NYCGB camera (held by the NYCGB Marketing Manager) 3. The Social Media Manager must not reply to any messages received to the NYCGB Twitter account but notify the NYCGB Marketing Manager or NYCGB Head of Safeguarding as appropriate.