Social Media Policy Template. Guidelines to Use

Transcription

1 Social Media Policy Template Guidelines to Use The Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT) and Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) and have worked in partnership to produce a social media policy template. The development of this template was informed by a literature and policy review1. The draft was circulated for comment through the LGAT General Meeting process and the LGMA Communications Special Interest Group. It is not intended that this policy template be mandatory. It is designed to be a tool for councils, particularly those with no social media policy yet in place. Councils may choose to use components, rather than the entire policy and must still give consideration to a range of issues, particularly around roles and responsibilities. Key points: The policy template is broad, covering aspects of social media use for staff and elected members. While it considers both positive and negative uses of social media this policy focuses on correct use in personal settings or once Council has agreed to use Social Media. Consideration of whether social media is an appropriate tool for council, the way it will be used and the specific social media tools (eg information sharing vs consultation, facebook vs twitter, etc) should be incorporated in other policies eg Community Engagement, Marketing and so on. It provides some indicative principles related to the use of social media. It provides guidance in relation to personal and corporate use of media. It outlines some key requirements and risks. It is based on the premise that under the law, online content is essentially permanent and should never be considered private. How the Template can be used: 1 Thank you to the following organisations for sharing their policies in order to inform this document: Clarence City Council, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources (DIER), Dorset Council, Hobart City Council, Kingborough Council, Local Government Association of South Australia, Municipal Association of Victoria, Sorrell Council, the Tasmanian Integrity Commission, Waratah Wynyard Council. Social Media Policy Template Guidelines (Jan 2013) 1

2 1. To inform or check content of current social media policies. 2. Taken in its entirety, with council specific content developed to create a social media policy for council. 3. Components used to develop one or more policies for Council eg Social Media Use of Elected Members, Social Media Use for Staff. 4. Components used to enhance other related policies eg Responsible Use of IT Policy. In all cases, the development of a Social Media policy should be supported with training/information sessions and appropriate guidelines. Section by Section: 1. Scope Should outline in brief who the policy is for and what it covers. There was mixed feedback as to whether the policy should cover contractors. Some councils felt this would be too difficult to police. This is a matter for each council to decide. 2. What is social media and why do we use it? This section can be made briefer or broader depending on who the policy is targeted at and whether it will stand alone or be supported by training and other materials. It may be appropriate to provide some key definitions here as opposed to putting them in Appendix 1. It is important to note that even if councils choose not to actively engage in social media there is a need to take into account it is being used to comment on council activities. 3. Key principles These principles are likely to require review if the scope of the Policy is changed. There was some feedback on Principle 6 in relation to the level of personal responsibility that could be ascribed to a person using social media as part of their job however in this template that Principle remains on the same basis that individuals have personal responsibility in relation to OHS issues. You may wish to add an Objectives or Purpose section if those aspects are not covered in a communications/marketing or other policy document. Below is an example provided by Waratah-Wynyard Council. Social media tools are to be used by Waratah-Wynyard Council within the framework of one or more of the following: in complement to other communication activities; as part of a communications plan; as part of a media strategy; Social Media Policy Template Guidelines (Jan 2013) 2

3 as part of a community engagement / consultation plan; or as part of a crisis management plan. Council selectively uses approved social media sites to: enhance Council s reputation; develop stronger relationships with community members; provide an informal and accessible way for the public to communicate with Council; support traditional media by broadening its reach and scope; promote selected services, events, projects, policies and activities; expand Council s community engagement opportunities; and provide essential updates to the community during a crisis or emergency. Council also uses specific online media sites selectively to: protect Council s reputation by monitoring social media activity that relates to Waratah-Wynyard Council; place Council s statements of facts directly onto the public record; and respond or clarify an issue in detail. 4. House rules Developing a set of house rules can be a concise way of reflecting key components of your policy. House rules can be used in a stand alone manner for training about and promotion of the Policy. The House Rules need to be in plain English and reflect the principles and scope of the policy. 5. Links to other Council policies Use this section to outline all related policies already in place and also to trigger consideration of what gaps may remain. 6. Corporate use of social media As outlined earlier, this template assumes the nature of social media use, the tools and drivers are captured in other policies such as the Communications and Marketing Policy or Community Engagement Policy. The focus then of this policy, is appropriate use once a business decision has been made as well as appropriate personal use of social media. Authorised officers In order to complete this section of the template, Council needs to give adequate consideration to business processes and delegations. The Responsibilities/Delegations section is a key aspect of any social media policy/procedures. Again, this should be tailored to reflect the agreed scope and reflect the structures in place at your Council. Content/content removal Social Media Policy Template Guidelines (Jan 2013) 3

4 One of the key considerations before using social media tools is the cost versus benefit (as with any other business process). Content management considerations form a key component of costs. Your Social Media Policy should be supported by a clearly established and disseminated plan as to who will write and post content, who will approve/moderate incoming content, and who will respond to negative and positive posts (and how) for each project which uses social media tools. Council may wish to consider aiding software for managing multiple social media profiles/platforms. For example TweetDeck free tool for managing a number of social media profiles. Monitoring/moderating/responding The amount of monitoring/moderating/responding will vary according to resource availability and specific point-in-time requirements but should be transparent to the community. The level of monitoring will be determined by the purpose of the social media use and the audience. Are there staff members to monitor after hours and weekends? If not, need a public disclaimer and consideration of potential brand damage. Out of hours monitoring requirements of staff should be appropriately renumerated. Councils making a significant investment in social media use should give consideration to investment in a social media manager (such as HootSuite note there is a free version) based on appropriate cost/benefit analysis. There are software solutions that can potentially support flow across multiple social media channels, record keeping, data capture and evaluation. Engagement As outlined earlier, this template assumes the nature of social media use, the tools and drivers are captured in other policies but Community Engagement or Consultation is a common driver. Risks As with any project planning/delivery, risk analysis and identification of mitigation strategies are critical. This section outlines some key considerations. Record management This is one of the more difficult aspects of using social media given the pace and fluidity of information and dialogue. An investment in social media archiving tools should be considered if Council intends to significantly increase social media usage (eg ArchiveSocial). Resourcing training See also Personal use of Social Media. Evaluation See Monitoring/Moderating/Responding above. Social Media Policy Template Guidelines (Jan 2013) 4

5 7. Misuse of corporate social media Should clearly define what is not acceptable. 8. Personal use of social media Based on the literature review, LGAT recommends not prohibiting personal use of social media during work time but rather ensuring that the use is not interfering with work productivity. It is not considered practical to ban work time use, particularly with the significant use of smart phones. Some organizations also bar all or some staff from using social media through using firewalls but this is not an effective substitute for sound policy and effective and realistic management. An alternate approach is to confine use to lunch time or before or after work. Some councils have introduced a personal liability contract linked to training. Councils should seek their own advice if they wish to go down this path. 9. Making comments about Council There have been a number of examples where staff/elected members have assumed that what they say in their personal social media postings are not relevant to their association with Council. This template policy makes clear that is not the case. 10. Breach of policy penalties It is important to determine the consequences of non-compliance with your social media policy and make links to code of conduct or other policies as applicable. 11. Legal issues/liabilities This section flags some but not all potential issues and does not negate the need for a risk management strategy or legal advice for specific issues. Social Media Policy Template Guidelines (Jan 2013) 5