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HomeMy WebLinkAboutADM 140-007 Social Media ProcedureCity o0 PICKERING City Procedure Procedure Title: Social Media Procedure Procedure Number: ADM 140-007 Reference: Communications Policy Date Originated: November 2012 Date Revised: Approval: Chief inistrative Officer �i Point of Contact: Coordinator, Public Affairs Procedure Objective To enhance `Community Engagement' — one of five corporate priorities, the City of Pickering aims to ensure its methods of communications are responsive to the diverse ways the public consumes information. It must maintain a capacity for innovation and stay current with developments in communications practice and technology. Using online technologies to enhance and broaden communication; share information and opinions; and build relationships, while allowing for timely delivery and update of information. The City will employ a variety of means to communicate to meet diverse needs, and make information readily accessible to various target audiences regardless of location. Index 01 Definitions 02 Responsibilities 03 General 04 Guidelines 05 Employee Access 06 Procedures Appendix 1 Posting Guidelines Appendix 2 Social Media Access Form 2 2 3 3 7 7 01 Definitions 01.01 Social Media refers to the use of web -based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue, but is not exclusive to social networks, blogs, podcasts and discussion forums. A variety of formats are used including text, pictures, audio, and video. 01.02 Corporate Communications Team (CCT) was established to address the City of Pickering's need for a more proactive, effective and consistent approach to communications as it relates to corporate standards and procedures, visual identity, promotions, marketing, print publications, web communications, and media relations. 01.03 Tablets or a Tablet PC is a wireless, portable personal computer with a touch screen interface. The tablet format is usually larger than a smart phone, but smaller than a notebook laptop computer. 01.04 Smart Phone is a mobile communication device that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a standard mobile phone that offers voice and text features. 02 Responsibilities 02.01 Chief Administrative Officer to: a) Support and approve this Procedure. 02.02 Directors to: a) Receive and approve staff requests to utilize Social Media tools to support corporate communication. 02.03 Corporate Communications Team to: a) Receive, evaluate and forward staff requests to create a corporate Social Media account, and determine if there is an appropriate need to move forward. b) Recommend implementation of the Social Media tool to the appropriate Director. c) Monitor the effectiveness of the Social Media tool. d) Evaluate, make recommendations, and update the Social Media Procedure. Procedure Title: Social Media Procedure Page 2 of 8 Procedure Number: ADM 140-007 02.04 Managers & Supervisors to: a) Receive and review staff requests in principle to establish a Social Media tool for the consideration of the CCT. 02.05 Employees to: a) Adhere to the requirements of this procedure. 03 General 03.01 Benefits of using Social Media for the City of Pickering: a) Reach a larger audience. b) Receive public feedback/input. c) Provides instantaneous and direct responses. d) Citizens can hear from the source directly on issues that may or may not be in other media channels. e) The public can receive short, timely messages instead of scanning through pages of information. f) It is.a more intimate and interactive way of communicating with the community. g) People can receive updates on their smart phones or tablets for easy access to important information while travelling. h) Dialogues on specific topics can be held on discussion boards. i) Data can be collected using surveys. j) Connect to and target a younger, Internet -savvy audience. 04 Guidelines 04.01 CCT will review and recommend who may create a Social Media account: a) Designated employees will only create and utilize corporate Social Media tools for City purposes, and must be granted access to do so. The Social Media sites must be maintained and monitored regularly and any content deemed inappropriate -ocedure Title: Social Media Procedure Page 3 of 8 •ocedure Number: ADM 140-007 will be removed. All content uploaded will be pre -approved if possible or if not as soon as possible after the upload. b) City employees who are authorized to speak on behalf of the City in a Social Media setting are to identify themselves by their full name, title and contact information when requested and will address issues only within their specific authorization. c) Any requests to leverage Social Media to promote City of Pickering initiatives and programs must be reviewed by the CCT and forwarded to the respective Director for final approval. 04.02 Professionalism: a) Regardless of the media being used, employees must not do anything that could harm the reputation of the City of Pickering. b) Any comments on matters of government policy must be appropriate to their role within the organization. c) Employees must keep their personal and professional Social Media networks separate (use separate email logins, etc.). d) Employee use of Social Media must not compromise the integrity of the City. e) Any contributions to any sort of Social Media on the Internet should be considered permanent. f). g) Employees may not make defamatory or offensive statements. The informal nature of Social Media does not mean users can be less respectful, nor should the informal setting permit the disclosure of confidential or sensitive subject matter. h) If an employee is unsure of what is appropriate or inappropriate to share, they should contact their CCT representative or their direct supervisor. i) All sources within the City must be consistent with their opinions and posts, and no conflicting information/facts/opinions should be expressed. j) Although there may be multiple employees responsible for content management, they must be unified in how and what they are expressing; Procedure Title: Social Media Procedure Page 4 of 8 Procedure Number: ADM 140-007 k) Updates and citizen questions posed via Social Media outlets need to be addressed in a timely manner, unless otherwise specified in accordance with our service level standards as per the Customer Service Policy ADM 160. I) Employees should check weekly to ensure that any posted links to external sites are working and not broken. m) Employees may not jeopardize the perception of impartiality through making public comments or using their position in government to lend weight to their personal, public expression. n) As. Social Media is fast -paced and news becomes stale very quickly, information on policies, programs, services and initiatives must always be up to date, accurate and easy to understand. 04.03 Terms of Use/Disclaimer a) Although an individual may use a disclaimer stating that their opinion may not reflect that of the City of Pickering, a disclaimer will not always exempt that person of their personal responsibility when posting online — regardless if it is on a City or external website. b) To ensure that all online communications through the City's Social Media pages are productive and beneficial to all users and to the public at large. We require all users to refrain from: • making defamatory, slanderous, disrespectful, hurtful, profane, obscene or threatening statements of any kind • violating the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of any person • violating the privacy of any person, including another user of the City's Social Media pages. c) The City reserves the right to: • remove any material that it considers objectionable • ban future posts from users who violate these Terms of Use d) reprint or quote any post along with the name and/or username of the person who made the post. e) Social Media account holders should have no expectation of ownership or privacy with respect to any communication or information shared or stored on the Social Media site. •ocedure Title: Social Media Procedure - Page 5 of 8 •ocedure Number: ADM 140-007 f) City staff make an effort to regularly monitor posts made on the City's website, however, they are unable to monitor all posts at all times. If you feel that a post is objectionable, you are encouraged to contact us by email at customercare@pickering.ca or by telephone at 905.683.7575. g) The City is not responsible for any loss, cost, damages or harm which may result from the use by any person of this website or - the posting of any statements by users of this website. Users of the City's website agree to indemnify and hold the City harmless in respect to any damages arising from any claim related to any material which a user has posted on this website. 04.04 Copyright - Sharing or posting content owned by others must be done in accordance with copyright laws. Always verify source information, especially if it is from an external source. Before linking to external sources ensure they are credible and that the facts included are correct. By supporting other sources of false information, one risks undermining the City's credibility. 04.05 Non -Compliance with Guidelines - Failure to comply with the Social Media Procedure and Guidelines may result in disciplinary action. The City of Pickering may also exercise its right to discipline employees who cause harm to the City's reputation by posting offensive content related to the organization on external Social Media sites and/or pages. The City of Pickering reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is. deemed in violation of the procedure guidelines. 04.06 Conduct Surveys/Collect Data - All City of Pickering media channels that are intended to collect personal information about visitors or contributors must display a clear message stating so. The personal information collected must be managed and protected pursuant to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. 04.07 Posting Guidelines on City Website or City Pages - Where there is an opportunity for the public to post comments on the City's website and/or Social Media pages, Posting Guidelines will explain what is and what is not acceptable. (i.e., abusive comments or content will be removed). See Appendix 1. 04.08 Accounts/Passwords a) For continuity and access considerations, all City of Pickering Social Media accounts and related passwords must be documented with the Team Leader of the CCT. When an Procedure Title: Social Media Procedure Page 6 of 8 Procedure Number: ADM 140-007 employee leaves the City any/all affected Social Media accounts will have their passwords changed. b) All Social Media accounts operated under the City of Pickering remain the property of The Corporation of the City of Pickering, regardless of which past or present City employee is responsible for regulating and maintaining the account. c) All City of Pickering Social Media account followers belong to The Corporation of the City of Pickering regardless of which past or present City employee is responsible for regulating and maintaining the account. 05 Employee Access All employees who are assigned a personal computer and internet access will have access to Social Media tools, and its use will be subject to all corporate policies and procedures. Any abuse of the use of these tools may also result in removal of access. 06 Procedures 06.01 Permissions a) Any staff person wishing to use Social Media must contact his/her supervisor to determine theiragreement in principle to forward to the CCT for consideration (refer to the intranet for a listing of CCT Members). b) All requests must be submitted via the Social Media Request for Access Form (see Appendix 2), and will be reviewed by the CCT. If the CCT supports the request, it will be forwarded to the Director for final approval. 06.02 Standard Operating Procedure a) If the requestor receives permission to use Social Media from the Director, he/she must develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as per the Policy, Procedure and SOP hierarchy. b) The draft SOP will be reviewed by the CCT, which may result in edits and/or revisions. )cedure Title: Social Media Procedure )cedure Number: ADM 140-007 Page 7 of 8 c) The reviewed SOP must be forwarded to the Director for final approval. Procedure Title: Social Media Procedure Page 8 of 8 Procedure Number: ADM 140-007 City o� PICKERING Appendix 1 Social Media Posting Guidelines Posting Guidelines apply to any public posts found on any City of Pickering social media pages. Fairness and Etiquette: We welcome individuals of all different backgrounds, orientations, and views, so this is our most important rule: Healthy debate and the exchange of ideas are encouraged; threats, abuse, hate -speech, personal attacks, and harassment will not be tolerated. Think of it this way: Attack an idea, not a person. Post: "I disagree with what you're saying," instead of: "You are stupid!" Vulgarity and Masked Vulgarity: We ask you to refrain from using vulgar language on our boards. Masked Vulgarity is using cuss words and trying to "mask" them with other symbols or letters, so the word isn't spelled out. Posts of this nature will be removed. Board Disruption: We want you to enjoy the topics you came to discuss on the boards. Any postings that might interfere with the flow of discussion [e.g. off -topic posts, clutter posts (ex: "me too"), etc.], will be removed without notice at the board monitors' discretion. Unacceptable Discussion: We don't allow the promotion of illegal activities on our - boards. We reserve the right to remove posts that we believe involve non-consensual activities or would likely result in serious harm to an individual. Classified, Commercial or Soliciting Posts: Posts soliciting or advertising events, items or businesses which include phone numbers, commercial websites, buy/sell items, SPAM, etc., are not permitted and will be removed. All posts with signature lines which include links to other forums & message boards that are not associated with the City of Pickering or pickering.ca will be deleted. Single Posts Only: In order to avoid the appearance of SPAM, please do not post the same message more than once per board and make sure it's relevant to the board and/or folder you post it in. If you post the same message in more than one folder on a board, or more than once in the same folder, the board monitor will leave one copy of the message in the most appropriate folder and delete the rest without notice. Posting Personal Information: Addresses, phone numbers (fax, pager, etc.), and other private information doesn't belong on the boards. CIt11 00 PICKERING Appendix 1 Social Media Posting Guidelines The only exception to this rule is contact information for legitimate, resources and non- profit organizations. All posts containing phone numbers may be removed without notice. Keep things positive. Even if you've decided you don't like a comment, at least respect the opinion. And if you don't share an interest in a topic or you think it's 'lame', don't post there. Your comments about not liking the topic will be removed. We will do our best to judge posts on their own merits and context. However, we do reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. Social Media Request for Access Permissions This form is to be used when an employee is requesting permission to set up one or more Social Media. The employee must contact his/her representative on the Corporate Communications team. All requests must be submitted via the Social Media Access Form and will be reviewed by the Corporate Communications Team. If the Corporate Communications Team approves the request, it will be forwarded to the Departmental Director for final approval. Standard Operating Procedure If the requestor receives permission to use Social Media from the Director, he/she must develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as per the Policy, Procedure and SOP hierarchy.. The draft SOP will be reviewed by the Corporate Communications Team, which may result in edits and/or revisions. The reviewed SOP must be forwarded to the Director for final approval. Part 1 - Employee Details First Name Employee Status Department Section C Full Time Last Name C' Part Time Division C' Temporary Social Media Request for Access Part 2 - Social Media Programs - Please indicate which Social Media Program(s) you wish to access. ❑ Facebook Part 3 - Description of Usage ❑ Twitter El Youtube Please advise what City department, program and/or initiative you wish to promote using Social Media. Department Program/ Initiative Employee's Signature Corporate Communications Team Director's Signature Date Date Date