Social Media at Wycombe District Council
Policy and Good Practice
Guidelines for Staff
people place pounds
Part of our ‘People’ commitment—engaging and working with our communities “to explore the use of social media to help improve the way we consult, engage and listen to our residents and other stakeholders”
Document Social Media Document January 2013 title: Good Practice date and v.1.1 Guidelines for version Staff Comms Sue Robinson Contact on: Ext 3557 author: [email protected]
Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. About social media 5
3. Social media in local authorities 7
4. Working together for best practice 9
5. Personal use of social media 12
6. Before you start 13
7. Terms of use 14
8. Social media and the law 15
9. WDC Social media channels 16
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1.0 Introduction
“Social media are changing the world in which we work, socialise and govern, and in many different ways. From Twitter to eBay, Facebook to YouTube, new tools are emerging every year that place the connecting power of the internet in the hands of every one of us.
In this context, the expectations are growing on Councils to engage, work openly, be more accountable and move quicker on issues. Meanwhile, Councils are facing the biggest ever post-war reduction in spending from 2011 – still more in discretionary spend – and are being asked to do more with less. Higher expectations combined with drastically fewer resources make the imperative to innovate critical. A new set of tools is needed to meet this challenge.” Quote from “LOCAL BY SOCIAL” - How local authorities can use social media to achieve more for less” (NESTA/IDeA research, March 2010. )
Social media is defined as a set of online technologies, sites and practices which are used to share opinions, experiences and perspectives. Fundamentally it is about sharing information directly, immediately or instantly and about promoting interaction, dialogue and two-way communication. The nature of social media is to be fast and highly interactive which can present a range of communications opportunities and challenges for all organisations. Social media is typically faster, more direct and less formal than the more traditional forms of managed communication such as media relations and printed literature which we are familiar with. The commitment to develop our use of social media as an organisation is part of our ‘People’ commitment contained in our Corporate Plan. It has an important role to play in allowing us to communicate quickly and directly with local people and other stakeholders, allowing for accurate, direct and immediate updates to be sent directly by Twitter, Facebook or internet, to anyone with a computer or mobile phone. There are many benefits in our daily work and particularly in emergency situations where social media helps us to communicate accurate and timely information directly to people. There are benefits to WDC is to increase dialogue with local residents and provide updates on local issues, projects and news. As with all communications, a ‘health warning’ applies. Wycombe District Council has put clear policy and guidance in place for its employees. This good practice guidance document is intended to help protect our information assets, our reputation and help you to understand the opportunities and risks associated with social media and provide guidance and support to help you use these channels effectively.
These Good Practice Guidelines set out the processes which staff are advised to consider and follow when creating or using a social media channel to represent Wycombe District Council complement the staff Code of Conduct.
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1.1 Purpose and scope
This document has been written to help staff at Wycombe District Council to decide if (and how) they should use social media in their capacity as a Councillor and outlines WDC’s best practice –our social media house rules. The scope of this good practice guidance covers all social media sites or applications used by staff in connection with their work at WDC It: defines what is, and what is not, acceptable social media conduct at Wycombe District Council provides basic guidance on using social media channels highlights potential legal issues dovetails with the staff Code of Conduct
This is a ‘living’ document which will be updated and revised on a regular basis.
What does it mean to me? If you are using social media such as Twitter or Facebook in your work on behalf of Wycombe District Council, we suggest you: remember the staff’ Code of Conduct includes using social media ensure that your social media content is kept relevant, up to date and accurate ensure that you monitor, manage and maintain the social media channel you have created so that does not damage the reputation of the Council. Inform the Communications Team of the social media channel(s) you are using so they are aware of this council communication channel. As with any communications channel, use of social media requires proper planning, benefit and risk assessment, resourcing and commitment.
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2. 0 About social media – a changing, challenging world
As a Council, we are publicly committed (see the Corporate Plan) to develop our use of social media channels and to use them appropriately in what is becoming a very dynamic information and communications environment. With social media, anyone, anywhere can broadcast comments and opinions, organise hundreds or thousands of people to protest, or distribute news and pictures over the internet to millions of people at the press of a button. We no longer live in an age where people rely entirely on a weekly local paper to deliver their news and stay up to date with information. We live in a world of almost instant response, comment and reaction from anyone, anywhere We live in a world where news is broken live on Twitter often by members of the public rather than qualified journalists, and often before information goes out in traditional news media. Journalists use Twitter and social media as sources and content for their stories. Social media has an important role to play in allowing us to communicate quickly and directly with people, allowing for accurate, direct and immediate updates to be sent directly by Twitter, Facebook or internet, to anyone with a mobile phone. There are many benefits in our daily work and particularly in emergency situations where social media helps us to communicate accurate and timely information directly to people.
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2. 1 What is social media? Social media is a set of online technologies such as Twitter, Facebook and other technologies which are used to share opinions, experiences and perspectives. It allows anyone and everyone to publish information directly to the world from a phone or a computer. In order to communicate and engage with local residents and businesses and stakeholders, we may often choose to use social media alongside other more traditional communications channels such as news releases and face to face interviews. Social media is different from traditional media -- such as print, TV and radio –it is not purely a ‘one-way’ broadcast medium. It is about sharing and participation, allowing people to ‘talk’ directly to, or about, an organisation to select ‘followers’ or the world. This kind of communication is driving the need for organisations to ‘open up’ and respond to questions quickly and directly and to be more prepared to engage in two- way conversations. Effective use of social media communications can help to a better relationship between the Council and the people we all serve.
2.2 Social media in the UK- food for thought
Use of social media is growing at an exponential rate both worldwide and particularly in the UK. There are 900 million Facebook users worldwide – 37.4,million UK adults use Facebook regularly.. The average Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month. We have just completed a year long trial of WDC on Facebook www.facebook.com/50.for.the.future. One in three people over 35 are on Facebook – but with more than half UK pensions now on Faceookthe fastest growing group of people using Facebook are over 55. (Source: Digital Footprint Jan 2012) 109,440 people living within a ten mile radius of High Wycombe are on Facebook (as at 17 July 2012) 650 million people around the world use YouTube to view or post video footage - 32.1million UK adults use YouTube regularly. There are more than 2bn video views on YouTube every 24 hours and 60 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute around the world. We have a You Tube page. 120 million people worldwide use Flickr to share photographs via the internet. 6.7million UK adults use Flickr regularly. Flick Members upload more than 3,000 images every minute. We have a Flickr page.
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More than one million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages – and 7.9 million UK adults are on Linked In. Many WDC employees and Members have their own personal LinkedIn professional profiles.
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3.0 Social media in local authorities Out of 156 (1/3 of all local Councils) surveyed last year, well over half were using social media to inform local people directly about Council news and most of these were using social media to engage and consult with local people. The majority of Councils surveyed had all social media channels managed by the Communications team. (This research, conducted by Sue Robinson, WDC Communications, July 2011 is available on request) In the survey, Twitter was most widely used by local Councils, with Facebook the second most used social media channel. Councils were making more limited use of channels such as YouTube, blogs and podcasts. Social media can: provide a direct, managed flow of Council news and information (mainly Communications team but also as devolved communication through individual services as and when appropriate) raise targeted awareness of certain issues build credibility with specific audience groups engage local people in policy, planning or other consultations correct rumours or false information (Communications team) clarify or expand on issues raised in local media (Communications team) provide direct and immediate updates in an emergency situation such as flooding or snow
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3.2 Social media in WDCs ‘3Ps’ Corporate Plan
Social media can help us to deliver our 3Ps ‘People’ commiment to being “open and transparent about our plans” and ensure we:
engage and listen to our residents and communities
understand the issues that they face
work with them to develop local solutions
explore use of social media and online networks
The effective use of good communications using social media channels can help us to achieve some or all of these outcomes:
better informed residents
a good reputation with customers and regulators
engaging residents by doing things with them not ‘for’ them involving local communities into problem-solving process creating a new dialogue between residents and the Council developing relationships with residents to provide tailored services improved knowledge of our customers and communities and a better understanding of what matters to them target specific information and/or messages to specific interest groups or areas within the District
Used effectively, social media also has the potential to help us to make budget savings on consultation exercises and ‘cost of contact’ to reach some, but not all, of our local residents and key stakeholders. Social media channels should not be used in isolation, but as part of a wider Communications plan. They should be used carefully in a way which complements, rather than replaces other Communications channels and ensures that we do not disenfranchise people within our local communities who do not have access to or use social media channels.
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4.0 Working together for best practice If you use social media in your capacity as an employee of Wycombe District Council you are communicating as a representative of the organisation.
4.1 Managing and updating social media content Social media channels require time and resources to run properly. Like small children, they need regular ‘feeding’ with timely and relevant content and they need to be ‘looked after’.
The Communications team can give you general advice and guidance, but each Member is responsible for the accuracy, management, maintenance and moderation of their social media channel.
Monitoring
You should be prepared to monitor and update your content, and respond to questions and comments on a ‘real time’ or at least ‘same day’ basis. You should ideally check and respond several times a day.
Timely response
Social media happens in ‘real time’. Questions and comments left unanswered reflect badly on you and on the Council. Slow or no response from you could be widely visible to everyone following or watching that social media channel.
Relevant response
Sometimes questions or comments will come in which are outside your area of expertise or service. Work within the scope of your social media channel, offer ‘signposting’ the right place for other information, or take the discussion offline into direct messaging.
Removing defamatory, offensive or abusive comment You should not post comments which could bring the council into disrepute and ensure that if offensive or defamatory comments to any person are brought to your attention they are removed promptly. It would be good practice to set our terms and guidelines for what is ‘ non acceptable’ content on your social media channel which makes it clear that you can and will exercise the right to remove any defamatory or offensive content left by a third party If in doubt, seek immediate advice from the Communications Team.
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4.2 Our corporate standards Identify yourself in your profile as representing WDC – do not use pseudonyms. Be open and transparent in all your social media dealings.
Do not reveal information which is confidential to WDC (ie included in exempt (pink) reports). Do not include contact details or photographs of any person without their specific written permission. Do not publish content without checking copyright – you could be breaking the law (see legal section) Use secure passwords which you do not share with others - in compliance with WDC’s password policy.
Child protection You should not publish images of children or young people unless consent is given by a parent or guardian in writing.
Ensure you are familiar with, and confirm to, the Council’s Child Protection policies and procedures.
Data protection You should ensure you conform to the Council’s Data Protection policies and procedures.
IT policies You should ensure you conform to the Council’s IT policies and procedures.
Corporate Governance
The Code of Local Government Publicity This has specific guidelines which apply to social media users in Councils – for example, rules around purdah, party political involvement etc. http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/rtf/153169.rtf
4.3 Developing WDC social media channels The more experience we build collectively and as individuals at Wycombe District Council, the more effective and efficient our use of social media will become. Employees using a social media channel on behalf of their service are part of a WDC social media ‘hub’ and we want you to share successes and lessons learnt with other social media users across the Council at regular hub meetings co-ordinated by Sue Robinson in the Communications Team.
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5.0 Personal use of social media
We respect the desire to use social media for personal communication and expression, and ask staff to exercise simple good judgment and common sense around how personal activities or comments online could reflect on the Council. The views and opinions you express in personal use of social media are of course your own but under staff guidelines you should not bring the Council into disrepute.
5.1 Private opinions
It is good practice to ensure that any private opinions you may broadcast on social media channels are not made in your official capacity as a WDC employee Council and so do not risk being a breach of your terms of employment.
If you publish content to any third party website not owned by the Council, and it has something to do with work you do or services associated with the Council, we suggest using the following disclaimer:” The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of Wycombe District Council.”
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6.0 Before you start Learn how to use social media by using it yourself in a purely personal capacity first – set up your own personal Facebook or Twitter profile to help you to learn the ropes with minimal risks and help you to see how it might best serve you in your work. Consider if you can make the time commitment to maintain a social media conversation. Staff need to inform their line manager, Head of Service and work with the Communications team to sign off the business case before starting a WDC social media channel. You will also be required to sign a social media usage agreement, along with your line manager and the Communications Team.
6.1 Keep it going ‘Real time’ responses As the ‘owner’ of a social media communications channel it is good practice to manage and monitor the channel so that you can and do respond promptly. Social media users expect answers and responses to come in ‘real time’ – no later than a same day response is the norm. Social media content that is static and not updated regularly will reflect badly on you and the Council. You will build up trust and credibility by keeping a consistent profile, responding to questions and comments in a timely way but without regular updates, you will become invisible and irrelevant. FOI requests Be aware that people may ask questions or even send in FOI requests using social media. As there are statutory timescales for the Council to provide answers, it’s important that you watch for these and ensure that any FOI request is fed in to the Council’s formal FOI request system. If you have questions, please refer either to the Communications team in the first instance. Long term commitment Social networking is not a ‘quick win’. It takes time to build up a community and a meaningful dialogue. If you really want to use social media, regard it as a long term commitment, and make sure you allow enough time and energy to manage and maintain it. Responding to comments Comments and questions put up on social networking sites are open for the world to see, so are the answers you give, unless you move to direct messaging with the person. Conversations and blogs move quickly so you need to be on top of what is being said and move to correct or clarify wrong information. If people are asking questions about the Council which are outside your area of expertise, respond to say you will pass them on (if you can).
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7.0 Terms of use Most social media channels have their own terms of use (for example, you should not run competitions on Facebook or provide incentive/reward for people to ‘like’ your page). You should also be familiar with the provider (eg Facebook’s) own terms of acceptable use which apply to all users. These may be enough to cover your needs, but if not, consider including separate, supplementary terms of acceptable use, or a disclaimer which enables you to define your own terms of what is reasonable content. (eg ‘this is a family friendly area. Bad language will be removed’) This is important - If you need to remove content, you can refer back to your terms of use and justify why you are removing it. Content should only be removed if it is offensive or defamatory or you can show that it breaks the terms of use which you have defined and made public . Social media respects and requires a democratic approach.
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8.0 Social media and the law This section provides a brief introduction to some of the more common issues that may arise in the context of use of social media sites or tools. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on in that way. Social media is a much more informal method of communications, but should be treated in no less of a professional way and many of the legal constraints associated with print and broadcast media need to be adhered to.
Most legal issues are avoided by exercising common sense and observing existing Codes of Conduct. However, the rapid pace of development and some of the unique dynamics of social media may give rise to unfamiliar or ambiguous legal issues. Wherever there is doubt, seek advice from the WDC Legal team. Due to the relative modernity of social media, UK practice has used more established areas of the law as a base point in any cases that have arisen so far, for example:
Defamation
Any comment that is considered to be harmful to the reputation of a person or company is considered to be defamatory and is known as libel (if it is written) or slander (if it is spoken) and is a criminal offence. The Council may be held responsible for something an employee has written or said using legitimate Council social media sites.
There can be no defamation of a Council, but a Council may defame others.
This also includes any slanderous information from another source so you must always check before quoting statements from another source – this applies to links from your blog or comments on social media sites.
Copyright Copyright is a property right that exists in certain original works, regulated by the Copyright Act 1994. The categories of qualifying original works include literary works (which can include datasets and databases), musical works, photographs, sound recordings, films and communication works. Check with the copyright owner that you have permission to publish the content and offer to credit/acknowledge their copyright – otherwise you may be breaking copyright law. Intellectual Property describes ownership of an intellectual product which has commercial value, for example copyright (including literature, music, film, audio and artwork), trademarks (logos, slogans and words which are used to distinguish products of one company from another), patents and design. In most cases, the copyright owner needs to give permission for the material to be used.
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Disclosure/ Confidentiality
Bear in mind any confidentiality issues when posting information about the Council, a partner, customer or client as information can and is disseminated extremely quickly using social media and is almost impossible to retract once published. Even if it is only online for a short while, it may have been picked up and saved on computer or republished. Staff should not publish information which is exempt (on pink).
Invasion of privacy
The Human Rights acts incorporates the right to privacy for individuals and companies and therefore when using social media, Officers and Members should always ensure that information they disclose about the Council, partners or colleagues does not breach any confidentiality agreements, whether on a personal or professional blog, or other online content. This also applies to any information collected from visitors to websites, blogs, forums and other social media.
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
The ASA now has new powers to protect customers using social media sites and states that all marketing should be legal, decent, honest and truthful, regardless of which medium is used (social media or traditional forms).
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulation 2008
Sets out how commercial practices can be unfair through misleading information or aggressive sales practices and lists many practices that are banned. Although this new regulation does not specifically include social media, any online practices which are deemed unfair or aggressive will be included under these laws, for example, fake blogs, representing your self as a customer, falsely advertising on a social media site by creating fake blogs (flogs) or customer comments.
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Our social media channels
Twitter: www.twittter.com/wycombedc @wycombedc 2020 followers.
This is the main source of updates across the organisation and is managed and maintained by the communications team. Daily updates, news, drive traffic to www.wycombe.gov.uk for more information, retweets.
Separate ‘channels’ for specific interest streams:
@wycombedcbesafe - Community Safety Team -updates on anti-social behaviour, local community events and information on partnership work between us and TVP.
@wycombedcsport - Sports Development Team - information for sports clubs and individuals interested in sporting events in the district.
@WycombeCSC - Customer Service Centre- information on how busy our reception is
@wycombetic - High Wycombe area information centre -information on events and shows.
@WycombeMuseum - Wycombe Museum service - information on upcoming exhibitions and learning programmes.
@RisboroInfoCent - Risborough Area Information Centre - information on what’s on in Princes Risborough.
@MarlowInfoCentr - Marlow Information Centre - information on what’s on in Marlow
In addition, some of our Members also use Twitter.
www.facebook.com/50.for.the.future
This is a year long test presence to promote our 3Ps priorities of People, Place, Pounds. A new theme each week builds a ‘virtual tour’ picture of WDC services which make us ‘proud of our past and fit for the future’. Use of facts, figures, archive and current photos, plans and invitation to people to comment. Typically achieves 80 ‘likes’, weekly reach typically 130 and potential to reach approx 16,000 friends and fans of people who ‘like’ us.
www.youtube.com/wycombedc Over 900 views. Clips of WDC in action – clearing woodlands, sports holiday activities, Skills Centre etc.
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