Developing a social media policy

Presented by Craig Thomler At the Local Government Web Network Conference 2010 August 2010 Developing a social media policy

Who am I?

Foundations for social media Individual project practice Practical guidance Social media policy Organisational operational policies Cross-gov policies and guidance Australian legislative framework

Why have a social media policy?

Source: http://about.sensis.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/2009_Sensis_e-Business_Report.pdf Australia’s internet experience

Australia’s internet experience Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/australia-getting-more-social-online-as-facebook-leads-and-twitter-grows/

Nielsen Online says Australians spent 6 hours and 25 minutes using social media sites in February 2010, 2 minutes less than Italians and more than the British, Americans, Spanish, Germans or Japanese.
Melanie Ingrey, Research Director for Nielsen’s online business: “Incredibly, nearly nine in 10 (86%) of Australian’s online are looking to their fellow Internet users for opinions and information about products, services and brands”
Sources: http ://mashable.com/2010/03/19/global-social-media-usage/ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/australia-getting-more-social-online-as-facebook-leads-and-twitter-grows/ Australia’s internet experience

How Australians are using the internet

How about Gov 2.0 in Australia?

Over 230 online consultations (more than 180 through one company – Bang the Table)
Over 200 Departmental Twitter accounts
Over 50 agency blogs (all levels of government)
Over 30 agencies using YouTube
Over 20 Facebook pages
Three mash-up competitions (Federal, NSW & Vic)
Over 50 Federal parliamentarians using Twitter including Prime Minister, Opposition Leader plus a variety of state and local members, including 5 state Premiers
Australian Gov 2.0 in action

Australian Gov 2.0 in action

Building a social media infrastructure

Isn't building and managing infrastructure one of the things government does?

Australian legislative framework
Archives Act 1983
Privacy Act 1988
Spam Act 2003
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Public Service Act 1999
Freedom of Information 1982
Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) 2009
Other legislation (specific to Departments & functions)

Federal:
APSC Circular 2009/06 : Protocols for online media participation
Gov 2.0 Taskforce Final Report , accepted by the Australian Government in their response
MAC Innovation report – Empowering change: Fostering innovation in the APS
Freedom of information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 and Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010
Open Government Declaration
Other legislation peripherally impacts on online use (for example Electoral Act 1928)
Not to mention state laws and local government statutes
Cross-government policies and guidance

In particular...
APSC Circular 2009/6: Protocols for online media participation
Web 2.0 provides public servants with unprecedented opportunities to open up government decision making and implementation to contributions from the community. In a professional and respectful manner, APS employees should engage in robust policy conversations . Equally, as citizens, APS employees should also embrace the opportunity to add to the mix of opinions contributing to sound, sustainable policies and service delivery approaches . Employees should also consider carefully whether they should identify themselves as either an APS employee or an employee of their agency.

Organisational operational policies
Organisational resources
Human resources
ICT
Internet usage

Practical guidance
General guidelines Moderation approach and guidelines Acceptable terms of use Privacy policy Copyright
Processes and procedures for operating a blog, Twitter account, Facebook page, etc

Developing a social media policy
Look at examples of other policies (http://socialmediagovernance.com)
Identify key clauses your organisation needs
Consult widely within your organisation
Provide supportive guidance around it
Make it available in publicly accessibly places On your intranet On your website (tell public your 'code of conduct')
Review annually (the web keeps changing)

Best practice social media policy
Focus on upside but give risks
Keep actual policy bit short
Tell people how to use social media
Tell people how to protect themselves (and the organisation) Approval/endorsement processes Links to specific policies and guidance Guidance for acceptable personal use Guidance for personal use of organisational assets Provide examples
Make it findable

Discussion & Questions? (Don’t be shy!)

Presented by Craig Thomler At the Local Government Web Network Conference 2010 August 2010 Developing a social media policy

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Developing a social media policy

by Craig Thomler on Aug 24, 2010

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Developing a social media policy — Presentation Transcript