Social Media Use Policy

1. All District social media sites shall be (1) approved for content by the Director of Administrative Services; (2) be posted by the Public Affairs Representative; and (3) all District messages and content must first be approved by the Director of Administrative Services to ensure consistent and targeted messaging. No employee shall post comments or information on any social media site established by the District without prior authorization of the Director of Administrative Services or the General Manager. In appropriate circumstances, employees may be asked by the Director of Administrative Services or the General Manager to respond to a question or comment on a social media site which pertains to that employee’s area of expertise. Employees are encouraged to view the District’s social media sites and offer suggestions or information to the Director of Administrative Services for responding to comments or questions.

2. The Director of Administrative Services and the Public Affairs Representative will work together as a team to use the District’s presence on social media to provide effective, informative and accurate communication of the District’s messages and to have meaningful dialogue with the public on relevant topics.

3. Employees authorized to represent the District on social media sites are responsible for complying with applicable federal, state, and local laws, and the District’s Computer Use Policy. This includes adherence to established laws and policies regarding copyright, records retention, California Public Records Act, e-discovery laws, First Amendment, privacy laws and information security policies established by the District and therefore must be able to be managed, stored and retrieved to comply with these laws.

4. All social media sites and entries shall clearly indicate that any articles and any other content posted or submitted for posting are subject to public disclosure

5. The District reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law.

6. Each District social media site shall include an introductory statement which clearly states the purpose and topical scope of the site. Where possible, a site should link back to the official District website for forms, documents and other information.

7. All employees authorized to use District social media sites, shall be trained regarding the terms of this policy, including their responsibilities to review content submitted for posting to ensure compliance with this policy.

8. All District social media sites shall clearly indicate that they are maintained by the District and shall have the District contact information prominently displayed.

9. All District authorized users must conduct themselves at all times as a representative of the District and in accordance with all personnel policies.

10. Employees found in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

11. The Director of Administrative Services shall name a designee(s) to monitor content on each social media site to ensure adherence to this policy, appropriate messaging, consistent branding and to ensure that the content is consistent with the goals of the District.

12. Social media pages should be monitored daily. Comments that are offensive, contain profanity, are from vendors, or spam, should be deleted immediately.

13. Any employee who discovers negative comments about the District on the District’s or other social media pages should contact the Director of Administrative Services in order to correct misinformation. Employees should never engage in an argument on the District’s social media site.

14. Whenever possible, information to be disseminated by social media should first be posted on the District’s website and then transferred to the District’s social media sites by use of automatic transfer software. Employees authorized to maintain the District’s social media sites should endeavor to respond to posts thoughtfully and selectively. Not all posts require a response.

III. SUBJECT MATTER GUIDELINES:

Authorized users are to use the following guidelines in social networking practices when interacting on District authorized social media sites:

• Be relevant to the District’s purposes and activities.
• Double check the facts before making a posting to a site.
• Maintain professionalism, honesty and respect.
• Apply a “good judgment” test to every comment made.
• The tone of social media content is often informal, however staff is encouraged to write messages in a professional style, using proper grammar and punctuation.
• Linking to related District website pages is strongly encouraged whenever practical and appropriate.

IV. PROHIBITED CONTENT

All content posted by staff to the District’s social media site shall support the District’s social media goals described in this Policy. Staff is prohibited from posting content about the following:

• Actual or potential legal claims, lawsuits or other legal issues
• Personnel matters
• Personal opinion on District issues or any other issues
• Political issues, including opinion about elected officials or candidates for elective office and issues appearing on an election ballot
• Emergency situations, unless authorized by the General Manager
• Profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language
• Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation or national origin
• Threats to any person or organization
• Defamatory or personal attacks
• Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or the District’s infrastructure
• Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party
• Solicitation of commerce
• Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law

V. ENFORCEMENT

Employees who participate in social media communication deemed not to be in the best interest of the District and/or in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action can be up to and including termination of employment.