Social Media Policy

Purpose

This policy provides guidelines for social media and online use. The purpose of this policy is to maintain a positive, helpful and dynamic communication environment. The Cambridge Public Library Social Media Policy applies to online and social media activities, including but not limited to, blogs, social networks and online communities, websites and mobile applications.

Policy Statement

Cambridge Public Library will use online and social media channels to assist in brand building Cambridge Public Library’s mission and vision. The same values and standards apply to online and social media as all other forms of Cambridge Public Library communication.

Scope

This policy applies to all Cambridge Public Library staff and authorized external contributors. This policy also applies to members of the public who interact with Cambridge Public Library online and through social media.

Definitions

Authorized External Contributors: Contributors who are invited to participate in Cambridge Public Library’s online and social media channels on behalf of Cambridge Public Library.

Official Spokespersons: Staff who engage with social media as a part of their assigned responsibilities and who are acting in an official capacity.

Online and Social Media: Online technologies and media that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives. Online and social media can take many different forms, including internet forums, websites, mobile sites, applications (apps), web logs (blogs), social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and bookmarking. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, and crowd-sourcing, to name a few.

User Generated Content: Original content created by a user of Cambridge Public Library online or social media channels, and uploaded to Cambridge Public Library's online and social media channels, including, but not limited to, stories, poems, videos, graphic novels, photos and drawings.

Roles and Responsibilities

Cambridge Public Library staff members who perform assigned responsibilities within our social media channels are acting in an official capacity, and are subject to this policy and our guidelines for staff engagement on social media.

Official Spokespersons

• Utilize Cambridge Public Library organizational social media accounts and/or maintain accounts solely for Cambridge Public Library related tasks
• Engage in promotion, outreach, awareness raising and brand building
• Provide information and opportunities for community engagement
• Improve and support customer service
• Monitor our social media channels, respond to incidents, queries, comments and concerns accordingly and ensure that online codes of conduct are respected, as assigned

Terms of Use

Comments, posts and messages are welcome on Cambridge Public Library social media sites, provided that they follow these terms of use.

Cambridge Public Library:

• Will direct members of the public to the appropriate communication or service channels.
• Will provide guidelines for all staff who contribute to our online and social media channels as official spokespersons.
• Will provide guidelines for authorized external contributors who contribute to our online and social media channels. 
• Will provide a contact for complaints and inquiries.
• Will respond to potential issues and incidents in a timely, responsible and transparent manner.
• Prohibits the use of its social media for any purpose which would contravene any legislation or government regulation. (E.g. Ontario Human Rights Code, the Criminal Code of Canada, etc.). All social media sites affiliated with Cambridge Public Library will be regularly screened by employees to ensure compliance.
• Requires all who participate online within our organizational channels to conduct themselves with respect for others. Any conduct that would not be acceptable in an Cambridge Public Library facility will be considered an online incident and in violation of these terms of use as well as Cambridge Public Library’s Internet Access Policy.
• Reserves the right to alter, amend or remove content that does not comply with our Terms of Use. Is not responsible for any content that appears on its online and social media channels that does not originate from Official Spokespersons or that is in violation of the terms of use.
• The Programming and Promotion Department, in consultation with management, will develop and maintain best practices and procedures for managing online and social media channels.
• The Programming and Promotion Department, in consultation with management, will develop and maintain risk management protocols and procedures in the event of an online and social media incident.

Cambridge Public Library Content on Personal Social Media Accounts

Cambridge Public Library recognizes that employees are committed to high standards of ethical and professional communication, and expects this behavior to continue in the online environment. Social media is an extension of Cambridge Public Library’s traditional communication channels and Cambridge Public Library service values therefore apply. When using social media for personal use and when identifiable as an Cambridge Public Library employee in any way, staff must be aware of their role in the organization and the potential impact of their communications on the brand, reputation and service values of Cambridge Public Library and act appropriately and with good judgment. Employees may face employment-related consequences if their behaviour violates applicable legislation, directives or policy.

Personal accounts should not be created in such a way that they could be misunderstood by others to have been created on behalf of either Cambridge Public Library (or “alternate identifiable names” such as separate feeds for Cambridge Art Galleries) or the City of Cambridge. All employees should be aware that social media accounts or pages that refer to Cambridge Public Library may be discoverable by search engines and could be mistaken by some viewers as official library accounts.

On their own time, staff may wish to utilize their personally held social media accounts to promote Cambridge Public Library events, programs or initiatives and to engage in online discussion or content sharing around Cambridge Public Library events, programs or services. Staff are encouraged to promote Cambridge Public Library on personal social media accounts as appropriate. However, staff are not required to use personal social media accounts for work-related purposes and activities. Staff who do so are not considered official spokespersons. Staff will be provided with training on the guidelines for Cambridge Public Library content on personal social media accounts so that everyone is aware of the benefits, risks and best practices of engaging with their personal accounts.

Board Motion: 19.30