Social Media Policy | Idea Exchange

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 Idea Exchange 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

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

Scope

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

Definitions

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

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 Idea Exchange online or social media channels, and uploaded to Idea Exchange's online and social media channels, including, but not limited to, stories, poems, videos, graphic novels, photos and drawings.

Roles and Responsibilities

Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange organizational social media accounts and/or maintain accounts solely for Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange social media sites, provided that they follow these terms of use.

Idea Exchange:

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 Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange facility will be considered an online incident and in violation of these terms of use as well as Idea Exchange’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.

Idea Exchange Content on Personal Social Media Accounts

Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange’s traditional communication channels and Idea Exchange service values therefore apply. When using social media for personal use and when identifiable as an Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange (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 Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange events, programs or initiatives and to engage in online discussion or content sharing around Idea Exchange events, programs or services. Staff are encouraged to promote Idea Exchange 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 Idea Exchange 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