Designing social media policy for government Natalie Helbig, PhD Sr. Program Associate (518) October 17, 2011 © 2011 The Research Foundation of State University of New York

Today’s agenda Social media in the government context Managing social media: opportunities and challenges Policy components Department of Transportation case

CTG mission Foster public sector innovation, enhance capability, generate public value, and support good governance Applied research, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem solving Look at the intersection of policy, management, and technology

Exploratory Social Media Project Phase 1 Government workshops (July 2009 – Oct 2009) 2 workshops with over 65 state and local government professionals Phase 2 Environmental scan & interviews (Nov 2009 – May 2010) 32 government professionals 1 federal agency 2 state entities 3 local governments 7 state agencies Review of 26 government social media policies and guidelines

General social media trends Demographic trends –96 percent of the Millenials have joined a social network site –Fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55 – 65 year old females Changing behavior patterns –Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the US –YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world –80 percent of companies use social media for recruitment –Generation Y & Z consider passé Growth –Race to 50 million (radio 38 years; TV 13 years; Internet 4 years; Ipod 3 years) –Facebook added over 200 million users in one year Retrieved from: Socialnomics – Social media blog, August 11, 2009 at Picture retrieved from: Rich’s Blog (10/2010)

Government social media trends Reaching citizens –46 percent of respondents see it as important for government to post information and alerts on sites like Facebook or Twitter Interacting and communicating –13% of internet users read a blog of a government agency or official, and 2% have posted a comment –5% of internet users followed a government agency or official on a social networking site, only 1% of internet users have posted comments –2% of internet users followed a government agency or official on Twitter (this represents 7% of Twitter users) Perception –41% of people agree that such services are a waste of government money (Source: Government Online, Pew Research Center, April 2010)

State trends Retrieved from: NASCIO Friends, Followers, and Feeds: A National Survey of Social Media Use in State Government September (10/2010)

What are governments using social media for? Citizen participation in problem solving Getting citizen feedback Using citizen-knowledge for identification Public service announcements Promoting events & new programs Emergency communication & response Providing transparency Providing customer service

Public education & awareness Consumer Scams Educational resources

Benefits Reaching new audiences through information access, dissemination, and sharing –Community already created –Working with citizens’ new searching behaviors Having more control and tools available for communicating with the public –Additional channel to drive people to your website –Reduces routine questions to agencies and getting more citizen feedback –More, easier, integrated ways to express content Cost savings –More, cheaper, bandwidth Improving public perception of government

Challenges Managing content Controlling access Keeping-up with the changes Communication & culture change Demonstrating the value Developing meaningful metrics for performance Integrating tools into existing services or systems

Boundary issues & challenges Issues Simultaneous engagement in professional and personal uses Linked-up personal and professional identities Permanency of social media content (digital stamp/trace) Challenges Monitoring employee use Coordinating agency message Balancing employees’ right to privacy and free speech Changing organizational culture and business processes

What’s new? The type and tone of content The form of content The frequency Content generators Real-time public interaction

Agency-generated content Informal Video/live streaming Legitimacy of information

Type & frequency of agency content

Citizen-generated content – common forms commentary and questions – generic comments and questions not purposely solicited by the agency. ideas and input – ideas and input submitted in response to a specific question or request for comment initiated by the agency. submissions to contests – content tat is submitted in response to an agency - sponsored contest.

Level of engagement

Why do governments need a social media policy? Inform and educate employees Set internal and external expectations Define proper use and procedures Prevent problems from happening in the first place Establish and maintain legitimacy

Eight Essential Elements

Access Access policy delineates who, and under what conditions, can access social media tools from a government-owned network or device.

Account management Account management encompasses the creation, maintenance, and destruction of social media accounts.

Acceptable use Acceptable use policies outline how employees are expected to use agency resources, restrictions on use for personal interests, and consequences for violating the policy.

Employee conduct Employee conduct addresses what is “right” and “wrong” in terms of employees’ behavior when engaging with social media tools or on social media platforms as an employee of a particular agency.

Content Content policy delineates procedures for publishing official agency information on official agency social media sites.

Citizen conduct Citizen conduct refers to setting protocols for the appropriate conduct of citizens on an official agency social media site and how will inappropriate conduct be handled.

Citizen-generated content guidelines

Security Security policy outlines security procedures employees have to follow when using social media tools.

Legal issues Legal issues connected to agency and employee use of social media tools.

Case description US Department of Transportation

33 US Department of Transportation: Developing a Social Media Policy Policy development time: 6 months An interdisciplinary working group of 30 DOT employees Benchmarking Working Group Drafts Policy Statements Working Group Drafts Roles and Responsibilities DOT-Wide Coordination and Review Publish Final Social Media Policy July 2010June 2010August 2010Sept/Oct 2010November 2010

Benchmarking Activities Define personal use, professional use and official use Determine what would be in scope of the CIO Social Media Policy Assign responsibility for developing draft policy statements in 9 key areas: – Should employees have access to social media sites at work? (Employee access) – Who should be permitted to maintain social media accounts and how should we manage that? (Account management) – What use of social media is considered acceptable at work, both from the resource and restrictions on personal interest point of views? (Acceptable use) – How are employees expected to behave on social media sites and what are the consequences of misbehaving? (Employee conduct) – Who is allowed to develop and post content on social media sites and who is responsible for ensuring accuracy, security, privacy and confidentiality? (Content) – To what extent will the department manage the technology and behavioral security risks associated with social media use? (Security) – Will the department allow these sites to include citizen feedback (two-way communication? (Citizen conduct) – Which laws apply to social media use? (Legal issues) – What social media sites should be approved for employee access? (Acceptable apps)

CIOP Social Media Policy Covers Employee Access Official Use Professional Use Personal Use Account Management Official Use Professional/ Personal Use Acceptable Use All Use Employee Conduct Official Use Professional/ Personal Use Security Citizen Conduct Official Use Legal Official Use Professional/ Personal Use Acceptable Apps Official Use Professional Use Personal Use Public Affairs led the drafting of policy statements Social Media Policy Working Group Drafted All Use General Counsel led the drafting of policy statements OCIO led the drafting of policy statements Drafting Policy Statements Citizen Conduct Professional/ Personal Use Content Professional Use Personal Use Official Use

Drafting Roles and Responsibilities The Working Group used a Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI) Matrix to determine what individuals, offices and governance bodies would oversee each policy statement Responsible parties spanned the OCIO (CISO, CTO, ACIO for Policy Oversight), General Counsel, Public Affairs, Human Resources, and the modal equivalents of those offices These roles and responsibilities were then included in the draft policy

Summary of DOT Social Media Policy Covers all DOT Employees Specifies an approval process for official accounts Lists specific account management requirements Requires an approved tools list to be developed by the OCIO Requires tool specific guidance to be developed separately Policy covers high level requirements for –records management, –accessibility, –intellectual property, –advertisements, etc… Contains several appendices: –Employee conduct –Standardized citizen conduct policy (terms of use for external sites) –Standardized intellectual property and privacy notices –Legal authorities and guidance

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