Becoming Social: Developing social media policy for government Theresa A. Pardo, Ph.D. Bahrain International eGovernment Forum April 10, 2013 © 2011 The Research Foundation of State University of New York

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The Government Innovation Context Technology 10,000 mph Organization & management 1000 mph Public policies 10 mph

Social media around the world The number of Facebook users in the Arab world has tripled in the last 2 years, increasing from 16 million users to 45 million users. The estimated number of active Twitter users in the Arab region at the end of June 2012 was 2,099,706. ~Arab Social Media Report, Vol. 2, No.1, July 2012, Dubai School of Government Awareness of Facebook is close to 100% More than 1 billion people (>70% of internet population) use social networks. ~ Steven Van Belleghem, InSite Consulting, Social Media Around the World, 2011

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Social media in the public sphere Used by civil society to influence government actions and policies Used by government figures to communicate their agenda

Social media in the public sphere Used by governments to communicate and engage with their citizens Used by governments to provide services and public service announcements

The Full Package Social media policies and Social media guidelines

Social media policy Social media policy offers a higher level management framework. The aim of a policy is to guide individual departments in setting up processes and rules necessary for management of social media engagement and social media use by their employees.

Social media guidelines A companion document to a social media policy. Social media guidelines provide information on techniques for social media engagement, including: –Directions for choosing an appropriate tool –Directions on designing content –Advice on incorporating citizen feedback into program and policy decision processes –Guidance on creating a social media strategy

Why do governments need a social media policy? Inform and educate citizens and 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

1. Access Access policy delineates who access social media tools from a government-owned network or device and what conditions influence this access right.

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

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

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

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

8. Citizen engagement Citizen engagement refers to setting protocols for the appropriate conduct of citizens on an official agency social media site and how will inappropriate conduct be handled, as well as directions on who is responsible for monitoring and reviewing citizen input.

Ibrahim Elbadawi Strategic Planning Specialist, UAE

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Thank You!