A.
Purpose.
(1)
This policy establishes guidelines for the establishment and use
by the Borough of Glassboro of social media sites (including, but
not limited to, Facebook® and Twitter®) as a means of conveying Borough of Glassboro ("Glassboro") information
to its citizens.
(2)
The intended purpose behind establishing Borough of Glassboro social
media sites is to disseminate information from Glassboro, about Glassboro,
to its citizens. The Borough of Glassboro has an overriding interest
and expectation in deciding what is "spoken" on behalf of the Glassboro
social media sites.
(3)
For purposes of this policy, "social media" is understood to be content
created by individuals, using accessible, expandable, and upgradable
publishing technologies, through and on the Internet. Examples of
social media include Glassboro websites, Facebook®, blogs, MySpace®, RSS, YouTube®, Second Life®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, Delicious®, Pinterest®, Instagram® and Flickr®. For purposes of this
policy, "comments" include information, articles, pictures, videos
or any other form of communicative content posted on a Borough of
Glassboro social media site.
B.
General policy.
(1)
The establishment and use by any Glassboro department of Glassboro
social media sites are subject to approval by the Glassboro Administrator
or his/her designees. All Borough of Glassboro social media sites
shall be administered by Borough of Glassboro Information Technology
("IT") staff and the Director of Public Relations.
(2)
Glassboro social media sites should make clear that they are maintained
by the Borough of Glassboro and that they follow Glassboro's SOP for
community use of social networking sites of the Borough of Glassboro.
(3)
Wherever possible, Glassboro social media sites should link back
to the official Borough of Glassboro website for forms, documents,
online services and other information necessary to conduct business
with the Borough of Glassboro.
(4)
The Director of Public Relations will monitor content on Glassboro
social media sites to ensure adherence to both the Borough's social
media policy and the interest and goals of the Borough of Glassboro.
(5)
The Borough of Glassboro reserves the right to restrict or remove
any content that is deemed in violation of this social media policy
or any applicable law. Any content removed based on these guidelines
must be retained by the Director of Public Relations for a reasonable
period of time, including the time, date and identity of the poster,
when available.
(6)
These guidelines must be displayed to users or made available by
hyperlink.
(7)
The Borough of Glassboro will approach the use of social media tools
as consistently as possible, enterprise-wide.
(8)
The Borough of Glassboro's website, Glassboro.org, will remain Glassboro's
primary and predominant Internet presence.
(9)
All Glassboro social media sites shall adhere to applicable federal,
state and local laws, regulations and policies.
(10)
Glassboro social media sites are subject to the Open Public
Records Act (OPRA).[1] Any content maintained in a social media format that is
related to Glassboro business, including a list of subscribers, posted
communication, and communication submitted for posting, may be a public
record subject to public disclosure.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. § 47:1A-1 et seq.
(11)
Employees representing the Glassboro government via Glassboro
social media sites must conduct themselves at all times as representatives
of Glassboro and in accordance with all Glassboro policies.
(12)
This standard operating procedure may be revised at any time.
(13)
Comments on topics or issues not within the jurisdictional purview
of the Borough of Glassboro may be removed.
(14)
The Borough of Glassboro does not endorse any links or advertisements
that may show up on social media pages.
C.
Comment policy. The following guidelines shall constitute the comment
policy for any Borough social networking sites which allow for comment:
(1)
As a public entity, the Borough of Glassboro must abide by certain
standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.
(2)
The Borough of Glassboro social media pages are intended to be family-friendly,
so please keep your comments clean by following these simple rules.
In addition to keeping it family-friendly, we require that you follow
our posting guidelines here. Please note that we utilize Facebook's® automatic content
filtering feature. All Borough of Glassboro social media content is
subject to monitoring.
(3)
The intended purpose behind establishing Borough of Glassboro social
media sites is to disseminate information from Glassboro, about Glassboro,
to its citizens.
(4)
Comments containing any of the following inappropriate forms of content
shall not be permitted on Borough of Glassboro social media sites
and are subject to removal and/or restriction by the Director of Public
Relations or his/her designees:
(a)
Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination
on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, or national
origin;
(b)
Defamatory or personal attacks;
(c)
Comments not related to the original topic, including random
or unintelligible comments;
(d)
Profane, obscene, violent, or pornographic content and/or language;
(e)
Threats to any person or organization;
(f)
Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns
or ballot measures;
(g)
Solicitation of commerce, including, but not limited to, advertising
of any business or product for sale;
(h)
Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;
(i)
Encouragement of illegal activity;
(j)
Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security
of the public or public systems;
(k)
Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a
copyright, of any party;
(l)
Harassment or content which constitutes and/or facilitates stalking;
(m)
Content which violates the right to privacy;
(n)
Encouragement of violence;
(o)
Repetitive content;
(p)
Comments which may reasonably interfere with, inhibit, or compromise
law enforcement investigations, police tactics, police responses to
incidents and/or the safety of police staff and officers;
(q)
Posts or comments that contain any external links.
(5)
A comment posted by a member of the public on any Borough of Glassboro
social media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only,
and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement
by, the Borough of Glassboro, nor do such comments necessarily reflect
the opinions or policies of the Borough of Glassboro.
(6)
The Borough of Glassboro reserves the right to deny access to Borough
of Glassboro social media sites for any individual or group who violates
the Borough of Glassboro's standard operating procedure for community
use of social networking sites of the Borough of Glassboro at any
time and without prior notice.
(7)
Comments posted to this page will be monitored, and inappropriate
content as defined above will be removed as soon as possible and without
prior notice. Please note, comments posted to this page are monitored,
and our Facebook® setting will automatically hide a comment if profanity is used
within the post.
(8)
If you need to contact the Glassboro Police Department, please call
its front desk at (856) 881-1500, or if it is an emergency, call 911
and ask for assistance. While comments posted on Glassboro's Facebook® page are monitored,
posting a comment is neither the recommended nor best way to contact
the Borough of Glassboro or Glassboro Police Department.
(9)
Departments shall monitor their social media sites for comments requesting
responses from Glassboro and for comments in violation of this policy.
(10)
When a Borough of Glassboro employee responds to a comment,
in his/her capacity as a Borough of Glassboro employee, the employee's
name and title should be made available, and the employee shall not
share personal information about himself or herself, or other Glassboro
employees.
(11)
All comments posted to any Borough of Glassboro Facebook® site are bound by
Facebook's® Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Community Standards,
located at http://www.facebook.com/terms.php and http://www.facebook.com/communitystandards,
respectively. The Borough of Glassboro reserves the right to report
any violation of Facebook's® Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and/or
Community Standards to Facebook® with the intent of Facebook® taking appropriate
and reasonable responsive action.
(12)
By posting or commenting on the Borough of Glassboro social
media platforms, you agree to our terms of use. You participate by
your own choice, taking personal responsibility for your comments,
your username and any information you provide therein.
(13)
Be respectful. Always be fair and courteous to fellow citizens.
Also, keep in mind that you are more likely to resolve Glassboro municipality
complaints by speaking directly with a Glassboro municipal representative
than by posting complaints to a social media outlet. Nevertheless,
if you decide to post complaints or criticism, avoid using statements,
photographs, video or audio that reasonably could be viewed as malicious,
obscene, threatening or intimidating; that disparages customers, members,
associates or suppliers; or that might constitute harassment or bullying.
Examples of such conduct might include offensive posts meant to intentionally
harm someone's reputation or posts that could contribute to a hostile
community environment on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion
or any other status protected by law or Glassboro policy. Discriminatory
language presents a discriminatory, demeaning or derogatory portrayal
of individuals or groups or contains anything which, in light of generally
prevailing community standards, is likely to cause deep or widespread
offense. It is also language that promotes, fosters or perpetuates
discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion,
gender, marital status, family status, status with regards to public
assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual
orientation.
A.
Purpose. The purpose of this SOP is to outline criteria by which
the Borough of Glassboro (the "Borough") will support nonprofit community,
civic, social, and academic organizations and institutions' programs
and events via its marketing and communications tools.
B.
Background. On a regular basis, the Borough receives requests to
utilize its marketing and communications tools, including constant
contact email distributions, Facebook® and its website, to
promote local events, programs, activities, and more. In order to
memorialize the process and maintain a fair standard by which the
Borough can and will provide such support, the governing body adopts
this SOP.
C.
Support outline.
(2)
The Borough will not support:
(a)
Requests to solicit residents, citizens, business owners, etc.,
for monetary support and/or specific fundraising activities.
(b)
Requests to solicit business or participation for any individual,
political group, foundation, business, charity, or religious organization.
(c)
Communications which include language of a nature that is sexually
explicit, or that is lewd or obscene, racial, illegal, with religious
context or that expresses an opinion.
(d)
Communications which include photographs or images of anyone
who can be identified without first obtaining a signed release of
any such person, or a parent of a minor.
(e)
Communications with trademark infringement using third-party
brand names referring to products that are not legitimate, counterfeit,
or perhaps imply a link between the products and services and the
brand owner when no such approval or link exists.
D.
Criteria to obtain support.
(2)
The business or organization must submit all requests in writing
to the Borough Public Relations Coordinator at least 30 days prior
to an event/activity. The request should include, but is not limited
to:
(a)
Organization/business name and address.
(b)
Point of contact full name, phone, email, and other pertinent
contact information.
(c)
Event date and time (including duration, start and stop times).
(d)
Event location (address).
(e)
Target audience, including a summary of those invited and expected
attendees (i.e., students, business owners, families, etc.).
(f)
Reason for event (i.e., awareness, education, community fun,
fundraising, etc.).
(g)
Special features and other details (free parking, music, special
guests, activities for children, etc.).
E.
Approvals.
(1)
The point of contact ("POC") identified in Subsection H below, along with guidance and approval from the Borough Administrator or designee, will review all requests.
(2)
Requests will be reviewed/approved in accordance with the criteria outlined in Subsection D above.
(3)
A Borough representative will contact the requesting organization's
point of contact whether the event is approved for support or not.
(4)
For approved events, the Borough POC will obtain any further information
and provide details on the type of support to be provided.
F.
Type of support, The Borough may provide the following kinds of marketing
and communications support. While organizations may make requests,
it is at the Borough's discretion to determine which communication
channel is most appropriate as driven by the event/activity.
G.
Effective date. As per the date of adoption of this article, this
SOP is hereby ratified by the governing body. It shall remain in effect
until such time as the SOP is no longer required, is superseded by
a new SOP, or is terminated by approval of the governing body.
H.
Point of contact. The Borough Public Relations Coordinator is the
point of contact.
