Self-Audit
A thorough social media policy may include the following elements:
- A declaration of purpose and/or scope statement for the library’s use of social media
- Standards for the creation and the administration of library social media accounts, including who can create new accounts and/or posts
- Acceptable use guidelines for library staff when creating posts or responding to comments, which may include statements on upholding the library’s mission and policies; maintaining a professional image; treating users with courtesy; providing accurate and truthful information; and upholding copyright or other intellectual property laws
- A statement on the importance of privacy and confidentiality, prohibiting the disclosure of confidential information in social media posts and prohibiting library staff from using social media to collect confidential information about the library’s users
- A policy on the use (or prohibiting the use) of private messaging to answer patron reference questions or requests, including a reminder that the terms of use for most social media platforms do not align with the privacy and confidentiality requirements for library records in Wisconsin Statutes § 43.30
- A reference to the library’s procedures for the use of photos or user information (See “Related Procedures” below)
- Guidelines for the enabling and moderation of comments (See “Moderation of Comments” below)
- Acknowledgement that the library’s use of a social media platform must uphold the terms of use for that platform, and a disclaimer to indicate that the library will not be responsible if public comments are removed by the platform because they violate the terms of service
- A disclaimer to indicate that comments or content posted by members of the public on the library’s social media accounts do not necessarily reflect the opinions or values of the library, library staff, or municipality/county
- Recognition that social media posts and comments are public records and must be retained according to the requirements of Wisconsin’s Public Records Law
As with all policies, every point listed here may not be relevant for all libraries. Try to ensure that your policy is written in ‘plain language’ and easy for members of the public to understand.
Moderation of Comments
The library may choose to disable comments on its social media posts entirely or utilize policies that allow comments only on specific categories of posts. Some examples of a viewpoint neutral approach include:
- Establishing a routine where comments are disabled for most posts, but enabled for specific posts designed for public engagement
- Enabling comments for a predetermined length of time, such as allowing comments only for the first 12 hours after posting, which may help reduce the library staff’s moderation workload
- Disabling comments for certain categories of posts, such as event listings
If you have enabled comments on a post, you should follow a predetermined policy or procedure for moderating those comments. You should not disable comments because of the content of the comments being made on a post.
Once comments are enabled, you should only moderate or remove comments that include speech that is not protected by the First Amendment. Unprotected speech may include:
- Content that is obscene (under the legal definition of the term), is defamatory, includes incitement to violence, or encourages illegal activity
- Commercial promotions or spam
- Copyright or intellectual property violations
- Scams, links to malware, phishing attempts, and other security risks
We recommend that your library or municipal attorney review your policy to ensure that it adheres to the requirements of the First Amendment. If you must remove comments that fall into a category of unprotected speech, consider “hiding” comments instead of deleting them when possible, to ensure retention for public records requirements.
Related Procedures
Procedures can help library staff understand how to apply a policy, provide tips/scripts for talking to patrons about a policy, and provide step-by-step instructions needed for complicated internal processes. Although procedures must align with board-approved policies, they contain instructions that generally do not need to be reviewed or approved by the board, making them a more flexible tool for library staff and administration to update as needed.
Social media procedures might address the following:
- Guidelines on who may access the login credentials for library social media accounts, with procedures that will help ensure continuity and security after staff turnover
- Style guidelines with tips on developing a public “voice” for the library’s social media
- Instructions for creating posts that meet web accessibility guidelines
- Procedures for the use of photos taken in the library or at library events, including a method for library patrons to opt out of photos and best practices for identifying library users in posts and photographs
- Procedures for managing work-related messages sent to a staff member’s personal social media account, directing staff to forward messages to an official library account for response and to respond during work hours from the library’s regular communications channels
- Cybersecurity practices for reducing the risk of malicious activity on the library’s accounts
- Backup and retention procedures to meet public records requirements
Related Policies
Some libraries or their municipality/county may include guidelines for library employee use of social media in an employee handbook or personnel policy. An employer may be able to prohibit employees from using their personal social media accounts to share confidential library information, engage in defamation or harassment, make false statements about the library or the municipality/county, or violate other library policies. The employee handbook may also include restrictions on the use of personal electronic devices during work hours or on using library-owned hardware to access personal social media, email, or other accounts.
Your library may also have a separate photo policy to provide guidelines for taking and using photos of attendees at library events.
Sample Policies
We’ve collected some sample social media policies for you to review as you work on your policy. Visit the Public Library Policy Resources WISELearn Group for more discussion, or consider uploading your library’s policy for discussion or as another example for the library community to learn from.
Another helpful resource is the ALA Social Media Guidelines for Public and Academic Libraries, which provides more information on the legal and ethical factors related to the library’s use of social media.
What’s next?
Policy of the Month Club will take a break from monthly emails in July, but you are invited to join us for “Policy of the Month LIVE!” at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14. This informal chat will give you a chance to ask policy questions, share your thoughts about any of the topics we’ve covered at Policy of the Month, suggest policies we should share next, and make connections with your fellow public library policy wonks. Register for Policy of the Month LIVE!
You can also visit the Public Library Policy WISELearn group to share your policies and chat about policy any time.
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