Hennepin County Departmental Facebook and Twitter Agreement

Authority
The authority of the Public Affairs Department to require this agreement extends from the Communication Policy section of the Hennepin County Administrative Manual Policy, General Information and Procedure: Web-based information products: Internet, intranet, extranet and social media Use of Web-based information products for communication improves the accessibility of services and information offered to residents, advances public sector transparency, and provides opportunities for public feedback and engagement. Public Affairs oversees the presentation, content and customer usability of information and services on the county website, intranet, extranet and social media. Public Affairs establishes standards for Web-based information products and are intended to ensure consistency and adherence to widely practiced professional Web standards for usability and accessibility for the customer, branding, design, organization and presentation of content, copyright compliance, and use of social media. And in Guidelines for Hennepin County Employee Use of Social Media/Social Networking The Public Affairs Department has the responsibility to consult with departments to determine a business need for a social media presence. Through this process, departments will identify staff, opportunities, content, and responses. (Hennepin County Administrative Manual: Communication and Branding Policy) Working with Public Affairs, county departments designate their social media staff contributor(s), who are responsible for following applicable county and departmental roles and best practices.

Definitions
This agreement covers the development and maintenance of a Facebook page and/or organizational Twitter account not public figure, personal, or group pages.

Purpose
A departmental Facebook page or Twitter account shall be developed and maintained in a way that is consistent with the mission of Hennepin County Government and helps achieve the goals of the department. Whenever feasible, a departmental Facebook page or Twitter account should encourage public engagement by allowing contributions from Facebook members who like" the page. A Facebook page without comments is one-way communication and does not make full use of the potential of social media. Likewise, departments using Twitter should not consider them as a means to push messages without responding and taking questions and comments.

Requirements
A departmental Facebook page and/or Twitter account must meet the following requirements:

The request for a page must begin with consultation by the originating department director and department staff with the Public Affairs online community manager about the use of social media by government agencies. The page must be named "Hennepin County ... " followed by department or program name, and branded with the Hennepin County logo or approved design. The page must be visible to the public, not a protected Twitter account or just available to Facebook Members. Facebook pages must restrict comments to Facebook members who "like" the page.

The department director must identify at least two department staff persons who will be page and/or twitter staff contributors and will be responsible for adding content to the page and/or twitter, monitoring activity and responding to comments and inquiries. Staff contributors should be exempt employees because editing /monitoring tasks will occur outside of regular, weekday work hours. There must be a clear understanding between the department head and page editors that social media tasks do not qualify for overtime and must be completed during authorized working hours. Each staff contributor must have a valid, active Facebook profile. Staff contributors are advised to follow Facebook procedures if they want their personal profiles to be hidden from visitors to the page. Facebook and Twitter staff contributors must demonstrate to the Public Affairs online community manager the ability to communicate effectively with text and images and respond to questions and critical remarks with an attitude of customer service. They must have the skills and technology needed to monitor the page, add updates, respond to user posts, and edit or remove user posts when necessary while away from their office- committing to monitoring the page at least twice every 24 hours. Staff contributors must respond to user questions or critical comments as soon as possible but no more than 24 hours after a post. A response may include acknowledging the comment
and indicating that additional information will be sought. A longer response could be posted later to follow-up on the issue.

Originating Department Director Public Affairs Director Public Affairs Department Liaison

__________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________

Public Affairs Online Community Manager __________________________________________ Date __________________________________________