Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

POLICY STATEMENT
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) has
established its own presence on social media networks, and encourages responsible
use on these outlets that allow nearly instantaneous information dissemination. Social
media sites create organizational transparency by providing a forum for discussion of
relevant issues between LACMTA, its employees and external audiences. Employees
are discouraged from using social media in a way that may negatively impact the
workplace.

PURPOSE
The principles and guidelines outlined in this policy provide standards for responsible
business and personal social media communication as it relates to LACMTA business
and employees.

APPLICATION
This policy affects all LACMTA regular full- and part-time employees, temporary
employees, consultants, and contractors. If a conflict occurs between this policy and a
LACMTA collective bargaining agreement, the collective bargaining agreement will
prevail.

APPROVED: County Couns1-1 or N/A

Effective Date:

Social Media Usage (COM 7)

Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

1.0 GENERAL
"Employees," as used in this policy, includes non-employee consultants and contractors
who are performing LACMTA work.
LACMTA believes in its employees' right to freedom of expression, supporting open
dialogue and the free exchange of ideas. It recognizes the use of social media as a tool
for internal and external communications. This tool creates new communication and
collaboration opportunities for LACMTA and its employees, while also adding new
responsibilities. Employees should act in a manner consistent with LACMTA's
Employee Code of Conduct (see 6.0 References) and philosophy of transparency,
integrity and mutual respect. LACMTA employees are personally responsible for all
content they publish on the Internet, and should understand that anything they publish is
public, available for an indeterminate duration and may be used by others.
Online communication and collaboration can change the way employees work, but may
also blur the boundaries between an employee's role in his/her official LACMTA
capacity and his/her personal activity. For example, employees may use social media
solely for official LACMTA interests or purely for personal interests, yet they may also
use it for professional purposes that further their professional knowledge toward specific
job responsibilities. Social media platforms offer a model for interaction that can help
employees build stronger, more successful business relationships.
Responsible use of social media benefits interested parties by providing accurate, upto-date information, while mitigating the risk of false or misleading information created
via ignorance or malicious intent.
1.1

Types of Social Media

Technology is continually evolving; the following represent a sample, though not

comprehensive or predictive list of social media types:
Social networking (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Google+, Linkedln, etc.)
Multimedia (e.g. YouTube, Skype, Flickr, Pinterest, SlideShare, etc.)
Blogs (e.g. Twitter, LiveJournal, Blogger, etc.)
Events (e.g. Yelp, Eventful, etc.)
Collaboration (e.g. Wikis, Reddit, Google Docs, eGroups, etc.)
Reviews/opinions (e.g. Ask.com, EHow, Yahoo! Answers, etc.)
News sites (e.g. WSJ.com, LATimes.com, Dailynews.com, etc.)
LACMTA social media (e.g. The Source, El Pasajero, internal blogs, etc. current social media directory: http://www.metro.net/news/metro-web/)
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Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

This policy covers all sites and applications similar to those listed above.
2.0 PROCEDURES
2.1 Business Use
LACMTA currently utilizes social media accounts in an effort to keep employees
and external audiences up to date with the most current information available.
To present a consistent message to the public, all external social media outlets
and postings for LACMTA business purposes must be approved by the Chief
Communications Officer or designee (see Approval of External Communications
Materials (COM 2)), in accordance with Information Technology Department
policies (see Electronic Communications Policy (IT 2)). LACMTA requires users
of LACMTA-sponsored social media to abide by all LACMTA policies and
external rules and regulations; this includes posting information known, to the
best of the poster's ability, to be accurate at the time of posting.
2.1.1 Prohibited Uses
When using LACMTA-sponsored social media, the following actions are
prohibited:
divulging LACMTA and/or employee confidential or proprietary
information that may disrupt or sabotage sensitive negotiations,
security measures or personal freedoms;
violating federal, state or local laws, regulations or policies;
posting anything that is copyrighted or trademarked, without prior,
written consent;
making or posting audio or visual recordings of a LACMTA employee
or customer, without obtaining express, prior permission;
posting anything on behalf of LACMTA, unless it is part of the
employee's job description (employees posting on behalf of LACMTA
must identify themselves with at least their name, and position at
LACMTA);
contacting the media in an official LACMTA capacity unless otherwise
authorized;
posting or displaying defamatory, discriminatory, harassing,
intimidating, obscene or vulgar comments, audio, pictures or video as
detailed in LACMTA's Employee Code of Conduct about LACMTA
employees or customers; or
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Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

responding to customer comments or complaints, unless officially

authorized to do so.

Violation of prohibited uses may result in discipline, up to and including

termination.
2.1.2 Discouraged Uses
When using LACMTA-sponsored social media, employees are
discouraged from:
using social media in a way that interferes with employee productivity;
posting off-topic subjects;
violating the hosting social media site's Terms of Service;
using social media for political purposes; or
using social media in a manner contradictory to LACMTA policies.
2.1.3 Record Retention of Social Media Postings
LACMTA retains records in accordance with government mandates and
organization policies (see Records Management (GEN 8)). Not every
comment logged in a LACMTA-sponsored social media forum is an official
record; unofficial records will not be retained beyond the hosting site's
records retention period. A LACMTA department that creates a social
media site is responsible for sending official postings to the Records
Management Center (RMC) for retention.
2.1.4 Terms of Service for Use of LACMTA Social Media
All users of LACMTA-sponsored social media should follow LACMTA
Social Media Comment Guidelines (see 6.0 References).
2.2 Personal Use

Employees utilizing social media for personal use are expected to act
responsibly; prohibited and discouraged uses include, but are not limited to,
those presented below (2.2.1 & 2.2.2).

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Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

121)

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)
2.2.1 Prohibited Uses
LACMTA employees are prohibited from:
violating federal, state or local laws or regulations;
responding to customer complaints, unless authorized to do so by
Customer Relations;
posting or displaying defamatory, discriminatory, harassing,
intimidating, obscene or vulgar comments, audio, pictures or video as
detailed in LACMTA's Employee Code of Conduct about LACMTA
employees or customers; or
pressuring other LACMTA employees to respond to social media.
Violation of prohibited uses may result in discipline, up to and including
termination.
2.2.2 Discouraged Uses
LACMTA employees are discouraged from:
violating the hosting social media site's Terms of Service;
representing their opinions as those of LACMTA's unless it is part of
the employee's job description (employees posting on behalf of
LACMTA must identify themselves with at least their name and
position at LACMTA);
divulging LACMTA or employee confidential or proprietary information
that may disrupt or sabotage sensitive negotiations, security measures
or personal freedoms;
using LACMTA property to access social media in a way that disrupts
LACMTA operations; or
using social media in a manner contradictory to LACMTA policy.

3.0 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Blog "Web Log": a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections,
comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.
Collaboration working jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual
endeavor, in this case using an electronic medium.
Defamation intentionally false communication designed to harm the reputation of
another through ridicule, scorn or contempt.
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Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

Forum a public place to interact with others and communicate ideas.

Multimedia a combination of electronic text, photographs, video, music or
applications conveying information.
Social Media electronic communication to share information, ideas, personal
messages, and other content (e.g., videos, photos, music).
Terms of Service rules by which one must agree to abide in order to use a service.
4.0 RESPONSIBILITIES
Communications Department approves all LACMTA-related social media designed to
reach a primarily external audience, and monitors any improper or illegal use of social
media; responsible for official records on LACMTA sponsored social media.
Managers/Supervisors approve the creation and maintenance of LACMTA social
media sites.
Employees must abide by LACMTA policies and guidelines when using LACMTAsponsored social media, and clearly identify themselves as LACMTA employees if
officially commenting on LACMTA-related issues.
5.0 Fl nWCHART
Not Applicable

6.0 REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

LACMTA Employee Code of Conduct (http://wvvw.metro.net/aboutfethics0

Approval of External Communications Materials (COM 2)
Electronic Communication (IT 2)
Records Management (GEN 8)
LACMTA Social Media Comment Guidelines, such as:
Metro Facebook Comment Guidelines
https://www.facebook.com/losangelesmetro/app188085184590167;
The Source Comment Policy
http://thesource.metro.net/2010/09/08/the-sources-comment-policy/; and
El Pasajero Comment Policy

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Los Angeles County

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Metro

COMMUNICATIONS
Social Media Usage
(COM 7)

http://elpasaiero.metro.net/politica-de-comentarios/.

7.0 ATTACHMENTS
Not Applicable
8.0 PROCEDURE HISTORY
11/12/12

New Policy

Social Media Usage (COM 7)

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