Family Services Ottawa's Social Media Policy and slides about Social Media 101 (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, others)

1. Family Services à la Famille Ottawa
Social Media
June 23, 2011

2. Social Media at FSFO
 Intent of social media
Social media are meant to “engage” and be a two-way
conversation
Same level of risk as sending out a news release, but goes
directly to individuals
Generally used for sharing info/promoting/creating
communities of interest/raising profile
 Purpose at FSFO
Enhance services provision
Building community
Knowledge transfer
Social action/advocacy
Agency and programs/services promotion

3. Social media principles
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iQLkt5CG8I

4. FSFO Social Media Policy
 Policy developed to guide the use/introduction of FSFO
social media channels
 Also guides the use of and contribution to external social
media channels by FSFO staff
 Employees are accountable for the content they post on
social media sites (FSFO and others)
 Executive Director – sole authority to determine which
programs/services use social media channels, staff members
responsible and allocated resources
 Purpose, resources, responsibilities and expectations to be
established in writing prior to introduction of new FSFO
social media channels
 Client and staff confidentiality must be protected at all times

5. FSFO Social Media Policy (cont’d)
 All content on social media sites must be relevant to the
agency, its programs and services
 Names, passwords, account info managed by FSO’s
technology coordinator
 Profiles will link back to FSFO and be consistent with the
brand (e.g., @Tim_FSFO)
 Approved staff will identify themselves as employees of
FSFO
 Images of individuals (stills and video) will be used with
appropriate written permissions
 Profiles should include disclaimers noting that views
expressed do not necessarily represent those of the agency
(e.g., “my views are my own”)

7. FSFO Social Media Policy (cont’d)
 Channels will avoid endorsements, advertisements,
sponsorship (does not apply to Facebook “likes”;
Retweets – to be discussed later)
 FSFO reserves the right to delete submissions that
contain content that is not consistent with the agency
(vulgar, personal attacks, offensive comments)
 Escalation for problems/concerns – first to program
area supervisor, if necessary supervisor to Executive
Director
Rules of engagement

9. Personal use of social media
 All employees can participate in social media, using own
computers, on own time
 Never post or create anything that would be potentially
embarrassing or offensive for FSFO
 Those easily seen to represent FSFO are expected to
consider that relationship and take precautions to ensure
activities reflect positively on the agency.
 Policy violations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to
and including termination for cause

10. Social media 101

11. 101
 Used to share knowledge/info, promote programs
 Short statements, including hyperlinks to more information
 Not applicable to all audiences

12. 101

13. 101
 Getting started:
 Set up personal account, photo/logo, profile
 Follow the right people/orgs to get the best, most relevant information
(e.g., politicians, researchers, clients, peers) [Tip, look at who your
influencers are following and then follow some of those people]
 Find a tool you like (iGoogle, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck) to help you
manage Twitter
 Set up searches/mentions
 Lurk - get to know the lingo, see what people are posting/sharing
 Retweet a few things
 Reply to someone
 Remember:
 Profile should include a disclaimer “My tweets are my own.”
 Once a tweet is out there, anyone can share it; you can delete it, but it
will remain on the feed
 People will use Twitter to communicate with you; it needs to be
monitored; responses are public unless you do a Direct Message (great
way to disseminate clarifications quickly; dangerous for privacy)

14. 101
 Used to share information, promote
programs/events/activities, engage your communities, gather
feedback and insights from clients/stakeholders
 Can create events, ask for donations, ask questions and
create polls, start discussions, send links to FSFO website,
“like” other organizations
 When you post info, it shows up in all your fans’ news
streams (their home page on Facebook).
 If a “fan” likes you, all their friends get a notification
 Remember:
 When you update your status, everyone sees it
 If you post photos, everyone sees them (need permissions)
 If you comment on someone’s comment, everyone who has commented sees
your comment
 People will use Facebook to communicate with you; it needs to be monitored and
comments need to be acknowledged, if applicable
 If you “like” an organization, it shows up on your profile; only “like” official partners

15. 101

16. Blogs 101
 Writing a blog
 Can be written by various people – different voices, but make sure to identify the
writer; use an informal tone
 Great way to share opinions (thought leadership); provide additional information
on a program/event; comment on current affairs, studies, policy; engage your
readers and ask for feedback on ideas/policies/potential programs
 Use photos/videos, link to other blogs/studies/websites – make it visually
interesting
 Remember: keep the language neutral; refer to the Guidelines
 Responding to comments on your blogs
 Make sure to keep track of comments and to engage with your readers
(respond)
 Example: http://www.child-psych.org/2011/05/breastfeeding-versus-formula-
feeding-and-the-rate-of-early-childhood-obesity.html
 Negative comments are okay (remember Rules of Engagement); clarify
erroneous information; add links to additional info if necessary; delete posts that
do not respect Guidelines (link to Guidelines from your blog to help you justify)
 Commenting on other people’s blogs
 Great way to build your own profile and thought leadership
 Remember to respect the Guidelines when commenting

17. Social bookmarking sites 101
 Bookmark websites, articles, stories, pictures, videos
 Share them publically by sending out a URL to your
bookmarking page
 People can sign up for updates whenever you add a
new link
 Tag articles/links based on the content (e.g., children,
adoption, etc.)
 Add a link to your home page, Facebook page, email
signature
 Value for your stakeholders, clients, colleagues

18. Social bookmarking sites 101
 http://www.delicious.com/Aroundtherainbow

19.  Used to post video (have your videos hosted on YouTube
rather than your website)
 Very shareable/easy for people to find
 Create your own channels e.g., FSFO Channel
 Embed the video on your Facebook page; link to a video
from Twitter
 People can “like” or share your videos
 Keep in mind the Guidelines
 Examples of uses for video/animation:
 capture/share events
 share news stories about FSFO
 create promotional or instructional videos (hope for viral)
 PR campaigns
 public service announcements

20.  If Facebook is the bar, then LinkedIn is the office…
 Professional network – think of it as your professional
association
 Used to connect with peers and colleagues
 Your profile is your CV
 Post updates/include your Twitter feed/share links and
information
 Get value from belonging to groups and sharing
information/asking questions
 Value on a personal basis or for networking with or
meeting new professionals in your sector

22. Tools of the trade

23. iGoogle

26. www.fusecommunications.ca