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<br />City staff generally has the right to speak publicly as private citizens on "matters of public <br />concern." Such speech, even ifmade in the workplace or as part of official duties, may be <br />constitutionally protected if the interests of the employee, in commenting upon matters of public <br />concern, outweighs a city's interests in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs <br />through its employees. Be careful to balance these interests before taking any action against an <br />employee for the content of the speech he/she publicizes on social media sites. Of course, not <br />everything is defined as a matter of public concern - comments on private matters with no impact <br />on the greater public generally are not considered protected speech. Cities should consult with <br />their city attorneys as appropriate on this issue. Staff never has the right to reveal non-public or <br />private data. <br /> <br />Etiquette guidelines for staffwho use social media on a personal basis might include: <br /> <br />· Account Names. Personal social media account names should be not be tied to the city. This <br />will help clarify that the individual is not speaking officially on behalf of the city. For example, <br />the personal Twitter account for John Doe, the Mosquito Heights Public Works Director, <br />should be just "JohnDoe," his Facebook page "John Doe's" and so on. <br /> <br />Staff interested in using social media officially on behalf of the city should talk with their <br />supervisor. <br /> <br />· Mind the law, existing city policies and guidelines. Individuals who use personal social <br />media accounts are notimmune from the law, or from the need to follow existing city policies <br />and guidelines related to harassment prevention, media relations, computer use and other <br />policies the city may have adopted. <br /> <br />Individuals should be encouraged to refrain from uploading, posting, transmitting or making <br />available content known to be false, misleading or fraudulent. They should be encouraged not <br />to post photos that infringe on trademark, copyright or patent rights of others. <br /> <br />Individuals never have the right to post non-public and confidential information such as <br />information related to coworkers, personnel data, medical information, claims or lawsuits <br />against the city. <br /> <br />Individuals should not use city-owned equipment to post to personal sites content that violates <br />existing city policies, that exhibits hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or <br />otherwise defamatory content. <br /> <br />Individuals should be encouraged to post to personal sites only that content which is suitable <br />for readers and viewers of all ages. <br /> <br />What about elected officials who use social media? Some elected officials already use blogs, <br />microblogs, Facebook and other social media to connect with constituents and to promote political <br />agendas. This is a reasonable use of social media, but elected officials should not use official city <br />social media sites for campaigning purposes, just as they would not use the official city website or <br />newsletter for campaigning. <br /> <br />Page 9 of 12 <br />