Social Media and Park Management

Digital media connects people. It can exist used to educate the public almost the government's work and services, promote cooperation across government, and connect internal audiences that are traditionally stove-piped and geographically dispersed. Engaging with others on social media puts a face to a bureaucratic federal agency -- expanding the government'southward outreach capabilities.

The post-obit Digital Media Guide provides website and social media all-time practices and is regularly updated to address changes in the digital space.

Approved Social Media Services

The Section is required to review Terms of Service (TOS) and complete a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) on any social media service, prior to creating new social media accounts at whatever level in the Department. View a full list of social media services that are approved for use by the Department.

If you lot are interested in using a social media service that is not approved, contact the social media atomic number 82 for your bureau to enquire about starting the process.

Official Social Media Accounts

Each bureau and function is required to maintain an inventory of all official social media accounts and to provide that list on the U.S. Digital Registry and the bureau's or office'due south public website. When adding your accounts to the U.S. Digital Registry, you must include:

• "Department of the Interior (DOI)" along with your bureau in the agency section.
• Additional account contact data in instance of an emergency in the notes section.

Social media accounts should be updated regularly. Social media accounts that haven't been updated in 3 months will be assessed by the bureau that manages them to determine if they should be archived and deleted.

For an official multi-partner/multi-bureau entity, where a DOI bureau is a partner, and then the social media accounts created to represent that entity volition need to follow the social media policies of the chief partner'due south Agency and partner's bureau.

For example, in the case of an entity where the primary partner is a DOI bureau, then the entity volition need to follow all related social media policies of DOI and any boosted policies of that DOI bureau. If at that place are more than one DOI agency partners within the entity, where one of those bureaus is considered the chief partner, then the entity tin determine which DOI agency'south social media policies they prefer to follow.

Rules of the Road

• The DOI Digital Media Policy addresses specific guidelines for the appropriate use of social networking websites and other social media technologies. Consult the policy before getting started.
• Merely post information that is publicly available on the principal bureau, Departmental or government website (OMB M-10-23, Department 3, "Agencies should also provide individuals with alternatives to 3rd-party websites and applications. People should exist able to obtain comparable data and services through an agency's official website or other official means.").
• The majority of social platforms allow for comments to be submitted in response to posts. Refer to the Web/Social Media Comments section.
• Do not appoint in arguments or debates from an official government account(s). Responding factually to substantive questions is OK, but engaging in policy argue is not. See the Response to Social Media Comments section.
• Exist sure that commercial advertising does not appear on your social media site, prior to making the site public, whenever possible and take action to have the provider remove commercial advertizing as presently as you lot observe it.
• Work with your bureau records management office to decide how content posted on official social media accounts and the comments submitted equally responses should be managed every bit Federal Records. Come across the records section below for more details. Follow the applicable rules pertaining to the revelation of personally identifiable information (PII) of whatever individual, including DOI employees, via social media. See the privacy and social media section.
• Do not apply a service in a fashion that would violate DOI's terms of service, Privacy Impact Assessment or social media Organisation of Records Notice.

Requesting Social Media Accounts

All social media accounts must be approved earlier an function/location creates a new account. The Part of Communications Digital Team approves new social media accounts for the Department's offices. Bureau social media leads are responsible for approving new social media accounts for that bureau.

Any office, site location or program that wants to create a new social media business relationship must fill up out the social media asking class.

Each official social media account (both new and already existing) must have a principal contact who is responsible for passwords; onboarding, preparation, and offboarding employees who have access to that account; and sharing internal social media guidance. The contact must exist a total-time, permanent employee. Official accounts must have a backup contact who fills in when the master contact is unavailable or on go out.

If contractor staff are intended to assistance manage an official business relationship, and so the creation or writing of content (i.e., posts, tweets, etc.) must exist washed by the federal point of contact for that account, or by some other federal employee. If the contractor wants to write the postal service, it should be reviewed past the federal signal of contact before being posted. Contractor staff need to get their content canonical since they are not considered official representatives of the Department or Bureaus and are not able to speak on behalf of those organizations.

Any social media business relationship that has not been canonical via the official approval process may be terminated.

Onboarding and Offboarding

Interior employees must successfully complete the social media training form and sign the social media user understanding before being granted authorisation and access to post to a regime social media business relationship.

The master contact for a social media business relationship is responsible for onboarding and offboarding employees, including brand sure individuals take the mandatory social media training and sign the social media user agreement. They also volition remove social media access for employees who no longer demand it.

Onboarding Social Media Access

All new employees must review the Digital Media Policy, successfully take the social media training and sign the user agreement before getting access to an official social media accounts. If a bureau requires training beyond the ane required at the Department-level, new employees are also required to successfully consummate that training before access is granted. See the security section below for roles.

Offboarding Social Media Access

When an employee leaves the Department, ends her/his detail, or moves to a unlike role and no longer has social media responsibilities, all passwords to social media accounts that person had access must to exist updated within 24 hours. If that person had delegated access to accounts, their access must exist revoked inside 24 hours.

When offboarding an employee of social media duties, make sure to reassess who needs to continue having access to accounts and the third-party apps that are allowed to postal service. Meet the security department beneath for more details on each platform.

Blogging

There are many benefits and risks in maintaining a public blog on a government website, with the top adventure beingness the potential legal liabilities. Although blogs are by and large meant to be breezy, DOI blogs are official government communications and must exist treated equally such. Their content must be controlled to ensure that it is in keeping with the mission and reputation of the authoring agency.

Rules of the Road

• Consult the DOI Digital Media Policy.
• Weblog Approval and Management
  • Web log posts must exist written by Interior personnel or affiliated programs. Per SOL memorandum "External Author Web log" dated September 19, 2011, "Assuasive an writer outside the Section of the Interior (DOI) to weblog … presents problems including noncompliance with information quality guidelines pursuant to the Information Quality Act and the possible appearance of endorsement by DOI of specific organizations or companies."
• Approving and creation of a new blog requires that DOI bureaus or offices
  • Establish guidance regarding editing/disqualifying submissions if the public is allowed to place comments on the blog;
  • Constitute guidance regarding replies to comments or questions if the public is allowed to submit blog comments;
• Blog Content
  • Annihilation posted to the web that is managed, maintained, hosted, or sponsored by the Department of the Interior and/or whatever of its offices or bureaus is an official government publication and must comply with all applicable Federal laws and policies.
  • Blogs are intended for the informal exchange of data and ideas and not as a conduit to receive official comments on bureau proposed rulemaking. They play no official role in organizational controlling. Citizens wishing to leave comments regarding Federal Register notices must do then via the process described in the discover.
  • Blogs must be predictable, reliable, and undecayed. Once a blog is started, it must exist regularly updated. All the same, blogs may be established to support a specific project or study. When the projection of study is completed, the last blog entry will clearly indicate the engagement blog entries were concluded.
• Blogging using external sites:
  • If you host a blog on an external site, such every bit Medium or Tumblr, the content must be cross-posted to a authorities website in some course or you lot've established a way to annal content for records purposes. See more than on records department below.

Web/Social Media Linking and Sharing

Information technology'due south important to exist thoughtful with what y'all mail on the web and social media and how you phrase it. While the post-obit list isn't extensive and does not include all possible scenarios, it may be used to guide decision making when it comes to what to link to or share. Consult with your Bureau Ethics Office for more details as some bureaus take boosted restrictions in place.

• Political Parties and Groups: The Section will go on its practice of not sharing content from accounts run by political parties or partisan political groups. It would be appropriate to share content from @WhiteHouse, official @POTUS, @FLOTUS and @VP. As the federal government, we must never show political bias. DOI bureaus may accept additional restrictions with regards to sharing content from non-DOI accounts. Contact your social media lead at your agency for more than information.
  • Retrieve that even after elections, entrada accounts are still run by a political party and withal off-limits. This includes accounts such as @BarackObama, @JoeBiden, etc. The bios should indicate that the accounts are run by entrada organizers. Professional judgment (or consultation with your ethics office) may be required.
  • A partisan political group is defined by the Hatch Human action as any committee, club, or other organization which is affiliated with a political party or candidate for public office in a partisan election, or organized for a partisan purpose, or which engages in partisan political action. The word "partisan," when used every bit an adjective, means related to a political party. "Political action" means an activity directed toward the success or failure of a political political party, candidate for partisan political part, or partisan political grouping. (five CFR 734.101) Determining if an account is indeed run past a partisan entity will require a case-by-case analysis. All the same, if a website is soliciting donations for a partisan party, candidate, or arrangement, the group or organization who runs the website is engaged in partisan political action and would thus exist accounted a partisan political group and DOI should non share content from its social media accounts.
• Endorsements: Never share, retweet, or repost content that would imply (or announced to imply) that the federal authorities is promoting a visitor or encouraging the public to buy something.
• Outside posts: Information technology is OK to share content from people who visit public lands -- information technology's the betoken of being social on social media -- and tagging their content. Encounter the photo department for crediting exterior photographers.
• Lobbying: Never share, retweet, or repost content that shows support/opposition to a legislative bill. Anti-lobbying laws prohibit the Section from advocating for or against anything that requires action from Congress or land legislatures or covertly influencing public opinion. The 2015 GAO report on the EPA's Water Rule communications provides social media guidance that every bit part of the anti-lobbying provisions, the federal government cannot:
  1. Make whatever kind of express appeal to the public to contact Congress regarding proposed or pending legislation;
  2. Link to (or liking, retweeting, etc.) any website/social media business relationship making an appeal to contact Congress regarding proposed or pending legislation;
     • Information technology's important to go along in mind before you link to/share content from an outsider system that under GAO's interpretation, the Department would be at risk of a violation of the anti-lobbying provisions even if an appeal to Congress is added subsequently we linked (or otherwise shared) the content.
  3. Covertly represent the Department's views (such equally through a Thunderclap campaign); and
  4. Cocky-aggrandize (inflate the importance of the bureau).
  • If you lot have questions about specific examples, nosotros are happy to talk them through with you.
• Loose-lips: Only mail service information or information that is publicly available. Never share internal guidance on social media.
• Mission-focus: Only share, retweet, or repost content that relates to the Department's mission. Information technology'due south OK to share mission-related content, including from partners, other federal agencies, Interior bureaus, and public lands locations. Earlier you retweet or share anything with a link, be certain to read the entire article.
• News manufactures: You lot may share, retweet, or repost links to news articles if they are related to the Department's mission. Information technology's besides OK to share articles most or include quotes from employee(s) at your location, part or bureau. Hither'southward a set of guidelines for sharing links to external news manufactures:
  • Make sure the article is fair, accurate, and unbiased and the article meets OMB's guidance on Ensuring Information Quality and Accurateness (Section 11).
  • Brand certain the commodity is primarily about the work/science of the Section and/or your bureau.
  • Try to avoid links to articles behind paywalls.
  • When in doubt, contact your bureau's social media lead.
• News articles on websites: Y'all may share links to news articles (every bit in a higher place) on your websites.
  • Interior websites comprise notices that links do not imply endorsements.
  • Do not include alien endorsement language with the links themselves.
  • Example: DOI.gov shares external news with its eponymous "External News" tool. It presents the story in news-feeds, clearly flagged as being from another regime source or a commercial source.
  • Your bureau may choose to institute a more than restrictive policy. Check your agency guidance before publishing.

Ethics

DOI employees, or those working on behalf of DOI, who use social media for strictly personal use outside of the workplace practise not require approving to exercise so. However, many laws, regulations, and policies that employ to an employee'due south official activities utilize as well to employee activities in their personal lives. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has issued two documents (hyperlinks below) containing guidance on political action by federal employees.

• TheHatch Act Guidance on Social Media includes a number of examples illustrating how personal social media use and the Hatch human action intersect.
• TheSocial Media Quick Guide includes a checklist for allowed and disallowed social media activity for all federal employees in their personal capacity and those who are further restricted from actively participating in partisan political management or campaigns nether the Hatch Act.

Call up: Employees, fifty-fifty when non on duty or in the workplace, may not post or tweet a message that solicits political contributions or invites people to a fundraising event. Additionally, employees, even when non on duty or in the workplace, may not like, share or retweet a postal service that solicits political contributions, including invitations to fundraising events.

Below is a chart with some typical scenarios you may encounter and how y'all can respond in your official or personal capacity. If you are ever unsure always consult your ethics office.

Activity	Official Capacity	Personal Capacity
1) Share content about bills in front of Congress?	Information technology is permissible to share content nigh a beak but you may not vestibule Congress or urge others to lobby Congress in your official chapters or past using official resources (see #iv below).	Yep, merely on your own time and on your ain device (see #4below).
two) Fundraise for nonprofits (in some cases, you'll have to check with ethics)?	Check with Ethics Counselor, in almost instances this is impermissible.	YES merely not at work. Yous may never solicit funds from a prohibited source (defined at v CFR 2635.203(d)). You may not create the appearance that DOI is endorsing your activities.
3) Highlight partner stores, friends group events that cost money?	Absent-minded limited authorization, you may not endorse or encourage the public to purchase items at partner or friends group stores. A purely advisory post about available services may be permissible with a disclaimer, but consult your ethics office.	Yep, only it cannot announced DOI is sanctioning or endorsing your activities or those of another.
4a) Advocate for or comment on bills in front of Congress?	4a) NEVER on social media.	4a) Yes.
4b) Bills in land legislatures?	4b) NEVER on social media.	4b) Yes.

Photos

Ownership

Just because a photograph is on social media or the internet, doesn't hateful information technology's in the public domain. For photos not in the public domain, information technology's of import to get permission to employ the photo and properly credit the lensman.

The chief (and like shooting fish in a barrel to remember) rule is that if a federal employee shoots video or takes a picture on government time with a government-supplied photographic camera, the "work" (the image/video) belongs to the employer (the federal regime), not the photographer. Copyright works very differently when the piece of work is a federal product:

• "United States authorities creative works, including writing, images, and computer lawmaking, are normally prepared past officers or employees of the United States government as part of their official duties." (United states of america.gov/government-works)
• "A 'piece of work of the United States Regime,' referred to in this document equally a U.S. Government work, is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person'southward official duties." (See 17 USC § 101, Definitions.)
• For more on copyrights, bank check out the USA.gov entry on U.South. government artistic works.

Credit

Photo credits may be required.

• OCO requires photograph credits for DOI.gov.
• Licensing may crave photograph credit.
• Images not created past the government must be credited in such a way that our usage/license is articulate.
• If a photo is from an outside photographer, that photographer still owns the copyright and yous must requite the photographer credit. Do NOT link to the photographer's website in the post. We are not the marketing arm of professional photographers. If someone asks to purchase a user-submitted photo that you shared on social media, you may suggest that the person contact the photographer directly.

Below is how Interior credits photos on social media (Bureaus tin create their own standard):

• Interior ever includes a photo credit. The one exception is Twitter: If a photo was taken past an Interior employee and is in the public domain, that tweet volition not include a photo credit in the involvement of saving space. Photos taken by employees are credited equally "Photo past [employee name], [Bureau]." or "Photo past [Bureau]." if the employee proper noun is not known.
• Photos from the Share the Experience photograph competition are credited equally "Photograph past [lensman name] (world wide web.sharetheexperience.org)." To save space on Twitter, the photographer'due south name is only used in the credit.
• Photos taken by the public and given permission by the Section to share on social media are credited as "Photo courtesy of [photographer name]." To save space on Twitter, the lensman's name is but used in the credit.

Spider web/Social Media Comments

Comments received through ii-way blogs or social media sites must be reviewed by the bureau (or DOI if it is a Departmental blog). All sites that allow visitors to postal service comments should make it articulate whether comments will exist chastened and should include a disclaimer.

Below is the example of the comment policy for Interior's Facebook page that was vetted with the Solicitor'southward Office:

"We welcome your comments and hope that our conversations hither will be courteous. Yous are fully responsible for the content of your comments.

"Nosotros practise not discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right to delete any of the following:

• off-topic comments
• violent, vulgar, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
• comments that threaten or defame any person or system
• the violation of the privacy of another individual
• solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of whatsoever financial, commercial, or non-governmental bureau
• comments that suggest or encourage illegal activeness
• comments promoting or opposing any person who is campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any election proffer
• comments including phone numbers, email addresses, residential addresses, or similar information
• multiple, successive off-topic posts by a single user
• repetitive posts copied and pasted by multiple users

"Communication made through this service's email and/or messaging organization will in no style found a legal or official notice or comment to the U.S. Section of the Interior (or bureau) or whatsoever official or employee of the U.S. Department of the Interior (or bureau) for any purpose.

"References to commercial entities, products, services, or nongovernmental organizations or individuals are provided solely for information. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of U.South. Section of the Interior (or agency), the United States Authorities, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, production, service, or arrangement. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of whatever product, person, or service and may non be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying U.S. Section of the Interior (or bureau) endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

"Reporters or other media representatives are asked to send questions through their normal channels (the appropriate DOI/agency function public affairs or communications office) and to refrain from submitting questions hither as comments. Reporter questions may be removed.

"This Annotate Policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time to ensure that its continued use is consistent with its intended purpose as a express forum."

Inappropriate Comments on Social Media

If someone makes an inappropriate comment on social media that violates the account'south social media policy, remind that person to exist respectful of the comment policy. Here's a helpful guide for determining how to handle the comments.

Example response: "We keep this a rubber identify for give-and-take and pedagogy, free of [INSERT INFRACTION]. Whatsoever comments that go against our customs guidelines (share where posted) will be removed. Please feel free to comment again with respect for the guidelines!"

When inappropriate comments cross the line and become a threat:

• Take a screenshot of the comment for records (if it's on Facebook, do not hide the comment).
• Email the comment URL and screenshot to the law enforcement contact at your location, who will determine what steps to take and must retain co-ordinate to their own records schedule.

What to Practise When Y'all Encounter Threatening or Illegal Activity

• Y'all must report any comments nigh threatening or illegal activeness y'all see on a regime social media account.
• Take a screenshot of the post for records (see social media records section).
• Practise not delete or hide the mail.
• Written report it to your bureau'south law enforcement atomic number 82 or the law enforcement lead at your site (due east.g., park, refuge, etc.) and be certain to share the link of the mail service and the screenshot.
• If the investigator provides a specific notification to hold the post/comment it must be retained regardless of the records schedule until the hold is specifically removed.
• If the investigator provides no specific instructions to hold, and then the normal records retentivity schedule should be followed. See the investigative guidance in the social media records department.

Mishaps: What to Exercise When Things Go Wrong

Nosotros all make mistakes. Sometimes it's minor, such as a typo. Other times in spite of our best efforts, major accidents can happen.

There is a deviation between deleting and correcting content on social media.

• Deleting: A postal service should be deleted if the content should have never been posted in the showtime place (eastward.g., the content doesn't reflect the social media policy, or the account was hacked).
• Correcting: Correcting is when you update a post, or respond to the post as a comment, to clarify language while still preserving the pregnant of the original mail.

What should yous do when a mistake happens? Below are a number of mistakes that can happen and the steps you should take:

Grammar Mistakes

• Update the post on the platforms you can edit. If it's on Twitter and you detect information technology within a couple minutes of posting, delete and repost without the grammer mistake.
• Be sure to respond to any comment acknowledging the grammer fault for transparency.
• Correcting grammar or typographical changes tin exist made without preserving a copy for records considering these are considered non-substantive changes and accept no records value.

Accidental Share, Hacked Login or Inaccurate Post

• Remain at-home. Accept a screenshot of the postal service and then you can employ it in your debriefing later and in case it is deemed a federal tape (see social media records section).
• Immediately delete the post.
• Contact your supervisor and your bureau's social media lead, who will determine who else needs to exist alerted in the Department.
  • If something majorly problematic has occurred, your public affairs staff and the Office of Communications at Interior will demand to know the details in example additional follow-upward is required.
• If in that location is a question about who posted it, immediately update passwords and review/revoke app admission (see security section).
• Acknowledge what happened on the same feed where the problem occurred, and note the actions taken.
  • For case with an accidental reshare, "Before we accidentally published a post that has since been deleted. We're looking into how that happened."
  • Check out this example from Reuters Twitter account about how to handle a correction.
  • Here'due south an example from McDonald's nearly how to handle a hack.
• Motility on. Don't dwell on the mistake. Get back to your regular posting. Avoid trolls.
• Review the incident with your social media team. What went wrong? What went right? How tin can y'all improve your policies, practices, grooming, or response going forrad?
• For more than on hacking, explore the Federal Cyber-Vandalism Toolkit.

Posting Personally Identifiable Data (PII)

• Do not mail sensitive personally identifiable information on social media applications.
• When PII is inadvertently posted without consent or authorization, it is important that employees have immediate corrective action to reduce any impact to individuals.
• Take a screenshot of the post and preserve information technology, and any related information, as a Federal record for investigation, notification, or other remedial activity (come across Social Media Records section beneath).
• Immediately delete the post and notify your supervisor and bureau/office social media lead.
• Any suspected or confirmed alienation of PII must be immediately reported to your IT aid desk or DOI-CIRC at DOICIRC@ios.doi.gov or 703-648-5655.
• Be prepared to provide the screenshot and details regarding the post including the engagement and fourth dimension, description or summary of what occurred, and any other pertinent information.

What to do When You Discover a Fault on Another Bureau's Account

• Notify the social media atomic number 82 for that bureau, and make certain to copy the Department's social media lead for sensation.
• Consult Interior's social media contact list or Digital Registry for the account manager'south contact information.

Social Media Records

Social media content is considered a federal record. How long content needs to be maintained depends on the subject area affair. For instance, a tweet on a major modify of agency direction would likely be preserved for longer than a tweet on how pretty a particular photograph is.

DOI is currently compiling a Departmental Records Schedule, which will accost social media. Until that schedule is in place however, social media contacts will need to rely on their bureau records role to apply the appropriate records schedule to the social media posts based on their content.

It is important to annotation that if a post is made to one social media platform and and then later reposted to other platforms, the reposts to the subsequent platforms can be considered reference copies and do not need to be retained for records purposes.

If the post is contradistinct in substance withal, then the posts from both social media platforms will need to be retained for records purposes.

General Records Guidance for Social Media

• The Federal Records Deed (44 USC 31) provides the dominance under which Federal records need to be maintained.
• The staff at the bureau records office are experts at knowing how to comply with the Federal Records Act and should be consulted on any unusual circumstances (records loss or destruction, preservation holds, unclear disposition regime, etc.) related to records direction that may arise.

Investigative Guidance

• When records provide information that may be used in the conduct of an investigation, and are copied/forwarded on for potential employ past an investigator, the original possessor of the record acknowledges that these may be used for evidentiary purposes that require further preservation.
• Records disposition (whether destruction or retirement) can be suspended in the case of active litigation or investigation, but this will simply be done with agile advice from the investigating function (or the solicitor). Otherwise, records will be maintained for the time indicated in the approved records schedule and disposed of appropriately.
• 180 days is a normally used baseline for 'transitory' records that have piddling value for regular business, just even this can be shortened if there are extenuating circumstances (for instance, routine surveillance videos have a 30 day retentivity because of the high volume of storage required to keep them). This timeframe should be understood by the investigating function so they can make a timely decision on whether preservation of original data is necessary.

Removing Posts/Content

• Earlier removing a mail service/comment, the user needs to take a screenshot of the post or other content.
• Deleting content to correct grammatical mistakes, links, or mistakes or adding missing information is not a record and those tweets don't need to be kept.
• Managers need to create a log in a spreadsheet that references all posts or content that has been removed and explain the rationale for removing (inappropriate content, unauthorized post, adventitious sharing, etc). This log should be organized past Financial Year.
• Retain the log and the associated posts as appropriate based on the bureau or departmental records schedule; the but reason to retain past the records schedule is for an investigation or litigation.

Security All-time Practices

It's important that only authorized employees take admission to official social media accounts.

• Create potent passwords for your account. We recommend at least 12 characters long, using a passphrase, and a mix of capital, lowercase, numbers and symbols. Some social media services brandish password "strength" meters when choosing new passwords. Choose passwords that meet the highest standard.
• Regularly update passwords to social media accounts. Be certain to change them after an employee changes jobs in the Department, no longer works for the Department, or no longer contributes to Department social media accounts to ensure unauthorized employees don't have access to Interior social media accounts.
• Whenever possible, employ two-gene authentication.
• Whenever possible, practice not share passwords.

Twitter

• For Twitter, regularly review 3rd-party apps (settings > apps). Acquire more about third-party app admission on Twitter.
• Immediately subsequently updating a Twitter password, also revoke admission to whatever sites that you've granted posting permission to, especially:
  • iPhone, iPad and Android apps
  • Tools for posting
  • Password managers such as TweetDeck.
• IMPORTANT: Updating a social media password won't necessarily cause a mobile app to prompt users for the new countersign, but revoking app permissions will. Here's how to find the apps that have admission to your Twitter account.

Facebook

• It's against Facebook's Terms of Service to have more than one account. The issue is regime Facebook pages will exist managed through personal Facebook accounts. If your bureau or office decides to manage Facebook accounts in a different way, yous are responsible for ensuring account security and content at all times.
• These are six different roles for pages and how they should be used:
  • Admin: Has full admission to the page, including managing page roles and settings. At that place should only be two admins (at nigh) for a page.
  • Editor: Creates and deletes posts, responds to comments, etc. Can have as many editors as necessary but must review access every 3 months.
  • Moderator: Can answer to posts and view insights. Can take as many moderators equally necessary but must review access every 3 months.
  • Analyst: Tin view folio insights -- good for someone who needs to run into analytics but has no other responsibilities. Tin take every bit many analysts every bit necessary.
  • Alive contributor: Can but do a Facebook Live from a mobile device. If it's a i-fourth dimension live contributor, immediately remove admission after the livestream ends.

Instagram

Some employees who manage an Instagram account just don't have a authorities-issued device (see guidance below on using personal devices) might add the official business relationship on her/his personal device. Make certain that before an employee leaves the Department, the official account is removed from the personal device. See detailed instructions on how to remove an Instagram account.

Government Furnished Devices vs. Personally Owned Equipment

Some social media accounts, such as Instagram and Snapchat, require a mobile device to mail and respond to comments. Below is guidance for using government furnished devices and personal equipment for managing social media.

Some bureaus might have more than restrictions than others due to the nature of their work. Always check with the social media leads before adding an official account on personal equipment.

Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)

It is OCO and OCIO's preference that all social media managers or anyone responsible for updating an official social media account be provided with a government furnished device (GFE) to perform their duties.

• Social Media managers should not use their ​personal social media (unless they are required by their agency or office to use it to manage an official page) on their government furnished equipment. Personal social media should only be used on personal devices.
• Do not integrate personal and official social media accounts on any GFE device. For instance, adding both your personal Twitter business relationship and a bureau account you manage on your Twitter app.

Personally Endemic Equipment

For Personally Owned Equipment, you should not add together an official social media account to your device. All official social media duties must be done on your GFE if you are given one.

In the cases that social media managers aren't provided a GFE and must utilise a personal device to manage a social media account, they must utilise extreme care to non co-mingle personal and official accounts.

Privacy

DOI has a responsibility to protect individual privacy when engaging or interacting with the public on the Department's website and official social media sites.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.

Examples of PII include: proper name, username, email address, epitome, engagement of birth, physical accost, location information, nationality, Social Security number, authorities issued identifiers, credit menu number, depository financial institution account number, medical history, or any other information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual'south identity.

• PII may simply be posted when authorized, such as in cases where yous have private consent.
• Collect PII only when authorized, and minimize the drove of PII to that which is needed to accomplish the authorized activeness.
• Safeguard PII collected or maintained, and limit admission to authorized personnel who have an official need-to-know, in accordance with the OMB authority of the information collection.

Privacy Program Governance

An Adapted Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must exist conducted for the official use of a social media awarding prior to engaging the public, to appraise the privacy risks associated with the utilize of the social media application in accordance with the DOI PIA Guide.

A Privacy Act system of records notice (SORN) must be published prior to any drove of information from individuals for maintenance in a Privacy Act arrangement of records. Bureaus and offices may have published SORNs that comprehend their specific program activities. These SORNs govern what and how data about individuals is collected, maintained and shared. Employees should utilise SORNs every bit guidelines when collecting or using PII and making decisions nearly records about individuals. Plan officials should consult with their bureau or office associate privacy officer prior to collecting PII from employees or members of the public.

DOI has published the DOI-08: Social Networks SORN to enable bureaus and offices to implement public outreach programs, promote interaction with the public, and facilitate the sharing of information and ideas using third-party or commercial social media applications. Consult your agency or role Associate Privacy Officeholder for approved uses of social media under the DOI-08 SORN, which may exist viewed on the DOI SORN page.

When collecting information from the public that will be maintained in a Privacy Human activity system of records, mail a Privacy Act Argument at the point of collection that includes: the legal authority, purpose and uses of the information, who the information will be shared with, whether the provision of information is voluntary, any consequences for non providing data, and a citation or link to the applicative SORN in the Privacy Human activity Argument.

If PII is collected or used that will not exist maintained in a Privacy Human action system, post a Privacy Notice that informs users the awarding is operated by a 3rd-party and they are subject to the 3rd-party's privacy policy, the purpose and uses of the data collected or made available to DOI, and DOI's information treatment and safeguarding practices.

Mobile applications raise singled-out privacy implications that must exist evaluated. The utilize of mobile applications must come across DOI privacy and security requirements, including privacy affect assessments, Privacy Act notices, and Privacy Human action Statements, where applicable, in accordance with DOI privacy policy and OCIO Directive 2016-003, DOI Mobile Applications Privacy Policy.

Location data, pictures, contact, passwords, and credit card numbers are a few examples of the sensitive data that may exist collected and transmitted through a mobile awarding.

508 Compliance for Social Media

Social media services and device manufacturers offer a varying caste of support for accessibility. By using social media for Department communications, it'southward incumbent upon social media managers to ensure they make their content as accessible every bit possible given the support presented by those services. Social media managers should leverage the best practices within the DigitalGov Social Media Accessibility Toolkit to help make their content as accessible every bit possible.

Full general Social Media Accessibility Tips

• Make your contact information available on your website's social media page. Provide a link to your bureau/function website that lists the advisable contact data.
• Brand your social media content available through more than 1 aqueduct. Provide easy points of entry for more than data. Some of the most mutual ways are to post threads on your website, provide options to sign up for daily email digests of social media posts or to add a social media widget to your agency website.
• Write in patently language, apply camel instance when appropriate (i.due east., capitalize the get-go letters of compound words equally in #SocialMedia), and limit your use of hashtags, abbreviations and acronyms where possible. The utilize of camel case is non only a common practice, merely a helpful 1 as it makes multi-word hashtags easier to read, including for those using a screen reader.
• Learn the accessibility requirements and periodically examination your content for accessibility. Read the Section 508 Standards and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Levels A and AA success criteria and other key resources that discuss them. Then test your social media content with a screen reader or other type of assistive technology.
• When posting a photograph of text (such equally a screenshot of a statement), to aid in 508 compliance yous must provide explanatory text and a link to the full text whenever possible.

Tips for Making Facebook Updates Attainable

• The federal government is full of acronyms. Don't presume your audition is knowledgeable about all acronyms. Have advantage of the space Facebook provides and always spell out the first case of the acronym and add the acronym, in parentheses afterward (eastward.g., Social Media Emergency Management (SMEM)).
• Add together captions to photos to ensure that individuals will understand what is going on in the picture.
• All videos including those with text overlaid on the video nevertheless need captioning. Upload using an SRT file. Limit linking to content that your agency/office has not created and/or you lot exercise not know whether that content is accessible or non. Facebook has an Accessibility Team that is defended to problems specific to accessibility and assistive engineering science. They can be reached through Facebook and Twitter.
  • Facebook'southward Accessibility Team's Facebook Page
  • Facebook's Accessibility Team's Twitter Account
  • Facebook keyboard shortcuts available for screen reader users

Tips for Making Tweets Accessible

• If your tweet links to photo, video or sound content, make your tweet human activity every bit a descriptive explanation and then it provides context for the item.
• Make your photos more than accessible by enabling and adding image descriptions to the photos you lot tweet.
• When linking to content on your .gov website, be certain that content is as well accessible, east.g., a tagged photo, captioned and audio described video or audio with written transcript.
• If possible, avoid using unfamiliar acronyms that would sound strange if read past a screen reader or that could be confusing to some readers.
• Utilize camelcase for multiple words within a hashtag; that is, capitalize the first letters of compound words (e.chiliad., use #DigitalGov not #digitalgov).
• If you decide to link to an infographic, or moving-picture show, make sure that you adequately describe the content through text when possible. Just remember to apply plain language and exist concise in your descriptions.
• If publishing infographics, avoid complex layout and flows that crave the reader to follow too many lines or arrows connecting one slice of content to another, utilise excessive images and text, and brandish broad variations and insufficient contrasts in color schemes.
• Keyboard shortcuts for mutual actions and site navigation are available to screen reader users.

Tips for Making YouTube Videos More Accessible

• Ensure all videos have closed captions and audio descriptions (where appropriate -- or link to a version that has audio descriptions).
• Descriptive language needs to be used in video captioning to denote necessary audio and visual elements. Make sure to use piece of cake to sympathize language in your descriptions.
• Where possible, just include loftier-quality audio and try to limit use of music or other distracting sound furnishings.
• Skilful captions are not just a transcript of what is said in the video. Information technology is besides important to depict sounds and pregnant vox inflections.
• To create captions for video, or to edit your existing YouTube captions, at that place are a number of free tools that can help:
  • Overstream: a popular Web-based captioning tool, with a related YouTube tutorial.
  • CaptionTube: a Web-based captioning tool designed specifically for YouTube.
  • MAGpie: a free Windows awarding from the National Center for Attainable Media.
• At a minimum, provide transcribed text to YouTube, rather than trusting YouTube to recognize the speech communication in your video(s). YouTube can match transcribed text to video much more than effectively, when it has an accurate transcription.
• Annotation that there are certain companies that can create captions for a fee. The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) provides a list of captioning and sound-clarification vendors.
• Video players should support the following requirements to exist attainable to individuals with disabilities:
  • Support for airtight captioning and sound descriptions for deaf or blind users including the ability to plough captions and sound descriptions on and off.
  • Keyboard navigable features for users who have difficulty operating a mouse.
  • Buttons and controls must exist properly labeled for screen reader users.
  • Ability to increase or decrease volume.
• The YouTube histrion on the YouTube site is non fully keyboard accessible (e.g., it can exist impossible or very difficult for ar user with a motor disability to turn on captions without a mouse). Therefore, exercise not apply the standard YouTube plugin. If YouTube video must be used, an accessible player must be added and have captions enabled by default.

Sound Description

Sometimes referred to as video description, audio description is an additional audio track that describes essential visual data. Audio clarification makes videos accessible to people who are bullheaded or low vision by using words to capture what is happening on screen. Audio Description is usually delivered as a separate sound track that a person would play aslope the original video (in the same way as a commentary on a DVD).

Audio descriptions are played during natural pauses or periods of silence within the audio track. For an example of effective audio description, see National Park Service video America's Wilderness.

There are iii means to add audio descriptions to your videos:

1. Build the Descriptions into the Video. Before you tape your video, you tin can unremarkably weave the audio description of key visuals into the dialogue. This prevents you from having to go back afterwards and add audio descriptions. For instance, in a training video, instead of pointing to a slide and maxim, "equally you can see on this slide, the traffic peaked here", you can say "this chart of website traffic for the concluding year shows that it peaked in August." Additionally, request speakers or subjects identify themselves and their surroundings (rather than only showing their proper noun on screen). This way, anyone—whether or non they are visually impaired—will know who is speaking. Delight note that this option is not ever possible, particularly if individuals are speaking while text is being shown on screen.
2. Create a Second Video. You may create two videos, one with audio descriptions and one without. You can post these videos with labels such as "Video with sound descriptions" and "Video without audio descriptions."
3. Add an Additional Sound Track. If y'all accept a video player and streaming protocol capable of supporting multiple audio tracks, the user tin cull which audio track to play. Many online video and multimedia players don't support actress sound tracks. Examples of accessible video players that support multiple audio tracks include JW Player and Able Histrion.
   • Note: YouTube doesn't back up extra audio tracks. Therefore, y'all will either need to use another video thespian that supports audio descriptions or postal service two versions of the video - one with audio descriptions (and closed captioning), and the other with just the airtight captioning.

Tips for Making Blogs Accessible

• A blog template should have few columns and a simple layout. The layout should be consistent beyond all pages of the weblog so as not to confuse users. The weblog's design should take enough color contrast between the groundwork and the font for ease of reading. Avoid using colors that clash and try to avoid using green, bluish and yellow too close together. Black text on a white background is preferred.
• Add together alternative text and captions to all images on the blog and within posts. Link to videos and audio components. Ensure that sounds and video do not play upon a page loading – give users the choice to printing the play push button.
• Text such as "click here" or "read more than" can go far difficult for people with screen readers to understand where a link will accept them. Instead of these brusk phrases, hyperlink fully descriptive text and so that users volition know where they are going when they follow a link.
• Keep your writing simple. Use apparently language and write in the active phonation. Intermission upward long paragraphs into smaller chunks of text.
• Although Tumblr is considered a popular micro-blogging and social media tool, many users with disabilities find it hard to navigate. There are some ways to help brand this easier. Tumblr is image-heavy, and so as with all Spider web content, alternative text should exist used. The use of GIFs on the site can also be difficult for individuals with sensitivities to flashes.

Tips for Making Other Social Media Platforms Attainable

• Your LinkedIn profile should accept a clear image to accompany your proper name then users tin can distinguish you from other potential contacts with a similar name or make.
• All Pinterest content is "pinned" to boards from exterior sources. Include a description of the detail you are pinning.
• Instagram provides alternative text capabilities and users should provide a caption explaining the image. Use camelCase for multiple words within a hashtag. Instagram videos should have a caption associated with information technology. For more than information on video accessibility, read the Tips for Making YouTube Videos Accessible.

Trolls

1. Don't feed the trolls. Starve them of attention.
2. If it's a fellow federal agency trolling you -- ignore them anyhow, or bargain with them via phone or email.
   

Certificate- and Data-Sharing Repositories

Document and information sharing websites are just what their proper noun implies: places where users postal service information and textile that other users can apply and repurpose, creating a dynamic repository covering a potentially broad diversity of subjects. Data.gov is ane case of a government repository for information, but at that place are many other established online sites in the commercial sector that can also be used to make data and information bachelor to the public and for the public to provide the government with valuable information. Document sharing websites (e.g., Scribd, SlideShare, and Socrata) tin can share documents, presentations, webinars, and/or datasets with the public.

At present, SlideShare has been canonical past DOI; however, this should not be taken as an endorsement of SlideShare, nor an indication that other certificate-sharing websites volition not exist approved.

Rules of the Road

• The DOI Digital Media Policy addresses specific guidelines for the appropriate utilize of Document Sharing websites and other social media technologies. Consult the policy before getting started.
• Only postal service information that is ready for public consumption and has been approved through regular review processes. Never post information or information that is only for internal view or use to a public website. This is not the place to post or share working documents. Although most services protect accounts via passwords, stored files are not necessarily encrypted, and then a successful hacker might gain access to stored-but-unpublished files on such a service.
• External (non-dot-gov) certificate repository websites should never be the merely source of a DOI document available to the public. All documents posted on document repository websites should besides exist publicly available on a bureau or role website.
• Privacy & SORN
  • Utilize certificate-sharing sites just in a way consistent with DOI policy and an approved PIA.
  • Nether no circumstances should anyone use a document-sharing site in such a way equally to violate the Privacy Act and applicable DOI System of Records Notices. Establishing a organisation of records or improperly disclosing records in violation of the Privacy Act may consequence in criminal penalties, including a fine and misdemeanor charge, and disciplinary action.
• Please see our Services section for further details.
• Examples of Government Utilise
  • DOI (GitHub)
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Socrata)

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking tools such as Reddit, or Pinboard allow users to share links to interesting data with larger audiences. These web services typically allow users to organize their bookmarks using tags and share them either with the public, a specified group, or privately. Adding a simple widget (preferably DOI'southward NCShare or another cookie-free sharing alternative) to web pages that allows visitors to share the content of the page via social bookmarking tools, social networking tools, or e-mail is a simple way to drive traffic to our websites and allow visitors to quickly and easily share data with their networks or communities.

At nowadays, no such site is canonical for use by DOI; however, in anticipation of futurity approvals, the following will employ:

Rules of the Road

• The DOI Digital Media Policy addresses specific guidelines for the appropriate use of social bookmarking web services and other social media technologies. Consult the policy before beginning whatsoever implementation.
• TOS, Privacy, SORN
  • Simply use services that accept an approved TOS and Privacy Bear on Assessment signed by the Department of the Interior.
  • Be sure that any "sharing" on public-facing web space does not bespeak to non-public content. The URL might be helpful to hackers.
  • Practice not apply a service in a mode that would violate DOI's social media or privacy policy. Establishing a system of records or improperly disclosing records in violation of the Privacy Act may event in criminal penalties, including a fine and misdemeanor charge, and disciplinary activeness.
  • Consult with your bureau'due south social media contact for the latest listing of signed Terms of Service agreements and PIAs.

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