Principles for the Use of Social Media

QGEAPUBLICPrinciples for the use of social media

Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture

Principles for the official use of social media networks and emerging social media

Final

December 2017

V2.0.0

PUBLIC

Document details

Security classification / PUBLIC
Date of review of security classification / December 2017
Authority / Queensland Government Chief Information Officer
Author / Queensland Government Chief Information Office in collaboration with One-Stop Shop Strategy and Implementation Office
Documentation status / Working draft / Consultation release /  / Final version

Contact for enquiries and proposed changes

All enquiries regarding this document should be directed in the first instance to:

Queensland Government Chief Information Office

Acknowledgements

This version of the Principles for the official use of social media networks and emerging social media was developed and updated by Queensland Government Chief Information Office in collaboration with the One-Stop Shop Strategy and Implementation Office (OSSSIO).

Feedback was also received from a number of agencies, which was greatly appreciated.

Principles for the official use of social media networks and emerging social media

Licence

This workis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. To view the terms of this licence, visit For permissions beyond the scope of this licence, contact .

To attribute this material, cite the Queensland Government Chief Information Office.

Information security

This document has been security classified using the Queensland Government Information Security Classification Framework (QGISCF) as PUBLIC and will be managed according to the requirements of the QGISCF.

Contents

1Introduction

1.1Purpose

1.2Audience

1.3Applicability

1.4Scope

2Principles for the official use of social media networks and emerging social media

2.1Customer Experience

2.2Governance and management

2.3Effectiveness measures and improvement

3Review

Appendix ADefinitions

Appendix BSelecting the right social media platform for the outcome required

Appendix CImplementation Checklist

Final|v2.0.0 | December 2017Page 1 of 26

PUBLIC

QGEAPUBLICPrinciples for the use of social media

1Introduction

With social media usage growing at an unprecedented rate it is rapidly becoming a viable channel for communication with customers.There are 15 million Australians using Facebookand approximately more than 2.5 million Australians using Twitter monthly[1].

Social media presents an opportunity for the Queensland Government to augment its traditional communication methods with the use of emerging technology as it is developed. Not only is usage increasing, but public demand is also growing around the use of social media as a convenient communications platform, along with the expectation from customers for participation from the government.

Social media provides the Queensland Government with a channel:

to engage with their customers in an environment already familiar and popular with the customer through the use of timely and appropriate bi-directional correspondence
to make it simpler and more efficient for customers to get in touch with the Government
to gain real-time customer sentiment, language, needs and informed future trends
that provides strategic direction for broad marketing and communications campaigns
to provide approved, curated content through the use of content calendars, pre-empting customer needs and contextual relevance
that leverages off the framework and tools already established and maintained by social media platforms
that provides customers with the mobility to interact with the government via social apps no matter where they are or what time it is
that encourages transparency and promotes reliability, confidence and trust in the customer experience
to help guide conversations in real-time, either by reinforcing positive feedback or by diffusing negative comments through using timely, moderated, direct engagement
to facilitate and support agencies to network around common threads and issues.

The principles are designed to be flexible yet provide a professional, friendly and consistent experience for Queenslanders wishing to interact with the State Government through social media channels.

The Queensland Government launched the One-Stop Shop plan 2013-18 enabling the vision to make government services simpler, clearer and faster for Queenslanders. This aligns with the government’s broader digital transformation agenda and its ‘digital first’ approach where customers will have access to Queensland Government information anytime and anywhere, on any device. As part of the One-Stop Shop program, a Channel Management Strategy has been developed with official use of social mediasupporting this strategy.

The vision for the Channel Management Strategy is to ensure the delivery of efficient and effective customer centric channels that provides customers with simple, easy and fast access to Queensland Government services.

1.1Purpose

This document asserts the guiding principles for supporting a consistent Queensland Government approach to social media for a range of benefits to:

make it more convenient for customers to engage with the Queensland Government and access information, services and campaigns
help inform government of community sentiment and future strategic direction for government, based on qualified, real-time insights and analytics
guide the continuous improvement of online service design and transactions.

1.2Audience

This document is primarily intended for:

social media managers
project managers
customer engagement managers
corporate communications and marketing managers.

1.3Applicability

This principles document applies to all Queensland Government departments and encourages its adoption by other Queensland Government entities.

1.4Scope

1.4.1In scope

This document provides guidance on the official use of social media networks and emerging social media as service delivery channels.

This guideline relates to the social domain SL-2.2.4 Public Engagement within the Business Service layer of the Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture (QGEA).

It applies to all Queensland Government Departments and its adoption by other Queensland Government entities is encouraged.

References to the Queensland Government website includes all franchises including Business and Industry Portal (BIP).

1.4.2Out of scope

The current guidelineis out of scope for the following:

the release of open data
political or internal to government use of social media
personal and professional access to and use of social media, meaning those activities where the individual is representing themselves and not the Queensland Government
Online Community Engagement guidelines.

2Principles for the official use of social media networks and emerging social media

2.1Customer Experience

2.1.1Official social media usage is customer centric

Rationale /

Customers are increasingly expecting to receive a quality customer service experience when dealing with an organisation via social media.By providing such an experience it enables customers to interact with the government via a platform that they are familiar with. Push marketing on social media is proving to be less successful than has been in the past due partly because of infrastructure changes in social networks, and growing maturity of customer’s usage.

Implications /

Where social media is being used to deliver services, limit the use as a marketing channel and focus on customer service interactions. Effective customer service presents its own marketing and public confidence benefits through transparency and the awareness generated through public interactions.
Interactions with customers should follow Customer Experience standards and conform to complaint management protocols.
Social media should not replace other official channels but complement them. The social media content should align with that available through other official channels.
It is important to choose the correct social media platform for the circumstances and their capability to deliver on the outcome required. Refer to ‘Appendix B Selecting the right social media platform for the outcome required’.
When developing new social media accounts, agencies should consider completing the Implementation Checklist which provides agencies with relevant information about the governance, management of the social media accounts, monitoring activities and adherence to the appropriate legislative and policy requirements. If agencies already have a completed Implementation Checklist (or similar) for their existing social media account, they should ensure it is updated and maintained as required. Refer to ‘Appendix C Implementation Checklist’.

2.1.2Social media is immediate and responses need to be timely

Rationale /

Customers posting enquiries to official social media accounts have an expectation that their communication will be addressed quickly.Studies have failed to specify an exact expectation however it’s reported that the customer expectation for a response can vary anywhere from immediate/30 minutes up to 24 hours depending on the network and nature of enquiry.

Implications /

Within business hours, social media enquiries or comments should be acknowledged as soon as possible, and an average response rate target should be below an hour with a resolution target within 48 hours.
Customers should be informed of response times outside of business hours through an automatic response message.
When acknowledging a customer’s communication the use of canned or repetitive responses should be avoided wherever possible.Personalised acknowledgements outlining the request or comment and assurance of action within an appropriate timeframe should be supplied.
Resource levels to accommodate potential customer interactions in a responsive and timelymanner should be considered.

2.1.3Social media activities will be conducted by staff who have expertise in the field of social media.

Rationale /

Social media engagement and community management is a specialised field that has matured over the past ten years. Despite the accessibility of using social media for personal use, the professional application of social media and community concepts is a distinct capability that requires training and experience.

Implications /

Any staff interacting with customers via social media will at a minimum be trained in Queensland Government Customer Experience, be aware of corporate communications and relevant legislation such as the Code of Conduct as prescribed in the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994and relevant privacy principles and other legislationsuch as the privacy principles prescribed in theInformation Privacy Act 2009.
Customers may access government services via a variety of channels or platforms. Using appropriately skilled staff provides a consistent and professional use of social mediaexperience every time for these customers no matter the origin.
In the event of a crisis, staff that are trained appropriately can significantly improve the response time and effectiveness of social media support for customers and staff.
The risks often associated with social media are best mitigated by staff with the skills to identify such risks and nullify them. As such, it is strongly encouraged that all staff responsible for posting through any Government social media channel, actually have practical experience that aids in their professional development and commercial currency in social media practises.
Staff that specialise in social media identify and stay current with industry standards. These standards should be applied to performance reporting and strategic direction as applicable.
Skilled social media staff would, as part of their core function, develop content strategies that align with the business goals of the agency and the customer centric needs of the community.
Social media staff shall ensure that all appropriate privacy, confidentiality, copyright and other legislative considerations are met as they apply to the use of social media.

2.1.4Social media activities will make all reasonable attempts to consider accessibility

Rationale /

While social media usage has been adopted by millions of Queenslanders, it should be noted that access to official use of social media accounts may be constrained by:

–lack of access to a computer or mobile device
–inadequate skills to operate a computer or mobile device
–lack of access to a reliable internet connection
–limited downloads quotas available via mobile devices
–organisational restrictions on access to a social media platform
–not being a follower/fan of the official social media account
–lack of conformance of social media platforms with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
Implications /

In order to avoid discrimination, messages or information should be disseminated or contained across all service delivery channels.However, in some instances it may be appropriate to only use social mediaas a channel,for example for campaigns targeting specific demographic groups or for emergency or disaster-related events.
Customers may use social media to interact with the Queensland Government, however this will not be the only avenue for them to do so. In many cases, the alternative may be represented on Queensland Government websites, however it may also be appropriate to refer individuals to telephone or face-to-face channels.

2.1.5Official social media activities are to be conducted in a transparent manner

Rationale /

Conducting activities via social media in a fully transparent manner in line with the public service code of conduct and relevant legislation such as the Information Privacy Act 2009 promotes government accountability and public trust.The Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) has developed a Social Media Checklistto provide guidance on applying the privacy principles when contributing material to official social media networks.
Information security is a necessary part of managing any use of social media and agencies should refer to both the Information Privacy Act 2009andInformation Standard 18: Information Security which is the Queensland Government’s general policy approach to information security and relevant to all information and ICT.

Implications /

Inaccurate content posted via social media should not be removed or deleted in most cases, rather the content should clearly be corrected via an additional comment or posting using a pre-approved procedure that informs language, vernacular, tone and permissible responses (not canned). Exceptions may be corrections involving simple spelling mistakes or incorrect titles which may be edited directly or republished immediately.
If a piece of content has inadvertently been published that is controversial or offensive it may be removed with an explanation / apology posted immediately after removal. This is the responsibility of the Social Media Manager and their approval should be sought first.However, a record should be kept of the original post and the reason for the removal of the post.
Any officer responding to and/or posting new comments should identify the comment as an official response from the Queensland Government by using the appropriate account.Officers should never attempt to answer or resolve a customer interaction via a personal account.
When interacting with a customer, social media staff shall use their first name to identify themselves where possible, staff will take all other precautions to protect their own privacy and will never disclose their full names or the names of their colleagues. Any email interaction will be conducted through a shared official social media email account. If first names are not practical, initials or alternative names could also be used (in a consistent manner) or reasonable exemptions made.
All official social media accounts will identify the account as an official government presence through the use of:
Queensland Government Corporate Identity customised for the respective platform
Ensuring all profile information is filled out identifying the Queensland Government and linking back to official websites and contact points
Identification of accounts listed on the Queensland Government website

2.1.6Customer’s expectations will be managed

Rationale /

There are practical resourcing limitations imposed upon social media teams that limit the manner in which they can operate effectively to meet the expectations of customers. These expectations need to be managed in order to ensure reasonable customer satisfaction levels.

Implications /

Operational hours should be readily available for customers so that they can manage their expectations on response times. Alternative contact points should also be highlighted for emergency requests.
Industry standards and customer feedback should be reviewed periodically to ensure operational hours and response times match the needs of the customers.
In the event of an emergency, the lead social media channel for timely updates should be made clear to customers.

2.2Governance and management

2.2.1Social media channels are governed through alignment with best fit for business goals

Rationale /

Traditionally social media activities that are initiated without thought to goals or indicators of success generate limited effective outcomes.

Implications /

When deciding upon the most appropriate channel for either content or establishing a community, the best format to fulfil both the customer need and business goals behind the activity will be considered before choosing the delivery method.
There is no mandated platform in which to deliver a social media activity, platforms should be fit for purpose – chosen for their suitability rather than popularity. Suitability assessment could include consideration of reach and size of user base. Refer to ‘Appendix B Selecting the right social media platform for the outcome required’.
Depending on the chosen social media channel that best delivers against the business goals of the agency or activity, there may be a requirement for specific resourcing and development of bespoke policies to accommodate the nature of the channel.

2.2.2Correspondence received via official social media accounts are considered official correspondence and shall be treated as such

Rationale /

In the past, disclaimers on Queensland Government social media accounts described interactions with customers via the channel as not official correspondence. Recognising social media as a legitimate communication channel means that messages received through any official account will be considered correspondence.

Implications /

Messages received through official social media are subject to the same protocols as that of any with the Queensland Government (for record keeping, see 2.2.3 Social media activities are subject to relevant recordkeeping policy and procedures).
Any complaints received through official social media channels will be handled in accordance to the appropriate agency complaints management policy and in accordance with all relevant legislation.
Content posted through non-official forums, accounts or networks may be noted and reviewed but will not be considered official correspondence until an interaction is initiated by the Queensland Government.
All agencies must give consideration to what content is published on social media accounts during the caretaker period. Refer to the Queensland Cabinet Handbook for further information.
Agencies should develop disclaimers accessible via the social media presence and advise how the agency manages their social media presence and include appropriate privacy notice that complies with the requirements of the Information Privacy Act 2009. The disclaimer should (where appropriate) make the individual aware that by posting content, the individual is transferring this information outside Australia. The disclaimer should be hosted on the official website and linked to/from relevant social media accounts.