Social Media Policy

Social Media Policy

Think Before You Post

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF OKLAHOMA

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY AND GUIDELINES

The League of Women Voters of Oklahoma (LWVOK) understands that social media is vital to informing the public of our mission, values, and efforts. However, use of social media also presents certain risks and carries with it certain responsibilities. To assist you in making responsible decisions about your use of LWVOK social media accounts, we have established these guidelines for appropriate use of social media.

This policy applies to all employees and volunteers of LWVOK.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

In the rapidly expanding world of electronic communication social media can mean many things. Social Media includes all means of communicating or posting information or content of any sort on the Internet including to LWVOK's website, social media sites, and blog as well as any other form of electronic communication.

Ultimately, you are solely responsible for what you post online when posting as LWVOK. Before creating online content consider some of the risks and rewards that are involved. Keep in mind that any of your conduct that adversely affects your job performance, the performance of fellow employees or volunteers, or otherwise adversely affects members, volunteers, employees, board members, officers or other persons associated with LWVOK or LWVOK's legitimate interests may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or membership.

KNOW AND FOLLOW THE RULES

Carefully read these guidelines, the LWVOK Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy and the LWVOK Nonpartisan Policy, and ensure your postings are consistent with these policies. Inappropriate postings that may include discriminatory remarks, harassment, and threats of violence or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated and may subject you to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or membership.

BE RESPECTFUL

Fellow volunteers and employees: Always be fair and courteous to fellow employees and volunteers or people who work on behalf of LWVOK. Also keep in mind that you are more likely to resolve work related complaints by speaking directly with a board member or officer.

Public officers, candidates, and political parties: Do not post complaints or criticism of public officers, candidates, or political parties. Avoid using statements photographs video or audio that reasonably could be viewed as malicious, obscene, threatening, or intimidating that disparage public officers, candidates, or political parties or that might constitute harassment or bullying. Examples of such conduct might include offensive posts meant to intentionally harm someone's reputation or posts that could contribute to a hostile environment on the basis of race, sex disability, religion or any other status protected by law or company policy.

BE HONEST AND ACCURATE

LWVOK strives to be a source of reliable information. Make sure you are always honest and accurate when posting information or news, and if you make a mistake, correct it quickly. Be open about any previous posts you have altered. Remember that the Internet archives almost everything therefore, even deleted postings can be searched. Never post any information or rumors that you know to be false about LWVOK, fellow associates, members, people working or volunteering on behalf of LWVOK, public officers, candidates, or political parties.

 

 

 

LWVOK Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Specific Guidelines

Through a Social Media page, we can help the public become more involved with our League, educate them on the League’s issues and positions and help move them up the ladder of engagement.

Goals

  • Elevate the good work our League is doing
  • Highlight the impact the state League and local Leagues are having across the country.
  • Share information on priority issues
  • Increase engagement by sharing information and fostering dialogue
  • Update followers on your League’s progress at the local, state, and national levels

LWVUS recommends that as a rule, each post should include a link or photo and do one of the following:

  • You should direct fans back to your website.
  • Posts that quote or cite your work or a topic related to your work are important.
  • Quote/cite LWVUS or state/local League work or redirects to their website or Facebook page. These practices will help engage more people with your work, especially your website and with your position on the various issues that concern the League both in your community and more broadly. Additionally, it is important to include introductory text and context when sharing links to introduce and frame the content being shared.

 

Types of Content to Share

  • News articles quoting or citing your League, other Leagues or on priority issues
  • Blog posts by your League, other Leagues and partner organizations
  • Press releases or statements
  • Photos/videos from your events, including voter registration drives, candidate forums, etc.
  • Political cartoons or relevant graphics/memes (Use with prudence. Many times, political cartoons are making fun of a groups or individual and they tend to be partisan.)
  • News resources from your League, other Leagues or partner organizations
  • Action alerts or other calls to action on local, state or national issues
  • Articles that reflect our values 

Opinion pieces should be used with prudence.  Some opinion pieces can be informative and might be a subject that we are advocating for, but if they take a partisan stance, they should not be used.

Our Social Media platforms according to LWVUS should not be the place to promote internal League events and meetings.  Posts that contain internal reports, policies procedures or other internal business communication is not to be shared.

 

Rather, it should speak to members and non-members alike.  They recommend that our priority should be to make page accessible to someone who is new to the League and may not know the intricacies and nuances of League membership.

 

 

 

 

Tone

To best engage fans, the tone of Social Media posts should be relatively informal with encouraging conversation and inviting fans to comment or respond to a question. It is likely that we will have new fans joining our page on a regular basis, so it is important to always explain the context and background for what you’re posting to enable users understand our position on the topic at hand. Relatedly, it is important to remember that Social Media is an external tool to reach beyond our membership; internal messages and communications should be shared on other channels and not using Social Media.

 

Specific Guidelines for LWVOK Social Media Administrators

Unless the post relates to the League’s mission, deals with voting issues, LWVOK supported petitions, action alerts, League or League supported events, The Voter, or suffrage posts all other posts particularly news articles need to go through a review process.  First the post should go into a Facebook private message and sent to other administrators. From there once one of the other administrators gives the okay, the article can be posted.

  • When posting an article if possible, cite the policy that it relates to.  In the LWVUS Impact on Issues, there are three pages in the first part of the book that have summaries of each of the positions.  For Oklahoma positions, an administrator can go to our website, lwvok.org and look under Positions for summaries.
  • No personal opinions or commentaries.  Never represent yourself personally on a League site or as a spokesperson for the League.  Only the president can speak on behalf of the League.  If she cannot speak, the president can authorize a board member to speak.
  • If mistakes are made, correct immediately with being open about the correction and why the post is being altered.
  • Do not post complaints or sarcastic remarks about candidates, office holders or political parties.  Use no content that could potentially harm someone’s reputation.
  • Comments from visitors that violate our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy, that could be graphic, obscene, racially insensitive, abusive, hateful, or inflammatory will be taken down.  Also posts where there is any hint of bullying or harassment will be removed.

 

Our Nonpartisan Policy prohibits the LWVOK President and Voters’ Services Chair to support a candidate or political party on LWVOK’s Facebook page or on their personal pages.

 

 The LWVOK Board of Trustees cannot dictate to what its members post or comment on, BUT REMEMBER—YOU ARE A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LEAGUE AND NEGATIVE POSTS AND BAD LANGUAGE CAN REFLECT NEGATIVELY NOT ONLY ON YOU, BUT ON THE LEAGUE.