City of Ramsey Social Media Policy
1. The City of Ramsey’s website (www.cityoframseymn.gov) will remain the City's primary and predominant internet presence.
a. The best, most appropriate City of Ramsey uses of social media tools fall generally into two categories:
- As channels for disseminating time-sensitive information as quickly as possible (example: emergency information).
- As marketing/promotional channels that increase the City's ability to broadcast its messages to the widest possible audience.
b. Wherever possible, content posted to City of Ramsey social media sites will also be available on the City's main website.
c. Wherever possible, content posted to City of Ramsey’s social media sites should contain links directing users back to the City's official websites for in-depth information, forms, documents or online services necessary to conduct business with the City of Ramsey.
2. Wherever possible, all City of Ramsey social media sites shall comply with all appropriate City of Ramsey policies and standards, including but not limited to:
- City of Ramsey Personnel Policy
- City of Ramsey mission and vision statements
- City of Ramsey guiding principals
- City of Ramsey core values
Any exceptions will be approved by the City Administrator.
3. The City of Ramsey does not share information gathered through its social media sites with third parties for promotional purposes. However, the content maintained on such sites is subject to the MN Government Data Practices Act. The department maintaining the site is responsible for responding completely and accurately to any public records requests for public records on social media. All public records requests must be directed to the City Clerk.
The department maintaining the social media site shall preserve any data required under records retention in an accessible format for the required retention period so that it can be produced in response to a request. Wherever possible, the City’s social media sites shall clearly indicate that any content maintained on the City’s social media sites is subject to the MN Government Data Practices Act and potentially public disclosure. Users shall also be notified that public disclosure requests must be directed to the City Clerk.
4. Users and visitors to social media sites shall be notified that the intended purpose of the site is to serve as a mechanism for communication between City departments and members of the public. City of Ramsey social media site articles and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed:
- Comments or hyperlinks to material not related to the item posted
- Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns
- Comments in support of or opposition to religious groups or worship services
- Profane language
- Plagiarized material
- Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language
- Obscene or racist comments or photos
- Sexual content or links to sexual content
- Commercial promotions or spam
- Content that encourages illegal activity
- Private, personal information published without consent
- Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems
Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
These guidelines must be displayed to users on the social media site or made available by hyperlink.
5. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this social media policy or any applicable law. Any material removed from the social media site must be archived by the individual removing the material, including the time, date, and identity of the poster, when available. If possible, archived data should reflect the context of the situation it was removed from.
6. The City of Ramsey reserves the right to block or delete any user who continually and habitually violates any or all of the social media policy points, or at the discretion of the City Administrator, or his/her designee. A list of deleted or blocked users should be archived by the individual removing the user.
7. Material posted by the public to City of Ramsey social media sites may not reflect the opinions and/or position of the City of Ramsey, its government officials, or its staff. This disclaimer must be displayed to users on the social media site or made available by hyperlink.
8. All material posted by the City to its social media sites should be neutral, public information, of broad community interest. The material posted must follow the City’s social media policy and align with the interest and goals of the City of Ramsey. Personal information of any City employees shall not be shared through the City’s social media sites without consent. The frequency at which posts are made to the social media site is at the discretion of the site administrator.
9. The City of Ramsey does not endorse any product, service, company or organization advertising on its social media sites. The ads that appear on the pages are sold, posted and maintained by the social media host site.
10. The City of Ramsey has the right to reproduce any pictures or videos posted to its social media sites in any of its publications or websites, or any other media outlets.
11. Standards for the administration of City of Ramsey social media sites:
a. All new social media tools proposed for use by the City of Ramsey will be approved by the City Administrator.
b. The IT manager will maintain a list of all City of Ramsey social media tools which are approved for use by the City Administrator, including login and password information. Staff will inform the IT manager of any new social media sites or administrative changes to existing sites.
c. As is the case for City of Ramsey's website, each department will be responsible for the content and upkeep of any social media sites their staff may create. One or more designated staff members will be deemed the administrator of that social media site.
d. The social media site administrator may designate additional staff members as editors to the page, if desired. (For example, a representative from the Public Works department may be designated as an editor to the City’s Facebook, allowing him or her to make regular posts to the page during the snow plowing season.)
e. Each designated staff member will be responsible for responding in a timely manner to any questions or comments that arise on material that they post. If that staff member is unable to respond in a timely manner, the site administrator will be responsible.
i. When appropriate, designated staff members will make a good-faith effort to provide an educated answer to any questions submitted via social media. In response to a question, designated staff members should always provide the appropriate department or staff member’s contact information to learn more.
ii. The designated staff member responding to a question or comment may take the conversation offline if they deem it necessary or appropriate for the situation.
f. Comments that violate the social media policy must be removed by the social media site administrator.
g. Any material posted by a designated staff member on behalf of another department must receive approval of the content by that department leader, or his/her designee.
12. Community Promotion on the City’s social media sites:
a. Liking, sharing, or tagging of other organization’s social media sites and material is left up to the discretion of the City’s social media site administrator, but must represent a non-profit organization or initiative that is aligned with the interests and goals of the City of Ramsey, as well as the City’s social media policy. (Examples of appropriate organizations include; Ramsey Heart Safe, Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce, Ramsey Police Department). Private business pages that represent sponsors of the City’s events or initiatives may also be included in this list, upon approval of the City Administrator, or his/her designee.
Wherever possible, the City’s social media sites shall clearly indicate that liking, sharing, or tagging of other organizations’ social media sites and materials may not reflect the opinions and/or position of the City of Ramsey, its government officials, or its staff.
b. Not-for-profit organizations, are allowed to request the use of the City’s social media sites as a resource for promoting their community event, upon properly completing and submitting the City’s “Community Event Promotion Application”. For-profit organizations may also request this resource when hosting a non-profit community event, upon approval of the City Administrator, or his/her designee. Private businesses may be allowed to utilize this resource under certain circumstances at the discretion of the City Administrator, or his/her designee. The organization, or the event, must be located within the City of Ramsey to be considered.
i. The Community Event Promotion application must be submitted a minimum of 5 business days prior to the start date of the promotion message; and, must not be submitted more than six months in advance of the start date of the message.
ii. The message will consist of an event flyer, provided by the organization in PDF or JPEG format.
iii. All messages are subject to change by the City of Ramsey and the City of Ramsey is not responsible for errors. Messages must follow the guidelines set by the social media policy. Any messages that violate the social media policy will be denied. Messages must be of broad community interest.
iv. Messages shall be posted on the City’s social media page no more than 14 days in advance of an event. Organizations must provide a preferred start date with their application. The City of Ramsey will make a good faith effort to accommodate the preferred message start date given by the applicant but cannot guarantee that the message will be posted on that date.
v. Messages posted to the City’s social media pages are displayed in the order that they were received. Therefore, the City cannot guarantee the message visibility as new messages continue to be posted to the page.
vi. The City reserves the right to prioritize the messages posted to its social media sites. Messages from the City of Ramsey, along with any urgent / emergency notices, will take precedence over community event messages.
vii. Organizations are limited to a maximum of four messages per year on the City’s social media site.
Adopted 2018