I hate working at day care...

In yet another example of "employees behaving badly" on social media, a recently hired employee was terminated before she even started her job after her new employer learned that she had posted the following on Facebook:

I start my new job today, but I absolutely hate working at day care.

Yep, her employer was a day care center.

Post Authored by Julie Tappendorf

Coach Fired for Tweet

A high school softball coach was fired for posting the following "tweet" on her personal Twitter account:

The tweet was apparently a response to earlier statements made by restaurant owners to the press that "If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no."  Although the coach has since deleted the tweet, it lives on in "screen caps" as well as the many replies and forwards of her tweet.

The Indiana coach had been serving a suspension since April 1st, but the school district superintendent confirmed that she was officially terminated earlier this week.  

Federal Government Issues Guidelines on Employee Use of Social Media

On April 9, 2015, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics issued a legal advisory titled "The Standards of Conduct as Applied to Personal Social Media Use" that apply to executive branch employees of the federal government.  You can read the legal advisory here.  

The introduction to the legal advisory states that the standards of conduct are not intended to prohibit executive branch employees from establishing and maintaining personal social media accounts but to serve as guidelines for these employees in engaging in personal social media activities.  

Here's a preview of the standards of conduct:

1.  Use of Government Time and Property

When employees are on-duty, they must make an "honest effort to perform official duties."  That means that access and use of personal social media accounts should be limited while on duty.  Further, government property must be used only to perform official duties unless an employee is authorized to use the property for other purposes.  Finally, employees must follow their agency policies on social media use, including any 'limited use" policies.

2.  Reference to Government Title or Position & Appearance of Official Sanction

As a general rule, employees are prohibited from using their official titles, positions, or any authority associated with their public offices for private gain or in any manner that could be interpreted as government endorsement of their activities. However, the standards do not prohibit an employee from identifying his or her official title or position on the site's biographical information area.  The standards set out 7 factors for agency ethics officers to consider in determining whether an employee has violated this standard, including whether an employee states that he or she is "acting on behalf of the government" or "refers to his or her connection to the government as support for the employee's statements."  Employees are not required to post disclaimers disavowing government endorsement, although they are encouraged to clarify that their communications reflect only their personal views and not the views of the federal government or agency.

3.   Recommending and Endorsing Others on Social Media

Employees are permitted to make recommendations or endorsements of others in their personal capacity, such as on LinkedIn.

4.  Seeking Employment Through Social Media

Employees must be cautious in using social media to seek employment to ensure that their conduct complies with other federal regulations, including applicable disqualification requirements and any additional agency regulations.  Posting a resume or summary of professional experience will not violate the standards.

5.  Disclosing Nonpublic Information

Employees are prohibited from disclosing nonpublic information to further their private interests or the private interests of others.

6.  Personal Fundraising

Employees may use personal social media accounts to fundraise for nonprofit charitable organizations in a personal capacity, so long as the employee does not personally solicit funds from a subordinate or a known prohibited source.  Employees may not use their official titles, positions, or authority to further fundraising efforts.

7.  Official Social Media Accounts

Employees who use official government accounts must apply with the agency directives, regulations, and policies and all conduct and activities must be for official purposes.

Upcoming Webinar on Government Social Media Policies

Don't miss this upcoming free webinar on government social media policies:

Title:  What are You Forgetting in your Government Social Media Policy?

Date/Time:  March 18, 2015, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Central Time

Panelists:  

• Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink
• Luke Stowe, City of Evanston, Illinois
• Anil Chawla, ArchiveSocial
• Kristy Dalton, GovGirl and GSMCON Conference Director (Moderator)

Key Takeaways:

• Minimize risk for your agency & avoid a social media #fail
• Essential elements to your comment/monitoring policy & other legal issues
• Public record requirements: real life examples and legal case studies

This is a great prelude to the upcoming 2015 Government Social Media Conference & Expo in April, in Reno, Nevada.

Webinar registration information is here.

Upcoming Social Media Webinars for Government Officials/Employees

Attention government officials and employees - you might be interested in the following upcoming social media webinars:

Tuesday, July 8th, 2:00 p.m. EDT - 5 Steps to Creating Awesome Social Media Content for Government (even if you have no time or team), presented by Kristy Dalton (aka GovGirl).  

This webinar promises to be especially helpful for those public sector one person social media teams!  Registration link: 5 Steps to Creating Awesome Social Media Content for Government (even if you have no time or team)

Monday, July 21st, 2:00 p.m. EDT -  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Government and Public Sector, presented by Luke Stowe.

This webinar will present the new changes from Google's Panda 4.0 release in May as well as discuss the increasing importance of government agency's social media presence which impacts its constituent's search results.  The webinar will also cover available SEO tools and resources. Registration link: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Government and Public Sector

Social Media & Ethics CLE Webcast

On May 8, 2014, ALI-CLE will present a webinar titled "Ethical Considerations in the Use of Social Media: Avoiding the Common Mistakes" on May 8, 2014, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. (Eastern); 11:30-12:30 (Central), with blog author Julie Tappendorf as the presenter.  

ALI-CLE's summary of the webinar is below.  You can also learn more on ALI-CLE's website.

Attorneys are just as likely to use social media in their everyday lives as non-attorneys. They post pictures on Instragram, “check in” on Facebook, and tweet about politics, music, and what they ate for dinner just like everyone else. But where a hasty post or comment might lead only to embarrassment for some, a seemingly innocent disclosure by an attorney could lead to serious ethical repercussions!

This CLE ethics program on lawyers’ use of social media will help you avoid disclosures in social media that could create ethical problems for you. Designed by Julie Tappendorf, a leading authority on ethical issues, the 60-minute program offers an overview of the most common ways social media use could lead to ethical violations of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

This program addresses a series of concrete situations that could generate ethical issues for attorneys, including:

• giving legal advice outside your jurisdiction

• forming attorney-client relationships inadvertently though online activities

• using web sites, blogs, emails and chat rooms

• using social media in litigation

• revealing personal information

• employees’ use of social media

Yik Yak and the Social Media Bullying Trend

Education Law Insights posted a great article yesterday titled: How Lessons Learned From “Yik Yak” Can Help You Address The Next Novel Social Media Bullying Trend.  You may have read about this social networking "app" that allows users to post comments that can be seen by others within a 5 to 10 mile range.  Because the users are anonymous, the app has been used recently to bully others without repercussion. The problem became so widespread that some schools have gone so far as to disable the app entirely.

 

Visit Jackie Wernz's Educational Law Insights blog to read more about this story. 

Free Webinar on Local Governments & Social Media

Want to learn more about local governments and social media?  Then join me on March 20, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Central) for the following webinar:  "Tackling the Legal, Policy, and Archival Issues in SocialGov."  

Speakers include blog author Julie Tappendorf of Ancel Glink, Anil Chawla, CEO at ArchiveSocial, and Luke Stowe, Digital Services Coordinator at the City of Evanston. They will discuss best practices for government agencies participating in social media.

You can register by clicking here.  It's free, so why would you miss it?

Upcoming Webinar: Facebook for Government

On Thursday, February 13, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (CST), Adam Conner, Public Policy Manager at Facebook, and Kristy Dalton, CEO of Government Social Media, will present a webinar called "Facebook for Government."  The webinar will be moderated by Luke Stowe, Digital Services Coordinator with City of Evanston, Illinois.  Adam will answer your questions on how social media coordinators can best leverage Facebook for citizen engagement and Kristy will offer some best practices currently in use by government agencies. 

This special webinar is sponsored by International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Public Technology Institute (PTI), Association of Government Contact Professionals (AGCCP), National Association of Government Web Professionals (NAGW), and Government Social Media, LLC.

You can register for this webinar here.

Student Social Media Passwords Protected Under New Law

On January 1, 2014, HB 64 becomes effective making it unlawful for an Illinois school to ask for a student's social media password.  There are a few exceptions to the ban that would allow access if the school has reasonable cause to believe the student's account includes evidence that the student has violated a school rule or disciplinary policy.  Schools are also allowed to monitor student activity on school equipment and enforce policies on use of school electronic equipment.

 

Post Authored by Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink

Florida Social Media Ethics Rules Challenged by Law Firm

A Florida law firm filed a lawsuit against the Florida Bar challenging the state attorney ethics rules. Specifically, the firm claims that recent amendments to the attorney advertising rules to now include social media sites violate the firm's First Amendment rights and are unconstitutionally vague.

 

In Searcy v. Florida Bar, the law firm of Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley claims that the new rules are overly restrictive as they require all statements on social media to be "objectively verifiable." The new rules became effective in May, after the Florida Supreme Court approved the amendments to the advertising rules that removed a previous website exemption from the advertising rules.

 

The law firm had recently been found in violation of the "objectively verifiable" rule for certain opinions and statements about the firm's services and past cases on its website. The Florida Bar also found the firm's LinkedIn profile in violation because the subjective opinion of a former client was not "objectively verifiable" and because the LinkedIn site automatically described the firm's practice areas as "specialties."

 

The law firm claims that the rules are too vague to apply, and it isn't clear what information is allowed and what information must be removed from its website and social media sites.  The law firm claims that under the new rules, even Abraham Lincoln would have been found in violation:

 

"Indeed, Florida's rules are so broad that they would have subjected Abraham Lincoln to discipline for stating, in an 1852 newspaper advertisement, that his firm handled business with 'promptness and fidelity' — two words that are no more 'objectively verifiable' than those the Bar concludes violate its ethics rules here."

 

Although the case is challenging Florida's attorney ethics rules, it is a case worth watching by lawyers and law firms across the country.  This blog has raised questions about how LinkedIn's specialty and endorsement features might trigger compliance issues with attorney ethics rules, including advertising and certification restrictions, and the New York bar has already weighed in on this issue, finding that law firms could not list specialties on its LinkedIn profile.

Legal & Ethics Conference in Indianapolis

On December 4, 2013, blog author Julie Tappendorf will present a session on the legal and ethical issues with government use of social media at the Legal & Ethics Conference in Indianapolis.  500 state government lawyers and other government officials are expected to attend the conference, including the Indiana Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and Inspector General. among others.

Making the Switch to Feedblitz

I've been blogging for a little over two years on Municipal Minute and about a year on this blog, Strategically Social.  All bloggers understand the importance of "getting the word out," and I'm no exception.  Shortly after starting Municipal Minute, I began using Feedburner to "push" or deliver my blog posts to email subscribers.  Feedburner was easy to set up and once I input my scheduling preferences, it didn't require anything more from me.  

 

Everything worked quite well until a month or two ago, when I noticed that I was not getting regular email updates from my own blogs.  Although I was posting daily on Municipal Minute and weekly on Strategically Social, at least once or twice a week, I was not getting the blog post delivered via email.  I reached out to a few of my email subscribers and learned that some were experiencing the same inconsistency while others continued to receive all email updates.  I couldn't find any solution on Feedburner's forums nor was Feedburner responding to my requests for help.  It was time to change.

 

After much research, I chose to switch to Feedblitz.  I must not be the only former Feedburner customer to make that choice, because Feedblitz has put together a "Feedburner to Feedblitz" migration guide that walks you through each step of the process of moving your subscribers over to the new service.  I hit a few snags with the integration process (first, I had to learn what migration and integration meant - I'm a lawyer, not a techie after all) but Feedblitz support was so helpful - customer support promptly responded to every email I sent with helpful tips on getting everything working.  Within 30 minutes, I had all of my email subscribers for both blogs switched over and within a day or two most of my RSS subscribers are coming over too.

 

So, all in all, this process has been fairly painless.  There are a few things about Feedblitz that I'm not crazy about, but unreliable service is no longer an issue fortunately.  First, you have to pay for Feedblitz where Feedburner is a free service (some would say you get what you pay for).  Second, those who subscribe by RSS directly through Feedburner cannot be automatically migrated over to Feedblitz - you have to "encourage" them to switch over.  Three, you can only link one Twitter account to your blog feed, meaning that you may still have to use a third party service like Tweetfeed for multiple Twitter accounts.  On the other hand, Feedblitz provides the user with a lot more data than Feedburner.  My first blog post using Feedblitz was delivered seamlessly.  You can send messages to your email subscribers through Feedblitz without posting on your blog.   

 

I'm still figuring it all out, and it may take a week or two to get used to the new service and to learn all of the new features. 

 

 

84% of Local Governments Have a Social Media Presence

According to a recent study conducted by the International City/County Managers' Association (ICMA), 84% of local governments responding to the survey have a social media presence.  The benefits of social media for governments include the ability to quickly and inexpensively communicate on upcoming meetings, activities, events, and projects important to residents and others.  

 

You can read more about the survey on the ICMA website at Eighty-four Percent of Local Governments Have a Social Media Presence | icma.org.

New Jersey Passes Social Media Privacy Law

I have reported in the past on state laws protecting employee social media privacy, including social media password laws adopted by Illinois and Colorado.  Just last week, New Jersey Governor Christie signed legislation that prohibits employers from requiring employees and job candidates to disclose social media usernames and passwords, similar to the bans adopted by 11 other states.  New Jersey's law is different from other states in one important area, however - the law exempts public safety employers (including the department of corrections, state parole board, county corrections departments, and state and local police departments) from the law.  New Jersey employers can require employees to provide business-related social media passwords, to conduct investigations to ensure compliance with laws and policies, and to view and use information available in the public domain. 

 

A previous version of this bill had been approved earlier this year, but was vetoed by Governor Christie, who proposed a variety of changes that were incorporated into the enacted law. 

 

You can read the new law (and see the changes that were incorporated from the introduced version of the bill) here.

Michigan Study Links Social Media & Narcissism

The University of Michigan just completed a study that links social media and narcissism.  In You're so vain: U-M study links social media and narcissism, the study found that college students who posted more on Twitter also scored higher in certain types of narcissism.  Among middle-aged adults, narcissists posted more frequent status updates on Facebook. The study did not clarify whether narcissism leads to increased use of social media or whether social media use promotes narcissism.

Employees Behaving Badly on Social Media

ABC News and other news media are reporting on a Taco Bell employee who posted a picture of himself, in uniform and at work, licking a stack of tacos.  Taco Bell Conducts Investigation After Licked Taco Shell Photo Posted to Facebook - ABC News. 

I am filing this post under "What's New" but it really should be labeled "What Not to Do." More reason why (1) employers need to adopt and enforce a social media policy and (2) employees need to think before they overshare. 

I hate to even repost the picture - tacos for lunch anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retailers Are Using Your Social Media Profile

If you have a social media presence (and who doesn't these days?), be assured that retailers and other businesses are using your photo, your profile, and all other information you post on those sites to sell you something.  Facebook, Google, Apple, and others all collect social media users' "faceprints" to enter these photos and information obtained from your social media sites into a facial recognition database.  What do they do with that information?  They use it to target personalized advertising, of course.  If you have ever wondered why you keep seeing ads on the Internet that seem particularly targeted to you and your preferences and recent activity, you can be certain that these ads have been generated because of information you provide online. 

 

Laws in Europe require that companies obtain permission before they collect a faceprint.  However, there is no such law in the United States.  So, until the law catches up with technology, you should expect that any information you provide online is open fodder for commercial use. 

 

For more on this topic, check out the ABA Law Journal article "Is your photo online? Are you on Facebook? If so, retailers can ID you and your shopping profile."  You can also check out a recent story about Google Glasses and its facial recognition capabilities.

Are Your Employees Posting Work Videos on Vine?

The Wall Street Journal blog has a new article about Vine, the video sharing app developed by Twitter for iPhones.  According to the article, employees use Vine to post videos about their employers, co-workers, and themselves, while on the job.  Videos include an employee wearing a company uniform smoking from a bong and another employee filming herself leafing through what appears to be confidential business plans. There are plenty of videos of employees venting about how much they hate their jobs, including an employee making an obscene gesture at a grocery store where he apparently works.

 

You can access the article on the WSJ blog. Or, go to Vine and search for "work" videos. Just use your lunch break. And, be smarter than these employees - don't video yourself watching them.  If you have an Android phone?  Forget about it - Vine is only for Apple users.

New Study on Teens, Social Media & Privacy

On May 21st, the Pew Research Center released a study titled "Teens, Social Media, and Privacy." The group had surveyed 802 teens about their social media activities and how they protect their privacy online. Not surprisingly, teens don't have the same privacy concerns as adults  do in using social media.  They also don't like to "share" their social media sites with adults - leading to the movement from Facebook to newer sites like Instagram. Fastest way to make something unpopular with teens? Bring in old people.

You can access the full report here, and a summary of the findings is below:

·        Teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they did in the past. For the five different types of personal information that we measured in both 2006 and 2012, each is significantly more likely to be shared by teen social media users in our most recent survey.

·       Teen Twitter use has grown significantly: 24% of online teens use Twitter, up from 16% in 2011.

·        The typical (median) teen Facebook user has 300 friends, while the typical teen Twitter user has 79 followers.

·        Focus group discussions with teens show that they have waning enthusiasm for Facebook, disliking the increasing adult presence, people sharing excessively, and stressful "drama," but they keep using it because participation is an important part of overall teenage socializing.

·        60% of teen Facebook users keep their profiles private, and most report high levels of confidence in their ability to manage their settings.

·        Teens take other steps to shape their reputation, manage their networks, and mask information they don’t want others to know; 74% of teen social media users have deleted people from their network or friends list.

·        Teen social media users do not express a high level of concern about third-party access to their data; just 9% say they are "very" concerned.

·        On Facebook, increasing network size goes hand in hand with network variety, information sharing, and personal information management.

·        In broad measures of online experience, teens are considerably more likely to report positive experiences than negative ones. For instance, 52% of online teens say they have had an experience online that made them feel good about themselves.