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BCLA Social Media Policy

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BCLA POLICY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

INTRODUCTION: The British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) maintains an online presence through its website, list servs, and various forms of social media, which serve as essential platforms for sharing BCLA-related information with members and stakeholders. The official voice of the Association is the President and the Executive Director. It is their responsibility to disseminate strategic and operational information to members, stakeholders, and the larger community. Because BCLA supports a number of groups and projects with varying objectives, the onus for sharing information through social media or other digital platforms related to each is often on the individuals working with that particular group or project.

PURPOSE: This policy is intended to assist individuals acting as a representative of BCLA in any capacity, group, or project, in sharing BCLA content or information in a manner that complies with BCLA’s mission, vision, and strategic objectives. BCLA reserves the right to request modification or removal of any submission that is not supportive of the Association’s views and values. The BCLA Social Media Policy will be reviewed on a regular basis by a subcommittee of the Board to ensure the policy remains relevant with the rapid rate of change in social media.

DEFINITIONS:

  • Stakeholders: May refer to BCLA members, partners, government officials, vendors, or any other group or individual with an interest in BCLA activities.
  • Social Media: This includes, but is not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Flickr, YouTube, Goodreads, blogs, websites, and list servs.
  • Social Media Content: Includes original content or commentary expressing personal views on shared content.
  • Groups & Projects: For the purpose of this document, groups refers to BCLA’s various sections, committees, and interest groups, while projects refers to partners or other initiatives of (or related to) BCLA.

GUIDELINES:

  • Who Can Post: Designated members of BCLA groups and projects, BCLA staff, and BCLA volunteers.
  • Privacy: BCLA strictly adheres to the privacy laws of British Columbia. Under no circumstances will users disclose any personal or otherwise confidential information through social media outlets.
  • Copyright: Use of images, videos, quotes, or any other external content that is not covered under the fair use doctrine is to be properly attributed to its content owner as required by Canadian copyright laws , or it must include the content’s Creative Commons license as appropriate. The dissemination of videos or photographs that include recognizable individuals is only acceptable when the required consent forms have been signed and retrieved.
  • Ethics: Any person using social media on behalf of BCLA, or a BCLA group or project, should exercise the utmost professionalism and respect. Under no circumstances may users include language that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, profane, obscene, libelous, hateful, or discriminatory in both original posts and replies. BCLA reserves the right to request modification or removal of any submission that it believes to not be supportive of the Association’s views and values.
  • Quality: Prior to being shared, content poster is to review all content for clarity, accuracy, grammar, spelling, and relevance. BCLA social media platforms may not be used to promote personal or political projects or agendas, or to circulate spam or other content that is not relevant to BCLA as stipulated by its mission, vision, strategic objectives, and stated values.
  • Use of Personal Accounts on BCLA Social Media: BCLA recognizes that its affiliates may maintain a personal social media presence that may be viewed by a public audience. Such users should clearly and visibIy state that the views expressed within their social media platform(s) are their own rather than those of the BCLA’s. Personal social media accounts may be used to share BCLA-related content but should not serve as official outlets for content communication or distribution.
  • Use of BCLA Logo: Use of the BCLA logo on social media must comply with the image quality standards established by that particular social media platform. Images must be of a high resolution and of appropriate dimensions and file type. High resolution versions of the BCLA logo are available, upon request, from the BCLA office. Alterations of this logo (such as a group’s inclusion of its name on the image) must also comply with these standards. Any group or project member wishing to alter the Association’s logo must submit the image to the BCLA office for approval by the Executive Director prior to using.
  • Creating or Closing Social Media Accounts:
    • Anyone creating a social media account for BCLA-related activities should inform the BCLA office of the new account so that BCLA can promote such content as needed as well as ensure compliance with the guidelines outlined in this policy.
    • Due to a natural turnover in group and project members, anyone maintaining a social media account on behalf of that group or project pass permissions for all social media accounts on to their successor, copy BCLA office on the turnover (absent an immediate successor, these permissions can be provided to the BCLA office, which will save and later share those permissions with the eventual successor.). This ensures the continuity of existing social media platforms, reduces instances of duplicate accounts, and cuts down on the existence of unused or underused social media platforms. If it is clear that a BCLA-affiliated social media account is no longer being maintained, BCLA may ask the designated group or project leader to consider reviving or otherwise closing that social media account.

Last approved: Dec. 4, 2017

This social media policy adopts some language and concepts from the following documents: