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It would be useful for elected officials to consider the effect personal comments about official city <br />business can have on the city as a whole. Just as with face -to -face comments, electronic comments <br />via social media can serve to "stir the pot" when an official speaks in opposition to an official city <br />position adopted by a vote of the council. The city council might consider voluntary policy <br />language to prevent this kind of awkward situation. <br />Elected officials should also be mindful of the risks of electronic communication in relation to the <br />Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and the Open Meeting Law, and should consider <br />adopting a policy on electronic communications between council members, and consider adopting <br />a computer use policy for elected officials. Remember, two way communications amongst elected <br />officials should be strictly avoided due the possibilities of serial meetings in violation of the Open <br />Meeting Law. <br />• Account Names. Personal social media account names <br />should be not be tied to the city. This will help clarify <br />that the individual is not speaking officially on behalf <br />of the city. For example, the personal Twitter account <br />for Jane Deer, the Mosquito Heights Mayor, should be <br />just "JaneDeer," her Facebook page "Jane Deer's" and <br />so on. <br />• Transparency. Elected officials who use personal <br />social media accounts should be encouraged to <br />complete profiles on those sites, and to reveal that they <br />are elected officials for the city. They should be <br />encouraged to include a statement that any opinions <br />they post are their own, not those of the city. They <br />should be aware that — even though they are revealing <br />their affiliation with the city — they will inherently <br />create perceptions about the city among visitors to their <br />personal account sites. Individual actions, whether positive or negative, will impact how the <br />city is viewed. A good rule of thumb to encourage them to follow is that if they would be <br />embarrassed to see their comment appear in the news, they shouldn't post it. <br />• Honesty. Encourage elected officials who use personal social media accounts to be honest, <br />straightforward and respectful. Educate them that if they choose to comment on city issues, <br />they are personally responsible for what they post. They should be mindful of the need to abide <br />by privacy and confidentiality laws in all postings. individuals should be sure that efforts to be <br />honest don't result in sharing non - public information related to coworkers, personnel data, <br />medical information, claims or lawsuits, or other non - public or confidential information. <br />• Mistakes, liability and claims against the city. If an elected official makes a factual mistake, <br />it should be corrected as soon as the official is are aware of the error. Corrections should be <br />upfront and as timely as possible. If the elected official is correcting a blog entry, she may <br />choose to modify an earlier post, and make it clear the posting has been corrected. If correcting <br />Learn More <br />Read more in the following <br />materials from the League: <br />Electronic Communications <br />Between Council Members <br />Managing Your City's Electronic <br />Records <br />Complying with the Minnesota <br />Government Data Practices Act <br />These items and more are at in <br />the Resource Library of <br />http: / /www.Imc.org <br />Page 10 of 12 <br />66 <br />