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5. Content <br />The issues of who is allowed to post <br />content on official agency social media <br />pages and who is responsible for <br />ensuring its accuracy came up <br />frequently in our interviews and <br />fourteen of the reviewed documents <br />address content management in some <br />way. Content management strategies <br />range from some agencies exerting <br />minimal editorial controls over content <br />by allowing their employees to write <br />freely in agency blogs on various <br />mission related topics (e.g., US EPA), to <br />other agencies that keep responsibility for content creation and management solely with <br />the public information officer (e.g., City of Seattle, Washington). <br />Sample language concerning content management <br />"Agencies are responsible for establishing, publishing, <br />and updating their pages on social media sites. Although <br />it will be the agency's responsibility to maintain the <br />content, the Office of Public Affairs will monitor the <br />content on each of the agency pages to ensure 1) a <br />consistent countywide message is being conveyed and 2) <br />adherence to the Social Media Policy. The Office of Public <br />Affairs also reserves the right to direct agencies to modify <br />social media content based on best practices and <br />industry norms." <br />— Fairfax County, VA <br />In many cases, such as Fairfax County, VA, <br />the responsibility for creating content is <br />given to the department or individual <br />who created the account, with the <br />agency's public information officer being <br />responsible for ensuring the accuracy of <br />the posted information and adherence to <br />existing social media policies. <br />The question of content management <br />with respect to an employees' <br />professional and personal use is left <br />largely unexplored in policy and guideline <br />documents. However, it was a concern <br />for many of the professionals we <br />interviewed. Outside of official agency <br />social media pages, these professionals <br />are more and more engaging in work - related group discussions on sites such as GovLoop <br />or Linkedin and leaving online comments in response to work - related topics on external <br />blogs. Ten of the 26 policies reviewed simply instruct their employees to always use a <br />standard disclaimer that distances the employee's opinions and content from the official <br />agency position. <br />Sample language concerning content management <br />"Public Affairs will: <br />• Maintain the blog, including the look and feel and <br />pages for the comment policy, blog description, etc. <br />• Review each post. This will primarily be for policy <br />and legal issues; other editing will be very light, <br />essentially only to correct spelling or grammatical <br />mistakes. <br />Coordinate review with the Office of General <br />Counsel for legal issues. <br />"EPA blogging is a privilege, not a right. Because of <br />federal and legal responsibilities, EPA management <br />reserves the right to review blog content or to un-invite <br />anyone to blog. " <br />--US Environmental Protection Agency. <br />For example, the social media policy and guidelines for the US Air Force instructs <br />employees to specify, through a disclaimer, that any comments provided by an employee <br />on external social media sites are personal in nature and do not represent the views of the <br />US Air Force. In addition, while not included in their guidelines or policy documents, the <br />US Air Force developed a flowchart designed to help airmen decide how to respond to <br />9 <br />78 <br />