Having trouble incorporating social media into your government workplace? Unsure of how to use it to your advantage? You're not alone.  

To help government offices better use the likes of Facebook and Twitter as tools to reach out to citizens and keep employees better connected, the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany-SUNY has released what it refers to as the eight essential elements for determining social media policy in government. 

According to the study (pdf), while there are some high profile examples of government agencies using social media tools, "for the vast majority of governments across the US, theses tools are still fairly new and relatively unexplored." 

Because of the government's inexperience with using social media, many agencies are left with the choice of creating new policies or applying the rules that shape their policy with other forms of media. This struggle has left many agencies with rules that don't work, or no real policy at all. 

To create these eight essentials, the study analyzed the social media policies of 26 different government agencies, and interviewed 32 government officials who were already utilizing social media in the workplace or were considering it. By analyzing policy, ranging from the comprehensive New Media and the Air Force handbook to the simple list of the State of Utah Social Media Guidelines, researchers  were able to determine what kind of rules were needed to create an effective policy for social media. 

1. The first of these essentials is determining rules for employee access. According to the study, the two common methods employers have taken to is either limiting which employees are allowed to access social media at work or restricting which sites employees are allowed to access at work. Most choose the first option, allowing only a select few to access these sites, while only one of the agencies reviewed allow their employees unfettered access to all social media. The downside to outright banning these sites for most employees is that many experts have been able to determine that some sites, such as YouTube, do have many professional uses, and its benefits outweigh its risks. 

2. For agencies that do allow employees access, the second essential comes up, which is how to manage the accounts created for agencies or individuals. Some states give authority over these to one officer, while others have multiple higher-ups who must be consulted for decisions on what these accounts can or cannot say and do. Because of the information these accounts can put out on the web, it is very important to establish who is charge of regulating these accounts. 

3. The third essential is determining acceptable use for employees accessing accounts online. Many agencies are simply using the same rules for social media that govern personal use of office telephones, etc., but as the line between what's professional vs. personal blurs easily in social media, agencies are having a tougher time navigating how to regulate use, and how punish violators. Most rules ban personal use during business hours, but the study suggests that there is no way to slap a "one-size fits all" policy on how to govern acceptable use, given the professional interests at hand with social media. 

4. A key one of these essentials is the fourth one, employee conduct. Distinguishing between the right and wrong way to use these tools, agencies generally refer to the already established code of conduct, no racially offensive language, etc. With others, "trust" is their guideline; employees are trusted to use their accounts in a professional manner, to represent the agency in a good light, both on official accounts and on the employees personal accounts. 

5. A rather open-ended essential is when it comes to content. Some agencies wield minimum editorial control over content, allowing contributors to blog freely. Some are much tighter about it. A quote from the Environmental Protection Agency's rules on content refer to blogging as a "privilege, not a right." If an employee is on a site such as GovLoop or LinkedIn, discussion about work-related topics is inevitable, for better or worse. Many agencies instruct their employees to use disclaimers to separating their opinion from the agency's.   

6. A big concern for agencies in regards to social media is maintaining security. Due to the kind of information that can be obtained from faulty security, most rules deal with passwords, who has them and how they should be structured. Many agencies require passwords to be complex, to cut down on the risk of hacking. Also, regular virus scanning is required in most sets of rules, sometimes for any post before it hits the Internet. Much of this worry stems from the fear of both spear phishing and social engineering --- forms of hacking that hijack information to manipulate users. 

7. With all of these elements considered, the possibility arises for legal issues: how to enforce any of the rules with regards to content and acceptable usage without violating areas such as freedom of speech, freedom of information, and privacy. Many agencies keep a record of tweets or postings, which is useful for future review. Another tactic is to utilize disclaimers to separate the personal from the professional, taking out the need for review. 

8. The last of these essential elements is citizen conduct. That is, how to deal with the interaction with civilian users on social media, who are allowed to post and contribute what they wish. Much of the point of using social media is to connect with the public, but agencies must decide if this kind of interaction is beneficial to them. In general, agencies have rules that prohibit any comments that use coarse language, incite violence/illegal activity, or are spam comments. Some policies use moderators to pre-approve comments before they hit the site, using their own discretion on what should or should not be posted.

Using these essentials, any agency can craft a policy towards social media that works the best for the function of the agency. For some, that may even mean no social media at all. However, for most agencies, interaction with a web-savvy populace is an important thing to have, so creating rules that allow this without compromising the agency itself is key.