The following article appeared in the October 11 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
City councillors received some wise advice Tuesday about venturing into the world of social media.
“Use your best judgment,” Tara Sprigg, the city’s manager of corporate communications, told the governance committee.
The committee received a staff report containing principles and guidelines for councillors using social media such as blogs or websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Ward 2 Coun. Ian Findlay, who operates a popular blog, noted it can be a fine line between informing and engaging the public and providing too much information.
The guidelines advise councillors participating in social media to be honest in their online engagement and always measure their conduct against council’s code of conduct.
“If you think a post or comment could compromise your professional integrity or that of the city, check with someone who has some distance from the issue,” the report advises. “Once it is published there is no taking it back.”
But the guidelines caution social media “is about reciprocity.
“If you are going to engage and invite comment then you should accept the good with the bad,” the document says.
Coun. Leanne Piper, who along with wardmate Lise Burcher, runs a Ward 5 blog, asked if social media sites should include disclaimers.
She noted that if she comments on an issue before council has voted on it, that’s her opinion only, and does not necessarily reflect the will of council as a whole.
“I would certainly appreciate some sort of generic disclaimer that I could use,” Piper said.
Sprigg said when the city set out to craft a set of social media guidelines, they found other municipalities were interested in finding out what Guelph has been doing “because we’re perceived as being ahead of the curve.”
The document will be considered by the full city council later this month.