Social Media Policy – Borough of Garwood, County of Union, State of New Jersey Adopted: Resolution No. 21-088
April 22, 2021
PURPOSE
The policy set forth herein provides guidelines for (A) the establishment and use by the Borough of Garwood (“Borough”) of any and all social media sites as a means of conveying Borough related information to its residents, Borough employees, and visitors; as wel
l as (B) providing guidance for Borough employees concerning their personal web pages, websites, and electronic social networking. The Borough has an overriding interest and expectation in deciding what is “spoken” on behalf of the Borough on its social media sites. DEFINITIONS
“Social media” is understood to be internet based resources and content by individuals, that integrate user generated content and user participation using accessible, expandable, and upgradable publishing technologies such as website and applications through and on the internet. This includes but is not limited to: social networking sites (e.g. Twitter, Tumblr), photo and video sharing sites (e.g. YouTube, TikTok), wikis (e.g. Wikipedia), blogs, dating sites, and message boards. SCOPE
This policy shall apply to (a) all Borough agencies, departments, boards, commissions, committees, employees and volunteers, as well as any affiliated government or non-government agency, (b) and to any and all elected officials permitted by the Borough to post on Borough social media sites. GENERAL POLICY
A. The objective of the use of social media by the Borough or its departments is to expand and facilitate the dissemination of information from the Borough to its residents.
1. No Borough social media shall be established without prior approval of the Borough Council.
2. The Borough’s social media shall be administered by the Borough Administrator and/or his/her designee.
3. The Borough’s social media shall clearly set forth that they are maintained by the Borough and that they follow this Social Media Policy.
4. Whenever possible, the Borough’s social media should link back to the official Borough website for forms, documents, online services and other information necessary to conduct business with the Borough. The Borough Administrator and/or his/her designee shall monitor Borough social media sites to ensure adherence to this Social Media Policy. The Borough has the right and will restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Social Media Policy or any applicable law. Any content removed based on these guidelines will be retained by the Borough Administrator and/or his/her designee pursuant to the applicable Borough retention policy, including the time, date, and identity of the poster when available. These guidelines must be displayed to users or made available by a hyperlink.
5. The Borough will approach the use of social media tools as consistently as possible, Borough-wide.
6. The Borough website at www.garwood.org will remain the Borough’s primary and predominant internet presence.
7. The Borough’s social media are not to be used for making any official communications to the Borough, for example, reporting crimes or...
The complete policy is available at https://garwood.org/socialmedia.
