Our social media policy
Advice and guidance for the public
We use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to engage with the public and keep people informed about services we provide and events we are involved with. A strong social media presence is particularly important in the event of severe weather or a major incident or emergency. Our aim is to provide channels people can turn to and trust when they need accurate and up to date information.
Our OIC Updates Facebook page and @OrkneyCouncil Twitter feed provide general information about Council services and events.
Our OIC School Transport page is used to provide the latest information on school closures and school transport disruptions during bad weather.
We use the @OIC_Roads Twitter feed to advise when closures of the Churchill Barriers are possible or in place. This channel is also used to provide roads information, for example when surface dressing is taking place, and updates when the Kirkwall sea defences are or are likely to be deployed.
Video content that highlights the work of the organisation is made available through our YouTube and Facebook channels.
Moderation
Our social media channels are administered by our Communications Team and are monitored during normal office hours. They are not routinely monitored 24/7.
Please don’t use Facebook or Twitter channels to report a service fault or to make a complaint. For help with services, to report a fault or make a complaint, phone Customer Services on 01856 873535 (Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 17:00), send an email to customerservice@orkney.gov.uk or use our new MyOrkney online service.
To make a Freedom of Information request send an email to foi@orkney.gov.uk
Acceptable use of our social media channels
We reserve the right to remove any contributions or block people commenting on our social media posts if the following guidelines are broken:
- Be civil, tasteful and relevant.
- Do not post messages that are unlawful, prejudicial to court proceedings, harassing, defamatory, abusive, bullying, threatening, harmful, libellous, obscene, profane, sexually oriented or racially offensive.
- Do not swear.
- Do not make offensive remarks about someone else.
- Do not post content copied from elsewhere, for which you do not own the copyright.
- Do not post the same message, or very similar messages, more than once (also called "spamming").
- Do not post irrelevant, fake or unsubstantiated links, information or videos.
- Do not publicise your, or anyone else's, personal information, such as contact details.
- Do not advertise products or services.
- Do not impersonate someone else.
We will also block any user who:
- Continues to post comments that break the guidelines listed above.
- Uses offensive images as their profile picture, for example, sexually explicit images.
- Has an offensive username.
This guidance is not exhaustive and will be updated when required. Users should also make themselves aware of Facebook's own terms and conditions.
