Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, exchange and comment contents among themselves in virtual communities and networks.
Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and film as they are comparatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information.
We strive to include and promote positive images that represent people from all sections of the community across our communications in accordance with the aims of the council’s Equality and Diversity Policy.
Facebook is a hugely popular social networking site enabling people to make connections, share interests, opinions, photos and video as well as joining groups. Facebook has over a billion active users. People need to register to use the site, after which they may create a profile for themselves, add other users as friends, and exchange information such as messages, links, photos and videos.
We use it for
Our main page is at www.southglos.gov.uk/facebook and it is where you can stay up to date with activities, events, photos, videos and discussions. There are also individual Facebook pages created for some major events in the area. We will promote these pages along with the events as and when they happen.
YouTube is a video sharing service that allows people to discover, watch, upload and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers, large and small.
We use it for
Videos provide a great record of events, capturing the mood and atmosphere far better than a single image. We also use them to promote schemes and projects we’re involved with. They can also be used to provide information in British Sign Language.
Vimeo is a high quality video sharing service that allows people to discover, watch, upload and share original videos. Vimeo provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers, large and small.
We use it for
Videos provide a great record of events, capturing the mood and atmosphere far better than a single image. We also use them to promote schemes and projects we’re involved with. They can also be used to provide information in British Sign Language. Whilst all of our videos are available on YouTube, we are also working to include these on Vimeo in high quality.
Twitter is an instant information and communication network. It connects people to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what they find interesting. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information or messages called Tweets. Each Tweet can be up to 140 characters long which include any links to photos, videos or other online content. Tweets from people you follow on twitter appear in your own timeline. People on twitter can also follow you, so that your tweets appear in their timelines. Retweeting is to forward a tweet from someone that you follow to the people who follow you. Hashtags are user generated text labels included in a tweet to help others follow a common discussion or theme. You can also mention other usernames in tweets by preceding the name with @.
We use it for
We use Twitter to let you know when our gritters are on the roads; tell you election results as they come in; give you notice of events and inform you of the latest council news.
Flickr is an image or photo sharing service that allows people to discover, view, upload and share original photos and short original videos.
We use it for
We use Flickr to share with you photographs when promoting projects, events and schemes that we are involved with.
Commenting and posting
We always welcome your comments on our social media pages but we will remove any that do not adhere to our simple guidelines below.
Liking and following
We will be delighted if you choose to ‘like’ us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Youtube, Vimeo and Flickr to receive updates on the latest council news, events, emergency alerts, video and photo content and more.
We may follow or ‘like’ people or organisations that provide information relevant to our work, or to help support local or national campaigns relevant or connected to our services.
We may also need to follow or ‘like’ an account in order to take part in conversations. By following or ‘liking’ an individual or organisation in these circumstances, this does not mean that we endorse them, their activities or the views they express.
Monitoring and moderation
We monitor all activity on all of our social media channels.
We want you to have your say and we do not censor comments, even if they are critical of the council.
However, we reserve the right to block anyone from posting on our pages who makes abusive, disruptive or offensive comments. Any content that does not meet our simple guidelines will be removed without reference to the poster.
The rules are simple – posts and comments on our Facebook, Youtube or Flickr pages should:
- be civil, tasteful and relevant
- not be unlawful, harassing, libellous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, or sexually or racially offensive
- not include content for which the poster does not own the copyright
- not repeat the same message, or very similar messages, more than once (often referred to as spamming)
- not publicise any personal information, either the poster’s own or somebody else’s
- not advertise products or services
- not promote political parties