Agenda item

To consider the draft Social Media Policy and provide feedback prior to its presentation at Cabinet (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate which asked the members to consider the Social Media Policy prior to its presentation to Cabinet.

The Group Communications and Engagement Manager presented the report and ighlighted that:

The Policy was structured around three key elements:

• Reviewing how and why communications were delivered on social media, improving consistency, and reducing the current haphazard presentation caused by high volumes of content.
• Ensuring respectful behaviour online and maintaining inclusive conversations through standardised house rules across all three councils.
• Addressing the volume of comments and queries received on social media in a timely and consistent manner.
  • An audit had shown that a substantial number of comments across social media platforms required a more structured response process.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members supported the need for a consistent approach and queried whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) could assist with managing social media content.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager advised that AI could support research and certain tasks, but it was not a complete solution for strategic communications. Transparency was emphasised as essential when using AI-generated content, and any such content would need to be clearly identified to maintain trust with residents.

• A Member referred to page 69 of the report, noting that the policy stated that AI-generated content would not be used unless clearly attributed when shared from stakeholders.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager confirmed this aligned with the outlined approach.

• Members queried demographic data, noting that most followers appeared to be female, and asked whether this was linked to the timing of bulletins.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager confirmed that the split was approximately 60% female across all councils and suggested this may relate to early adoption patterns of Facebook and its social nature. Demographic insights would help with future targeting strategies.

• Members commented on the randomness of some posts and suggested a more structured approach, such as themed weekly summaries and improved website integration, allowing residents to easily find posts relevant to specific services. It was further suggested that AI could be useful for improving website navigation and content retrieval.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager clarified that while AI could assist in website functionality, this was outside the scope of the Social Media Policy. AI implementation would require a well-structured and indexed website, which was currently under review as part of the wider transformation programme.

• A member referred to the objectives section and queried the review of X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky usage, noting that engagement on X had been minimal, with no comments in the last six months and the last post dating back to May.
  • The Group Communication and Engagement Manager explained that engagement on X had declined steadily over the past 18–24 months. Changes to X’s algorithms had negatively impacted public sector visibility, leading many organisations to reduce activity and explore alternative platforms. The partnership had paused activity on X pending further review.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager added that BlueSky had not overtaken X in popularity and that Facebook remained the primary channel, with WhatsApp slowly developing as a managed platform. Nextdoor offered an initial advantage by granting access to a large user base; however, engagement levels had been low, and the platform had not met early expectations for hyper-local interaction.

• Members asked whether the Council intended to discontinue use of X.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager responded that X had been retained for election-related communications due to high the engagement among politicians during that period. Outside of elections, engagement had been minimal, and continued use would be reviewed.

• Members observed that residents were more likely to visit the Council’s Facebook page than its website, except for transactional purposes. They noted that South Holland’s follower numbers were lower than Boston and East Lindsey.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager explained that South Holland’s Facebook page had been restarted in 2018 due to issues with the previous page, which accounted for the discrepancy in follower numbers.

• A member referred to page 12 of the policy, which stated that social media accounts would be monitored from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. They suggested amending the wording to “intermittently” to avoid implying constant monitoring. The member also questioned the commitment to respond to queries within three working days and asked whether this applied to comments, given the lack of a Direct Message facility on Facebook.
  • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager confirmed that Messenger was used for direct contact and that PSPS handled service-related queries.
    • The Members agreed that three working days might be too long for residents to wait for a response.
      • The Group Communications and Engagement Manager agreed to check whether the Facebook page included a direct messaging link and would report back to the Panel.

• Members referred to the objectives section, which stated that social media house rules would be shared in the file section of the social media pages. They asked whether it was possible to request that users should agree to these rules when following the page and suggested including a clause requiring passwords to be changed when staff with access leave the organisation.
  • The Group Communications and Engagements Manager agreed that password changes were already standard practice but confirmed this would be explicitly referenced in the policy. It was agreed to review whether pre-populated agreement questions could be implemented for pages, noting that if this was not possible, compliance would be implied through interaction with posts.

·         Members queried whether dormant or ghost accounts among followers could be affecting engagement figures.

o   The Group Communications and Engagement Manager confirmed this was likely and noted that cleansing follower lists and monitoring for bots would be considered as part of future security measures.

AGREED:

1)    That following consideration from the Panel the comments and feedback be noted and the recommendation of the draft Social Media Policy to Cabinet be supported.

2)    That an update be presented to the Panel one year from its adoption at Cabinet.