The Municipality of Lambton Shores
Purpose
The Municipality of Lambton Shores’ Social Media Usage and Guidelines establishes and outlines the principle use for the Municipality’s social media accounts, procedures for collaboration opportunities, staff response times, and guiding principles for appropriate use.
Primary Goals and Usage
The Municipality of Lambton Shores has three official social media channels/accounts: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The accounts are managed by municipal staff to enhance communication efforts between the Municipality and the public.
The primary goals of social media usage by the Municipality:
- Increase awareness of municipal services and events, such as public notices, upcoming Capital Projects, and other public relations efforts
- Disseminate time-sensitive information quickly and effectively
- Build a stronger relationship with the community and provide additional means to gather information
- Correct misinformation, remedy mistakes, or adjust services
- Overall, provide an additional method to collaborate with the public
Collaboration and Promotion Through Municipal Social Media Channels
The Municipality's social media channels are not used to promote private business services or products. However, the Municipality may use official channels to help support and promote external organizations and events under certain circumstances. Content will be deemed relevant and appropriate at the discretion of staff. If you or your organization would like to submit content for one of the Municipality’s social media channels, you can submit a request using our online submission form.
Response Time
The Municipality’s social media channels are monitored during business hours (Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.). Staff aim to address all appropriate comments within 12 business hours.
Please note that this turnaround time can be impacted by staff availability and resources across the Municipality. Therefore, there may be instances when a response may take more time. Additionally, there may be situations that are best dealt directly with specific departmental staff, and responses may therefore direct users to a submission portal on the website or provide relevant department contact information.
Guiding Principles of Appropriate Use
The Municipality recognizes that social media can be a place for dialogue and public expression. However, social media followers and engagers are expected to engage respectfully on Municipal channels.
Content, comments, or links containing any of the following will not be acknowledged (or, in some cases, will be removed or hidden) on any Municipality of Lambton Shores social media channels:
- Disrespectful or slanderous comments
- Comments not directly related to the post or article
- Unsolicited promotion of business services, products, or events other than official sponsors, affiliations, or partnerships
- Promotion of political candidates
- Promotion of illegal activity
- Spam or otherwise irrelevant external links
- Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems
- Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party
In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and in protecting Municipal employees from harm and harassment in the workplace, the Municipality will also not condone the following on social media:
- Abusive, profane, derogatory, or offensive comments
- Slanderous or defamatory remarks, and obscene language
- Information that may compromise the safety or security of Municipal employees
- Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates any and all forms of discrimination
Should comments that meet any of the four criteria above be directed at any Municipal social media channels, any of the following steps may be taken:
- The Municipality may request that the offender remove the offensive content
- The Municipality may remove or hide the offensive content
- The Municipality reserves the right to block/ban users from the Municipality’s official social media channels if their activities continually go against the policy above
Note: the Municipality may seek the assistance of the relevant social networking service in flagging and/or blocking offensive comments and users.
Contact Us
