Desk Itemlow" o MEETING DATE: 09/01/15
ITEM NO: T
I
�Og'G'R�09 COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT DESK ITEM
DATE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LES WHITE, INTERIM TOWN MA
SUBJECT: ADOPT A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY AND AUTHORIZE THE USE OF SOCIAL
MEDIA FOR TOWN BUSINESS, CONSISTENT WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA
POLICY
REMARKS:
After the initial Staff Report was distributed on August 27, 2015, staff received inquiries from
Council which are addressed below.
1. Page 5, Paragraph 2 of the Staff Report states, "The mobile apps are not developed for
two -way communication and do not allow citizens to view information posted by other
citizens." Does this refer to ALL mobile apps described in the report - or just the
library app described immediately preceding that sentence? And second, how does the
Town prevent re- tweeting, posting, etc., of whatever is on the app by users other than
the Town (related to "others can't see it ") -- I assume we can't prevent it, and why
would we want to?
Answer:
This refers to both the Library mobile app and the Police Department mobile app. These
mobile apps are more like mobile webpages. They do not have social media functions such
as re- tweeting, commenting, posting, liking, etc. Any information that is sent through this
app is on a form that is akin to a web form on our Town website. Once completed, these
forms are delivered to a specified email account for response. They are not posted for
others users to see and the interaction between the department and the individual who
submitted the request is completed by phone or email.
If users were inclined to take a screen shot of a specific section of the app, the screen shot
could be posted to the individual's social media site and shared that way. There would be
no need to prevent this from happening as all information posted on the app is meant for the
public.
PREPARED BY: HEIDI MURPHY,,/
Library Director L
Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager
Social Media Desk ltem.docx
Town Attorney
PAGE 2
MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
REMARKS (cont'd):
Additionally, both of these apps have the ability to link to the Town's social media sites at a
future date consistent with the proposed Social Media Policy. This type of link could also be
added to the Town's website at a future date. Staff has not proposed such links at this time.
2. A comment and question regarding Open Town Hall and Mind Mixer: a public
meeting implies an open forum with everyone hearing and participating and I wonder
how these apps get managed so that everyone has equal access to all of the information?
So, for example, if it's used at a TC meeting, how do we make sure that Councilperson
A doesn't get some private communication from Citizen A, which may potentially
affect Councilperson A's position, but is not communicated to the entire Council or to
members of the public who aren't Citizen A?
Answer:
MindMixer was originally developed as a community engagement tool. The concept was for
all conversations to be open to everyone who participated. Since the original research for
this staff report, MindMixer has gone through a rebranding and reimagining as
mySidewalk, which is a free platform for individuals, organizations and communities.
MySidewalk focuses on bringing together conversation strings from multiple platforms
around a specific topic. For example, the Town could post a question on mySidewalk and
distribute the question out on other social media platforms, then gather the data from those
multiple platforms through mySidewalk. Again, there is no function within this platform for
private messages to be sent. More information on this platform can be found at:
https://mysidewalk.com /public - engagement. This is not a replacement for Council meetings
or intended to be used during Town Council meetings.
Open Town Hall and MindMixer (mySidewalk) both display comments from the public
openly. They are meant to be extensions of the public forum in the virtual world. They do
not offer an avenue for the public to send private messages to one specific Council Member.
Council would be able to see all postings and all posters would be able to see any Council
responses.
Open Town Hall is meant to be used to gather public input on specific topics or to provide a
virtual forum for agenda topics. Open Town Hall touts its forums as "civil, fair, legal,
guided, insi&h I, easy, and cost effective." You can learn more about their product at
their website.• https ://www.peakdemocracv.com/how it works ?side menu item =civil.
Additionally, you can view Palo Alto's Open Town Hall forum at:
http://www.yeakdemocracy.com/Portals/5"/%rum home ?a =77. Palo Alto is using this tool
for engagement on specific topics.