If you’re working in local government and have been hit by the social media tornado, it probably feels a bit like you’re not in Kansas – or any other familiar town – anymore. Communications people are grappling with how to integrate these new tools in a strategic way, rather than willy-nilly (that’s the technical term). But the impact of social media is hitting other key areas as well, like records management, FOI and privacy. I think lions, tigers and bears would be easier to handle.

I recently had the pleasure of participating on a panel with experts in records management and FOIPPA at a Clerks and Corporate Officers Forum. The topic was social media, and I felt like I had the easy job, because I was able to focus on the opportunities. My colleagues on the panel were dealing with the outcomes, like how to determine when something formed a record and how to protect people from themselves when it comes to privacy.

They talked about determining “custody and control” and whether the information constituted an official record. They look at how the content is being used, and whether it’s being duplicated in social media, but is captured as a record elsewhere.  And you can imagine how much fun it is to figure out how and when to capture and save “Tweet” and “Re-Tweet” messages.  Plus there is the added challenges of people who do not take steps to protect their private information, or randomly tag people in photos with complete disregard to that person’s preferences.

What’s impressive is that they are looking for ways to deal with social media in their areas of responsibility, rather than trying to shut it down or prevent its use. The reality is that social media is a new tool set that is not going away.  Government is struggling to figure out how to meet its requirements and still make things work. There has even been a need to provide a work-around for the privacy legislation requirements to allow for social media use in government applications.  Basically, the considerations within the law haven’t caught up to the actions in the community and within organizations.

So it’s pretty tricky all around. One of the things I took away from this session was that the various experts need to work together and keep each other informed. So to communicators: when you’re setting up a Discussion Forum or posting information related to City operations and decisions on Facebook and via Twitter, make sure you let your records management and FOI colleagues know.  That way, they can let you know what information needs to be captured and saved to ensure they have it on hand if needed. Don’t ignore their challenges just because it’s inconvenient.  And to the records/privacy folks, I say please keep using your expertise to determine ways to make this work.