WEAC Social Networking Guidelines
The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) believes in fostering a thriving online community and supports social networking as a valuable component of shared media. WEAC’s Social Networking Guidelines have been developed for WEAC and the members who use WEAC’s social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Legal Parameters: The following paragraphs discuss your general legal responsibilities and non-disclosure obligations. Failure to abide by these guidelines can result in serious ramifications, such as the loss of social networking privileges, the removal of material and adverse employment actions. The word “material” refers to anything posted on WEAC’s social networking sites, including but not limited to, comments, documents, photographs and videos.
Legal Liability
You are personally responsible for the material that you post on WEAC’s Social Networking sites. You can be held personally liable for any material deemed to be defamatory, obscene, proprietary, or libelous (whether pertaining to WEAC, individuals, or any other company). In essence, you post material at your own risk. Outside parties actually can pursue legal action against you (not WEAC) for postings.
Do not post material that is illegal, sexually explicit, obscene, defamatory, derogatory, related to alcohol or drug use, or in violation of copyright laws.
Do not post any material regarding any student’s educational record, or other confidential information regarding any student, whether you identify the student or not, as you may violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and may subject yourself to discipline and/or discharge.
Do not access WEAC’s Social Networking sites from your school computer or during work time.
WEAC’s Social Networking sites are not for commercial use. Any advertisements or other for-profit materials not authorized by WEAC are strictly prohibited.
WEAC reserves all rights to refuse to post any material or remove any material that violates these guidelines, violates WEAC policy, or is otherwise inappropriate.
Company Privileged Information
You may not post material regarding any confidential information related to WEAC’s policy, strategy, financials, members, etc. You may not use the WEAC logo and/or trademarks without WEAC’s express written permission.
Press Inquiries
Postings may generate media coverage. If a member of the media contacts you about a WEAC-related blog posting or requests WEAC information of any kind, contact WEAC PR at (800) 362-8034. You should also reach out for PR clarification on whether specific information has been publicly disclosed before you post material.
Best Practices: These four recommendations provide a roadmap for constructive, respectful, and productive use of WEAC’s Social Networking sites.
Be Respectful
Respect your audience and your coworkers. Take care not to engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in the workplace. All WEAC members can be viewed (correctly or incorrectly) as representatives of the union, which can add significance to your public reflections on the organization (whether you intend to or not).
Get Your Facts Straight
To ensure you are not misrepresenting WEAC or its work or positions consider reaching out to the relevant WEAC staff member before posting material. This courtesy will help you provide your readers with accurate insights, especially when you are posting material outside your area of expertise.
Be Mindful of Your Public Image
Consider the image you want to portray to the public. Be mindful that what you post may be viewed by parents, students, administrators and community members, and may stay public for a long time.
Use Your Best Judgment
Remember there may be consequences to what you post. Consider your content carefully. If you are about to post something that makes you slightest bit uncomfortable, review these guidelines and think about whether to post the material.
Standards for Appropriate Conversation
WEAC believes it is important that online conversations on its Web site and other social media tools remain professional and respectful. WEAC monitors comments prior to posting to ensure compliance with its Social Networking Guidelines. WEAC posts comments quickly, but reserves the right to decline to post comments or remove comments if they are inappropriate or otherwise violate the WEAC Social Networking Guidelines.
Length
Be succinct. If a comment is overly lengthy, WEAC reserves the right to shorten it. At most, please keep your comment to less than 500 words.
Reasons for not approving comments include: - The comment is not respectful.
- The comment is not relevant to the topic.
- We have reason to believe that the commenter is misrepresenting himself/herself.
- A single person is dominating the conversation.
These guidelines incorporate by reference all WEAC Policies and Procedures and staff Collective Bargaining Agreements.