Social Media Policy - North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service

What is social media?

Social media is the name commonly given to Interactive Communication Technology platforms; primarily those which enable users to interact and communicate by sharing content such as opinion, media (video, images and audio) knowledge and interests.

Typically, social media relates to the building of ‘networks’ or online communities through encouraging participation and engagement. The term encompasses many variations of online media, e.g. blogs, micro-blogs (X/Twitter), podcasts, ‘wikis’ (such as Wikipedia), message boards, social book marking websites (Reddit), social networking websites (Facebook, WhatsApp), professional networking websites (LinkedIn) and media content sharing websites (such as Flickr, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok).

The paramount feature of all of these platforms is that of a central focus on User Generated Content, whether it is a photograph stream on Flickr or a Poll on Facebook.

Use of Social Media

We use Social Media as a concise and fast platform to inform and engage with the public and increase our online presence and visibility. It provides a more personal approach to informing, updating and engaging with the public.

We can use social media to raise awareness about initiatives and campaigns in a non-intrusive and cost-effective manner.

The Communications team have responsibility for posting, moderating and editing social media content produced on behalf of the organisation on the main corporate social media accounts. Some other sections such as People Services may also have access to the main corporate accounts so they can post directly on them.

Corporate Accounts

Our main corporate accounts are:

X (@NorthYorksFire) North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire) / X (twitter.com)
Facebook (North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service) Facebook
You Tube (North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue) https://www.youtube.com/user/northyorksfire
Instagram (Northyorksfire) https://www.instagram.com/northyorksfire/
LinkedIn (North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service) https://www.linkedin.com/company/north-yorkshire-fire-&-rescue-service/

The most appropriate social media sites to use are kept under constant review.

A number of areas of the Service have X accounts including:

Health and Wellbeing (@NYFRS_Wellbeing),
Youth team (@Youth_NYFRS),
Recruitment (@NyfrsR),
Training and Development (NyfrsTC)
LGBT network (NYFRS_LGBT).
Fire stations can have X accounts (one per station)
Community Safety Officers can have X accounts
Officers can have X accounts
Some sections have X accounts

Fire stations can have Facebook account (one per station)

Requests for Section/departmental X or Facebook corporate accounts should be submitted as a business case to commandmedia@northyorksfire.gov.uk with the rationale and purpose clearly stated. The communications team will consider each request on a case by case basis. If permission is granted to create a section/departmental account you must follow the guidance in this document.

The Community Safety Officers (CSO) and Public Safety Officers all have X accounts which are used to deliver local community safety information including safety tips and details of events being attended. These belong to the role and not the individual. If a CSO leaves the Service or moves to another role, they must make sure the account details are passed to their replacement or line manager. The new person should change the email address and phone number over to their own as these may be needed for verification purposes. The login details for the CSO accounts should be sent to Corporate Communications.

Stations can set up X and/or Facebook accounts, these belong to the Service. Stations should only have one Facebook page and/or X account, there should not be pages or accounts for each watch or crew. If you set up a X or Facebook account for your station you should make sure you allow others from the station who want to post to them access to do so. One person on the fire station must be the main account holder for the station social media accounts. They must take responsibility for creating the accounts and the content of the accounts including monitoring posts made by others to ensure they met the guidelines set out in this document other Service documents including the Staff Code of Conduct.

Senior and Middle Managers can set up X accounts, which can be used corporately. It is up to each individual to decide if they want their X account to have a corporate name e.g. DCFO_NYFRS. If you choose to use your account in a corporate capacity, you must follow the guidance in this document. There is no requirement for the login details for these accounts to be held centrally but they should inform the Communications team that they have set up an account.

All corporate NYFRS social media accounts will be regularly monitored and those that lie inactive, dormant or post inappropriate content will be asked to show improvement or risk being closed down.

What we will use social media for

Our social media accounts should be used to promote community safety advice and events, technical fire safety advice and events, key partner agency messages and incident information. We will use our social media accounts to;

promote community safety advice
promote business fire safety advice
provide details of events such as exercises, station open days,
promote recruitment opportunities
provide details of day to day activity such as training
share details of things like local road closures or local weather
publicise Service initiatives and consultations
support Service or national campaigns
share key messages for partner agencies.
provide incident information in-line with the Dealing with the Media SOP and Visual Imaging Policy. Be careful mentioning incidents before you arrive at the scene or when you first get there especially if there could be fatalities or serious injuries. No-one wants to find out their family or friend has been hurt from a social media post.

All users of corporate and personal social media accounts must take care to ensure that information they post:

does not damage our reputation
does not breach any of our policies (e.g. IT usage Policy, Staff Code of Conduct etc.)
does not breach copyright, i.e. doesn’t use an image from an internet image search
does not identify an individual. Make sure you do not give out personal information, this includes names and/or addresses of members of the public involved in an incident, details on white boards or within appliances that includes personal information, car registration details
does not include photographs/videos of staff, members of the public or private property without consent- visual imaging forms must be completed for all images/videos posted on social media
is not libellous (damaging to someone’s reputation)
doesn’t endorse particular brands, providers or causes. Care must be taken when sharing/retweeting opinions expressed by others as it can be seen as endorsement which could be considered as libellous
is respectful of the privacy of the individuals encountered through our work.
is politically neutral.

Officers and specialist Watch Managers who have access to corporate X accounts, may post personal messages, but must take additional care to ensure that these messages reflect our values and ethics.

All staff are required to complete the Social Media e-learning module on LearnPro, every two years.

All corporate social media accounts will be regularly monitored and those that lie inactive, dormant or post inappropriate content will be asked to show improvement or risk being closed down. Social Media Account owners may be asked to remove content by the Communications team if posts breach any of the guidance set out above.

Our House Rules -use of social media

What we’ll do…

We’ll confirm its us. If you see a North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service account online you can check its us. We’ll list our social media accounts on our website.

We’ll monitor accounts during office hours. Our accounts are not monitored 24/7 but are monitored during office hours (Monday-Thursday 830-5pm and Friday 830-4:30pm). We’ll respond to messages/comments sent outside of these times as soon as we can.

We’ll respond. We’ll respond to you in a timely manner. If you have raised a concern we will contact the most relevant part of the organisation who can help. We have direct messages turned off on our main corporate Facebook account. Details of other ways to contact us can be found on our website.

We’ll be human and polite. We’ll treat each message with the politeness you’d expect if you were dealing with us face-to-face or on the telephone.

What we ask of those who engage with us on social media to do in return …

We’d like you to be polite. We know that sometimes things don’t go to plan and you’ll want to flag things up with us. But please remember, we’re human and the person monitoring the social media account is only trying to help.

We’d like you not be anti-social. We won’t tolerate swearing, threats or abuse online. In these instances we won’t deal with your query on social media and will direct you to contact us via other channels instead. We will delete or hide your comment if it’s on a public post.

We’d like you not to be personal. If you have a complaint to make against an individual we’ll look into it. You should report any complaints through our official complaints channels rather than through social media.

We’d like you not to spam or advertise. Our social media channels aren’t the place for followers to advertise. Making the same points over and over – otherwise known as spamming – isn’t for our social media. You’ll be better off making a complaint or contacting us another way so we can look into the issue for you.

We’d like you to not over-share. If you’ve got an issue we’ll happily look into it. But be careful not to post private information about yourself or others.

We’d like you not to spread disinformation or misinformation. Our social media accounts are not places to spread misinformation.

Where you don’t stick to the house rules we reserve the right to delete offending content and block you from contacting us through that route. We also reserve the right to contact the police.

Thinking about setting up a station account?

Before setting up social media accounts for a station it worth considering whether Facebook or X or both would be the most suitable platforms for the content you want to share.

X accounts:

Instantaneous
Likely to have gain more followers
Easy to tag people and use hashtags for locations
No need to have a personal X (Twitter) account to set up a station account
Tweeted items can get lost

Facebook pages:

Items last for longer as people more likely to scroll back on newsfeed
Changes in algorithms mean that posts from family and friends are being prioritised over those from business/organisations/brands
Must have a personal Facebook account to set up a station page
Likely to get less followers
May be able to post on group pages that have a high number of followers to help spread messages although some groups are set up to not allow other groups/pages to post on them

Social Media Passwords/Access

The username and password for station X (Twitter) accounts once created must be emailed to the Communications team commsandmedia@northyorksfire.gov.uk to be included on a centrally held list. Make sure you pick a password that is hard to guess.

If other members of staff on a station also want to post on the station X (Twitter) they can be given the user-name and password. However, if someone who knows the password for the X (Twitter) account leaves the Service, the password should be changed and the new password details emailed to the communications team commsandmedia@northyorksfire.gov.uk.

Facebook pages must always have at least two members of station staff set up to have full control (previously called admins) for the page. They will need to have their own personal Facebook accounts to be set up. This means if one of the people with full control (admin rights) leaves there is another member of staff who can access the account to post content and manage permissions. It is also possible to set up further people with access to Facebook pages. When a member of staff leaves, who is set up to have access to a station Facebook page, their access to the page must be deleted. A link to the station Facebook page and details of who is responsible for it should be sent to the Corporate Communications team at commsandmedia@northyorksfire.gov.uk

Passwords for corporate social media accounts must not be shared with people outside of the Service.

Taking and using photos and videos on social media

Before taking any photos or videos have a look at the section on the Visual Imaging Policy. Images (including videos) of people are classed as personal information and as such Data Protection rules apply to them which means you must get consent and complete a visual imaging consent form for any photos or videos you intend to post on social media that include people.

Photos

Below are some tips for taking photos:

Think about whether portrait or landscape will work best for the image you are trying to capture (and for what you are going to use it for after)
Think about lighting, is it too light or too dark?
Think about the social media platform you are going to share it on or ask for it to be shared on. Instagram photos display as squares for example.
If you’re using a work provided phone, rather than a camera, to take photos, it is better to get closer rather than relying on zoom.
Remember you must have consent from anyone visible in a photo.
Use alternative descriptions (also known as alt text) to help with accessibility
Don’t post images found through images searches of the internet as they will have copyright attached to them.
You can not share images taken on private property (such as inside someone’s house) without their consent
Images seen on other people’s/organisation’s social media accounts shared only be shared on Service social media accounts via a retweet or share (so the originator of the post/image can be seen). If permission has been given for the Service to use them you should credit who ever provided them.

Videos

If you want to create a fire safety or recruitment related video you should seek advice from the relevant section first.

Most smartphones will now film video in a good enough quality for putting on social media.

If you make a video you should take into account the points below:

Ensure you have consent from anyone visible in a video.
Is video the best option for getting the information across?
Think about where you want to share the video. On Facebook or X (Twitter) or via the corporate YouTube channel? The platforms have different file size limits and optimum video lengths.
All pre-recorded videos must have captions/subtitles, whether being used internally or externally. You should try to keep captions to one or two lines at the most, otherwise it’s hard for people to read them in the time they are on screen. Videos that are broadcast live do not have to have captions but it’s sensible to make a transcript of any audio available afterwards.
Check with the prevention team before creating fire safety videos so that they can provide key messages. We might already have a video produced for that topic.
Check with People Services before creating any recruitment videos.
In most case you need to shoot in landscape not portrait. However, videos being supplied to be used as an Instagam story or reel on the corporate account need filming in portrait
Don’t include any music or images in videos that may have copyright or a royalty attached to them. Kinemaster allows you to search a library of royalty free music. Getty images also has royalty free music available.
Do you need to get someone to check your video before you share it through your channels? Should the SM/GM look over it for example. Community fire safety ones should be sent to the Prevention team so they can check the messaging fits with the corporate message.

For examples of videos that Service has created visit our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/northyorksfire

Requests from the media to use photos or video shared on social media

Requests from the media to use pictures/videos taken by us and published to any of our social media accounts can be approved as long as we own the right to the image/video and have consent from everyone within the image/footage. You should ask the media to credit the image/video to either North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service or the social media account which posted them.

Responding to Direct Messages/ Dealing with inappropriate or spam comments or replies

This document sets out our House Rules that we will follow on our social media accounts and that we ask our followers to follow also.

We recommend that you switch off direct messages on Facebook, so you do not need to monitor them. If you choose to leave Facebook direct messages switched on, or you use X (Twitter), and are contacted in this way, you should provide responses in a timely manner. Make sure you don’t give out any personal information including details of whether someone is employed by us. If you’re unsure of the answer to a question check with the relevant section or ask the person to contact the relevant section directly.

Direct Messages received via social media should be deleted after three months in line with the Website Forms and Social Media Privacy Policy.

Remember to follow the Service policy if you receive a complaint via direct message.

If you receive a compliment/thanks these should be sent to customerservice@northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk for logging.

You should monitor comments on your posts and hide any which:

use offensive language (you can set profanity filters on Facebook)
are threatening or abusive
constitute hate speech
are spam/advertising

Setting up an account on X

If you’re on a station check that there isn’t already a station account set up. Remember there should only be one account per station not per watch. If there’s already an account request details of the login. Visit Home / X and sign up for an account by selecting ‘Sign Up’.

The following naming convention for the username/handle should be used for stations that want to set up an account @xxx_NYFRS e.g. @Sum_NYFRS or @York_NYFRS. Usernames can only be a maximum of 15 characters long but the name can be longer so you can be ‘Summerbridge Fire Station’ by name but your handle/username would be @Sum_NYFRS. Most of the CSO accounts are set up in a similar manner e.g. @NYFRS_Rich @NYFRS_Rip

You’ll need to provide an email address or phone number to be provided with a verification code to set up the account. The email address you add will be used to notify you about security issues etc. You can view the email address under Settings and Privacy/ Account if you need to change it any time.

If you are create the account you must take responsibility for it including monitoring posts made by others to ensure they met the guidelines set out in this document. Remember to let others on the station know you have set up an account and ask people to contact you for the password and username if they want to be able to post to it. It would be great to have someone from each watch posting.

Send an email should be sent to the corporate communications section with the username and password and remember to update them every time you change the password, for example if someone with access leaves the Service.

Don’t pick a password that is easy to guess!

To find other people to follow, type their name e.g. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service or their X handle e.g. @NorthYorksFire if you know it.

All corporate accounts must follow the main @NorthYorksFire account.

You can add a photo if you want to do so to your profile and a cover photo, but these must follow the guidance in the Visual Imaging Policy. If you want to add the Service crest as the profile photo you can find it in the Corporate Templates library on the intranet.

You might want to change the notification settings which can be found by clicking on the icon next to search (number 7 in the image below) and picking ‘settings and privacy’ then email notifications.

The help pages on the X website are full of useful information.

Using X the Basics

Posting a Post (previously called tweets) To create a post either click in the ‘what’s happening’ box or on the blue button that says ‘post’ and write your message. You can just type words and press ‘post’ or you can also add pictures, emojis, GIFs or a poll (survey). The calendar icon can be used to schedule your post if you don’t want to post it straight away.

Posts cannot be edited once they’ve been posted, so check over it before you hit post.

Once you hit post it will appear in your profile page and in the feed of everyone who follows you. If you post by accident you can delete it by finding the post (the easiest way is on your profile page) and clicking on the drop down arrow next to it and then selecting ‘Delete’

If you want to share something posted by someone else, you can do so by finding the post and clicking on the repost button underneath. You will get an option to add some text to or repost it as it is. You can also reply to, or like, a post by clicking on the symbols underneath.

If you repost something by accident you can delete it by clicking on the repost button again

NB- Care must be taken when reposting opinions expressed by others as it can be seen as endorsement which could be considered as libellous.

X Analytics

You can access analytics at https://analytics.twitter.com/ This allows you to evaluate the success of your posts. Ideally you want to look at engagement figures rather than just reach. Engagement means people interacted with your post in some way, by liking it or clicking a link or commenting. You can also look at information on your post sand export the data to excel if you want to do further analysis or use figures in internal documents.

Creating a Facebook Page

Facebook Pages changed in 2021 read more about the change and how pages work now on the Facebook Get started with new Pages | Meta Business Help Centre (facebook.com) website page.

Fire stations can set up a Facebook page for their station if they wish to do so. However, it is important to note that Facebook Pages have to be linked to a personal Facebook account and there should only be one page per station not per watch.

If you set up the page you must take responsibility for the content, including monitoring posts made by others to ensure they met the guidelines set out in this document. All station Facebook pages must have two people with full control access (previously called admin access) at all times.

You will be required to login to your personal Facebook account in order to set up a new page. You must not create a fake personal Facebook account to create a station Facebook page as this breaches the terms and conditions of using Facebook. A full list of terms for creating Facebook pages can be viewed on their website. You should also read the Facebook Community Standards before setting up a page.

To create a page go to How to create and set up a Facebook Page for your business | Meta for Business and then click on create. The name for the page must follow the following naming convention ‘xx fire station’ e.g. Summerbridge fire station.

Once a Facebook page has been created the link to it should be sent to the Comms and Media section so they can follow the page from the corporate account. The link for the page should look something like this https://www.facebook.com/northyorksfire/

Accessing Facebook Pages once created

To access your page on a desktop, go to facebook.com and log in with your normal personal log in details. Once you’ve logged in click on your profile picture in the top right-hand corner and then on the drop down you’ll get the option to switch accounts.

If you login to Facebook on an internet browser on a mobile device you can click on the three lines and then the dropdown arrow where you name appears at the top of the page you’ll get a box appear that say’s your pages and profiles and you can switch into your page.

On the Facebook app, click on menu and then where your name appears at the top click on the drop down arrow.

You’ll then get the option to switch into your page account

Setting people up to access the station Facebook page

People need to have their own personal Facebook account to be given page permissions to post items on Facebook pages. Other people with access to post from the page will be able to see the name of anyone who posts content on the page, but members of the public will not.

Facebook has changed how pages work and how permissions are assigned. You can find out more on their help page, the image below also explains the new access levels.

All station Facebook pages must have two people with full control access (previously called admin access) at all times, so if one of the people with full control leaves there is another member of staff who can access the account to post content and manage permissions. Additional members of staff can be set up to have access to the page. When a member of staff leaves, who has permissions to post on a station Facebook page, their access to the page must be deleted.

To give someone access to the page you will need to open Meta Business Suite. If you want to manage access to your page through your phone you will need to download the Meta Business Suite app. (NB- You can create posts on your page in the Facebook app without needing the Meta Business Suite app).

To access Meta Business Suite on a laptop or PC log in to your Facebook account and go to your station page profile and click the Meta Business Suite option from the menu on the left (or if it doesn’t appear here you can click on manage and then settings)

When Meta Business Suite opens click on click on settings towards the bottom of the menu list on the left.Then click on ‘People’ underneath the ‘Users’ heading. This will show you everyone who is set up to access the page already and allow you to edit their access. You can invite people to have access to the page by click the invite people button.

You can assign someone a page role through their work email address even if their work email address is not connected to their personal Facebook account. They will then be emailed a link to the page, which will ask them to log in, they should use their normal personal Facebook log in details to do this. If you use a work email address it may go to their junk folder or be quarantined so they may need to check that.

Posting on Facebook

Once you are on your Facebook page you can post content in the same way you would on a personal Facebook page, by clicking in the ‘what’s on your mind?’ box. You’ll get a range of options such as adding a photo or video or checking in. Remember if you add a photo, you should include alt text. See the Style Guide for how to do this.

Personal Use of Social Media

All staff who use social media privately are advised to review the privacy/ security settings in order to protect themselves and their family and friends.

If you have identified yourself as a member of the Service you should ensure that your profile(s) and any posted content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself to colleagues and the public.

Our reputation for quality and service in the community is crucial and staff should be aware of this when identifying themselves as employees on social media sites.

We welcome staff using their personal social media accounts to promote key Service messages, to their friends and followers, such as community safety advice or recruitment opportunities. If members of staff do wish to promote key Service messages, for example sharing posts made by the corporate accounts they should ensure that any text they use or add to the posts are in line with our policies. This includes ensuring that they do not feature derogatory remarks or anything which may make individuals feel excluded from recruitment opportunities.

Personal information which is published on social media sites must not bring the Service into disrepute. Examples of this include posting inappropriate pictures and or comments linked to your employment or colleagues that may be considered derogatory, offensive or bullying (see Staff Code of Conduct). You must never disclose confidential information gained through employment in the Service.

Information on social media may be available for a long time after it was posted, even if the person who posted it deletes their original post. Remember people can ‘repost’ items on X or take screenshots of content.

Staff who regularly come into contact with young people through youth intervention programmes should make themselves aware of the Safeguarding Policy.

Risks associated with social media and Misuse of Social Media

The main risks associated with the use of social media is the potential damage to our (the Service’s) reputation due to misuse.

If content is not carefully monitored and assessed, incidences of misinformation could occur or unsuitable content could appear to be representative of the organisation, through the posting of defamatory or abusive content; or inappropriate comments or conversations.

If too much focus is put on using social media at the expense of other forms of publication certain groups in the community and within the organisation may be excluded.

If you are a member of staff and you see content on social media that reflects badly on the Service you should email the Communications Team commsandmedia@northyorksfire.gov.uk . If it’s outside of office hours, you should raise it with the on duty tactical (silver) officer and email the communications team to provide them with the details and inform them that you reported it to the tactical officer.

Concerns regarding Data Protection Act compliance should be reported to the Compliance Team FRSdataprotectionofficer@northyorksfire.gov.uk. Information Security incidents are to be reported in accordance with the Information Security Incident Management Procedure.

The Service will not monitor staff social media profiles but reserves the right to access material publicly published by staff, on social media sites, if it receives notification that the content has likely breached any of the Service’s policies. If the Service receives a complaint about something posted on a corporate social media account or a personal social media account it will be investigated in line with the appropriate procedures. Staff should be aware that posting content on a social media sites or behaving in a manner that risk bringing the Service into disrepute, may lead to disciplinary action even if the actions in question take place outside of work.

All employees are under an obligation to ensure that they have regard to this policy.

Share:

Internal Term/ Phrase	For Social Media
Fire appliance/pump	Fire engine
Mobilise	Sent e.g. one fire engine was sent to scene.
Extrication	Release e.g. crews assisted with releasing one casualty from a car, by removing the roof.
Commenced	Started e.g. the fire started in the kitchen
Smoke Detector	Smoke Alarms
RTC	Road traffic collision