Strongsville is on Facebook and Twitter
Follow us at these links:
The City of Strongsville will share important information with residents, including road closings and upcoming events, on Facebook and Twitter.
The Police Department will share alerts, crime warnings and information about the department's programs, and will also seek the public's help in solving crimes, especially in cases where there is a photo or video of a suspect.
Follow the Recreation Department for notices of special programs and events, activities at the Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center, and sign-up reminders for sports teams.
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Below is the City of Strongsville's Social Media Policy. By participating in any of the city's social media sites, you agree to the terms and conditions of the policy.
CITY OF STRONGSVILLE
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
OVERVIEW
The City of Strongsville and its various departments may utilize social media and social network sites to further enhance communications with residents, third parties and the public in furtherance of City goals and objectives. City officials and their designees have the ability to publish articles, facilitate discussions and communicate information through various media related to conducting City business. Social media facilitates further discussion of City issues, operations and services by providing members of the public the opportunity to participate in many ways using the internet. Please note – the City’s social media networking sites should not be construed as a substitute for the City’s emergency service outlets, such as the 911 service for Police and Fire.
PURPOSE
1. The purpose of this document is to provide standards regarding posts on City of Strongsville social media sites.
2. Appropriate use of the City of Strongsville’s social media sites falls generally into three (3) categories:
(A) As channels for disseminating time-sensitive information as quickly as possible.
(B) As marketing/promotional channels which increase the City’s ability to broadcast its messages to the widest possible audience.
(C) As a tool to promote emerging economic development efforts to support the City’s business action and retention services, and to promote the City’s assets and image.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Creation of all City of Strongsville social media sites shall be approved by the Director of Communication & Technology or designee, and the requesting Department Director; must be published using approved City social networking platform and tools; and must be subject to oversight by the Department of Communication & Technology.
2. All City of Strongsville social networking sites shall adhere to applicable federal, state, local and international laws, regulations and policies, including all information technology and records management City policies and any other applicable City policies.
3. Ohio Public Records Act and e-discovery laws and policies apply to social media content which are public records and, therefore, content must be susceptible to management, storage, and retrieval in compliance with such laws.
4. Relevant City of Strongsville and Ohio records retention schedules apply to social networking content.
5. All social network sites and entries shall clearly indicate that any articles and any other content posted or submitted for posting are subject to public disclosure, including fans, users and followers.
6. The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Policy or any applicable law. (See “Forbidden Content” below.)
7. Where possible, each City of Strongsville social networking site shall include an introductory statement which clearly specifies the purpose and topical scope of such social network site.
8 All social networking sites shall clearly indicate that they are maintained by the City of Strongsville and shall have City of Strongsville contact information prominently displayed.
9. Where appropriate, City information security policies shall apply to all social networking sites and articles.
10. Because the City of Strongsville’s social media sites are not monitored on a 24-hour basis, they should not be viewed as emergency service outlets. Call 911 for emergencies. For non-emergencies requiring a public safety response, call the Strongsville Police Dispatch Center at 440-238-7373. For Police administrative questions call 440-580-3230, and for Fire administrative questions call 440-580-3210.
11. The City of Strongsville’s website – www.strongsville.org – will remain the City’s primary source of information for users on the internet.
12. This Social Media Policy may be revised at any time without notice.
13. Those authorized to post on any of the City’s social media sites are to comply with these social media standards.
14. There is no expectation of privacy on City sites, and the City of Strongsville may retrieve and/or retweet information within its sole discretion.
15. The City of Strongsville will not be legally responsible or liable for the use by others of City social media sites.
PROHIBITED CONTENT/CONDUCT
City sites are moderated online discussion sites and not public forums. Therefore, the City of Strongsville reserves the right to remove, restrict, or block any content or improper conduct on the City’s social media sites that is in violation of the standards below and is, therefore, deemed as inappropriate:
1. Comments not typically related to the particular site;
2. Profane or obscene language or content;
3. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
4. Sexual content or links to sexual content;
5. Solicitations of commerce (selling of goods/services);
6. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
7. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the City government, the public or public systems;
8. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party; or otherwise falsely states, misrepresents or impersonates another;
9. Defamatory or personal attacks, including accusations of misconduct against an individual;
10. Threats to any person or organization;
11. Comments in violation of any federal, state or local law;
12. Threats or harassment of any person or organization;
13. Materials that jeopardize the integrity of a computer system or hardware; or
14. Sites cannot be utilized for political lobbying, solicitations or contributions.
CITY EMPLOYEE GUIDELINES
City employees who are designated to participate in City-sponsored social network pages within the scope of their employment shall adhere to the following standards:
1. City policies, rules, regulations and standards of conduct apply to employees who engage in City social networking activities while conducting City business.
2. Departments have the option of allowing employees to participate in City-sponsored social networking sites as part of their job duties.
3. Employees must adhere to all privacy protection laws, for example, HIPPA, and protect personal, confidential and otherwise sensitive City or City-held information.
4. Employees must follow all copyright laws, public records laws, retention laws, fair use and financial disclosure laws and any other laws that might apply to the City.
5. Vendors, suppliers, clients, citizens, co-workers or others should not be cited or quoted without their approval.
6. Employees should not engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in the City’s workplace.
7. Mistakes should be corrected, and previous posts should not be altered without indicating that such has been done.
8. Department designated employees representing the City of Strongsville through the City’s social media sites must conduct themselves at all times as a representative of the City and in accordance with all City policies.
9. Employees found in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, consistent with applicable general disciplinary requirements and parameters.
The City of Strongsville may copy any postings or comments from all City social media sites for retention for public records keeping purposes on a regular basis. In addition, any comments deemed inappropriate may be copied for retention prior to being deleted from the site. The comments expressed by third parties on any City sites do not reflect the opinions or position of the City of Strongsville, its officers and employees.
The City of Strongsville reserves the right to monitor, restrict, suspend, terminate or deny access to the City of Strongsville social media sites to any individual or employee who violates this Policy at any time and without prior notice.