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https://beisdigital.blog.gov.uk/2013/07/05/personal-professional-social-media/

Personal professional social media profiles

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Engagement

We've been answering a lot of questions lately about the difference between a professional or personal social media profile, and how to manage them safely.

For the record, we're encouraging people to:

  1. Use social media profiles to talk about their work, when it is appropriate to do so
  2. We believe that a face and a name, and a deep knowledge of a specific policy area, is far more appealing to our audiences than anonymous statements from a corporate account
  3. If people are joining a social media platform for the first time, we always encourage them to open one account, and be really clear about its purpose: completely personal/mix of personal and professional/purely for work. Ideally people will take the mixed approach, because after all, it's social media.
  4. Even with a mixed or professional-only approach, this account still belongs to you, and is your responsibility.
  5. By doing this, we hope that people will think a little more carefully about their own online profile, ways to use it effectively and prevent us from becoming the 'social media police' for BIS.
  6. And obviously, we trust our colleagues to get on with it. No-one wants to work with a digital team who put too many caveats or rules around personal communication.

There is some refreshed (Twitter) guidance here for civil servants, from the Government Communication Network. Not sure I agree with the comment about running two accounts, but if that's all people are comfortable with, then it is probably a tidy enough solution.

We're here to help and advise on use of social media in the department, so drop us a line if you're unsure about something.


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1 comment

  1. Comment by Ben Rusholme posted on

    Tim, I agree with you - there is little point in trying to separate personal and professional profiles on social media

    Reply

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