Purdue distributes new NC gov’t social media guide


Gov. Bev Perdue distributed North Carolina’s first state government social media policy and online tutorial to state agencies and departments yesterday.

The announcement was made via the Governor’s Office Twitter page and the documents can be downloaded on Bev Perdue’s Facebook page.

The new guidelines will help and encourage state agencies to develop a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and provide guidance to ensure social media use complies with public records and archiving laws.

“Social networking is not the next-big-thing. It’s here now and state government must stay current if we are to be fully transparent and accountable to the public,” said Perdue. “I encourage all state agencies to take advantage of social media to increase communication and interaction with the citizens of North Carolina.”

The policy focuses on these key areas:

– Appropriate implementation, authorization and acceptable use of social media;
– Security measures to protect individuals, sensitive information, and state systems; and
– Proper records management and preservation.

Accompanying the guidelines document is an online tutorial that focuses on best practices for social media and offers specific guidance for complying with public records law.