The Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to expanding the conversation on energy issues and upholding open government principles of transparency, participation and collaboration. One of the key ways we seek to accomplish this is through the use of social media.
"Social media" is a broad term for the wide spectrum of interactive and user-driven content technologies (i.e., social networks, blogs, wikis, podcasts, online videos, etc). Like many government agencies, the Department is exploring how best to use social media to accomplish our mission, engage the public in discussion, include people in the governing process and collaborate internally and externally. The Office of Digital Strategy and Communications (formerly the New Media Office) in the Office of Public Affairs is leading the Department's social media efforts.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on how to take advantage of these social media platforms by defining the broad Department of Energy vision and strategy for social media use, detailing the means by which to contribute to the Department's social media presence, outlining the various rules of the road for utilizing social media in the government space and last but not least, sharing best practices for various social media tools.
It's worth noting that while the primary focus of this guidance is on external facing social media, many of the principles and requirements outlined below can be used as a roadmap for inward facing social media activities.
Vision and Strategy
"The Department of Energy has an urgent role to play in creating a new, clean energy economy that will spark job creation and reduce our dependence on oil, while cutting our greenhouse gas emissions. The Department will also meet its critical responsibilities of reducing nuclear dangers and environmental risks. The foundation of all our work is a commitment to lead the world in science, technology and engineering."
- Secretary Steven Chu
The Department of Energy's mission is to become the "department of innovators" and discover the solutions to power and secure America's future now. We're building the new clean energy economy, reducing nuclear dangers and environmental risk and expanding the frontiers of knowledge with innovative scientific research.
The objective of the Digital Office in Public Affairs is not only to communicate our mission online but also to develop and foster relationships with the public, outside stakeholders and each other around that mission. With that focus, the primary goals of the Digital Office are to amplify the Department's message, promote transparency and accessibility and provide services and engagement opportunities. Social media is integral to achieving these goals, providing the platform for real-time conversation, collaboration and idea sharing.
You know how the saying goes - our whole is much greater than the sum of our parts. The entire Department benefits from a strong enterprise brand. And in many ways, that enterprise brand and culture of brand cultivation already exists throughout the Department, powered by the Office of Public Affairs. We're just extending it online and into the social media sphere.
The Digital Office in the Office of Public Affairs is responsible for managing Department's enterprise brand online, including social media. Leading by example, this office will push the Department into new social media spaces and drive innovation and online communication programming in this arena. Offices and labs across the Department should help build the enterprise brand by contributing content and ideas to the Digital Office. A strong, well developed, supported and executed enterprise social media brand is the primary tier of the Department's social media strategy.
The Digital Office also serves as a support center for driving the second core component of the Department's social media strategy: empowering social media innovation across the Department. Program offices, field offices and labs are encouraged to take full advantage of the opportunities social media offers. The Digital Office provides clear guidance on how to do so -- assisting with compliance of federal rules regulating social media in government, sharing social media best practices and helping offices develop and execute high quality social media strategies.
Contributing to the Department of Energy Enterprise Social Media Accounts
The foundation of the Department of Energy enterprise social media brand is our mission - and the work being done everyday across the Department to achieve that mission drives the content for our social media accounts. Offices and labs are enthusiastically encouraged to contribute to our enterprise social media accounts and share what they're doing to achieve our mission. These contributions are integral to the success of our enterprise brand.
One of the primary reasons Department of Energy enterprise social media accounts were established was to break down some of the resource and regulatory barriers for communicating in this sphere. In that spirit, it's also simple to contribute to our core enterprise accounts: YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. Just submit your suggestion to the Digital Office in the Office of Public Affairs via the Department of Energy Social Media Hub (http://energy.gov/socialmedia) and a member of the Digital Office will follow-up as needed within a reasonable timeframe.
Establishing an Official DOE Social Media Account
To streamline the process of social media account creation, a dedicated Department of Energy Social Media Hub (http://energy.gov/socialmedia) has been developed to empower program offices and labs to review the social media and application vendors with whom we currently have GSA approved terms of service and request permission to create a new account or verify an existing one.
All social media sites require active oversight to ensure proper management. Department personnel should take these commitments into account when weighing whether to create a new social media presence.
Before requesting an account, personnel should consult with the appropriate actors within their program office or lab to ensure that the proper authorizations and procedures are in place. This includes reaching out to supervisors and the point of contact for records management, privacy, communications/new media and the program's representative from General Counsel. To be granted an account or have your current account recognized by the Department, fill out the Social Media Request form that includes fields such as:
For all requests
- Name of the person submitting the request
- Title of the person submitting the request/office
- Contact e-mail
- Contact phone number
- Are you authorized to make this request?
- Social media application(s) you want to utilize
- Existing account? (y/n)
- Justification for needing an account
- Proposed or current account username/URL
- Proposed or current account bio
- Criteria for following others, friending others, etc.
- Content and feedback strategy
- Staff management plan, including post frequency
- Sample post (if applicable)
For new accounts only
- Desired launch date
- Roll-out plan
For existing accounts only
- Length of existence
- Have you completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)?
- Are you currently covered under DOE's amended terms of service?
- What is your current records process?
The Digital Office in the Office of Public Affairs will assess and respond to requests within a reasonable time period. The Digital Office approves accounts and will assist as needed with implementation and compliance. Accounts that consistently fail to meet the best practices outlined in this document are subject to review by the Digital Office, who will work with supervisors in that program office or lab to determine appropriate next steps.You can also use the online form to request that the Department pursue a terms of service agreement with a social media tool or application that is offered by apps.gov but not currently part of our portfolio. Should you determine that you would like to forgo the account creation process and simply have your content featured as part of the larger enterprise presence, you can contact the Digital Office to discuss options for assisting with outreach and amplifying your message.
From the Privacy Act of 1974 to the Office of Management and Budget policies on third party sites and multi-session cookies, Federal agencies have specific requirements regarding privacy and Personal Identifiable Information (PII). These policies require the Department to file Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) in order to utilize social media platforms like Facebook or Uservoice or Twitter for official business. The Digital Office in the Office of Public Affairs has filed several PIA's for the Department as a whole in order to empower others to take advantage of these communication tools. They include the following:
- Google Analytics
Personnel seeking to verify existing social media presences or establish new ones on the platforms above must consult the existing PIA for that platform to make sure that presence is compliant. If you're interested in using a social media platform that's not on this list or have questions about any of the PIA's above, reach out to the Digital Office for assistance.
And if you have questions about federal privacy requirements, contact the privacy officer assigned to your office.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, provides a right of access to federal agency records, including any information created or maintained by the Department. Voluntary disclosure of information through a social media platform outside the federal government may waive the application of statutory privileges under federal law and compromise the Department's ability to withhold such information in the future.
If you are concerned about making information publicly available through social media or have any questions regarding federal information law, contact the Office of General Counsel or the Office of Public Affairs.
Comment Policy and Moderation
The Department of Energy respects different opinions and hopes to foster conversation within our online presences. To that end, the Department does not pre-moderate users' comments on our enterprise accounts. This means that users' comments are automatically published, but they may be removed by a Department of Energy official if they violate our commenting policy.
Comments may be removed from Department of Energy blogs or social media accounts:
- Contain obscene, indecent, or profane language;
- Contain threats or defamatory statements;
- Contain hate speech directed at race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion, or disability;
- Contain sensitive or personally identifiable information; and/or
- Promote or endorse specific commercial services or products.
All Department of Energy generated content is subject to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for retention, storage and publication. Federal records management policies regarding social media are still evolving.
The CIO has issued interim guidance for the Department of Energy regarding the management of social media records. We can expect additional updates to these policies as our work continues to evolve in the social media sphere. For specific questions regarding records management, contact the records management officer assigned to your office.
Access to and Use of Social Media
The Department of Energy encourages the responsible use of social media consistent with current laws, policies and guidance that govern information and information technology. Department organizations will not arbitrarily ban access or the use of social media.
Department of Energy personnel are encouraged to access and contribute content on social media sites in their official capacity. However, personnel should obtain supervisory approval prior to creating or contributing significant content to external social media sites or to engaging in recurring exchanges with the public.Employees are subject to the applicable Standards of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 C.F.R. Part 2635) and the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. 7321-7326) which governs partisan political activity of Executive Branch employees. Personnel are encouraged to review the Office of Special Counsel's "Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Social Media and the Hatch Act" for further guidance or contact the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for General Law (GC-77).
Non-public, sensitive, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and classified information should not be disclosed on public social media platforms.
Personal use of social media while on government time is subject to DOE Order 203.1, Limited Personal Use of Office Equipment Including Information Technology, which provides guidance on "appropriate and inappropriate" use of Government resources.
If you have questions about this section, please contact GC-77.
Security Requirements and Risk Management
The Federal CIO Council's Guidelines for Secure Use of Social Media by Federal Departments and Agencies outlines recommendations for using social media technologies in a manner that minimizes risk while also embracing the opportunities these technologies provide. Federal Government information systems are targeted by persistent, pervasive, aggressive threats. In order to defend against rapidly evolving social media threats, Department of Energy program offices, laboratories, and sites should include a defense-in-depth, multi-layered risk management approach, addressing risks to the user, risks to the Department and risks to the federal infrastructure. Organizations should incorporate risk mitigation strategies such as (1) controlled access to social media, (2) user awareness and training, (3) user rules of behavior, (4) host and/or network controls and (5) secure configuration of social media software to determine overall risk tolerance for use of social media technologies.
Cyber Security personnel should be consulted before the implementation of any social media technology to provide the opportunity for incorporation of the new technology into current risk management framework. In addition, Cyber Security should help determine secure technical configurations and monitor published vulnerabilities in social media software. For questions regarding cyber security, contact your security officer.
In the event of an Emergency, social media tools should be utilized in accordance with the forthcoming Emergency Public Affairs Plan, which calls for a coordinated messaging effort between the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs and any programs, sites or facilities that may be involved: "When Department of Energy headquarters or a DOE site/facility declares an emergency, it is expected to meet the public information obligations of the Department of Energy Orders, guidance and requirements and the comprehensive emergency management plans developed by each site.
This guidance and requirement includes the timely provision of media informational materials to the Public Affairs staff at Department headquarters. Every effort should be made by the designated public affairs officers at the site level to consult with the Headquarters Public Affairs Office on the initial dissemination of information to the public and media.
From the DOE O 151.1C "Comprehensive Emergency Management System":
"Initial news releases or public statements must be approved by the Cognizant Field Element official responsible for emergency public information review and dissemination. Following initial news releases and public statements, updates must be coordinated with the DOE/NNSA (as appropriate) Director of Public Affairs and the Headquarters Emergency Manager."
For more information on Emergency communication protocols, reference the Emergency Public Affairs Plan or contact your public affairs representative.