Page last updated at 10:55 GMT, Thursday, May 24 2012

Social Media Users' Statement (May 2012)

This statement provides information on how we use social media and what level of service you can expect from us.

Our accounts

This statement refers to:

• Eastleigh Borough Council’s Facebook page and our Twitter account (@EastleighBC)
• The Point and the Berry Theatre’s Facebook pages and Twitter accounts (@PointEastleigh and @theberrytheatre)

This account is managed by the Corporate Communications Team who provide and share information on behalf of council services.

Use

• We use a range of social media services to:
• Provide instant and up-to-date news
• Give information on the status of council services
• Provide event information
• Engage with our customers
• Carry out formal and informal consultation
• Share photos, documents and links.

Operation times

Our accounts are monitored during office hours only. These are Monday to Thursday 8:30am-5pm, Friday 8:30am- 4:30pm. We may also use them outside of these hours, for example, during emergency events or on special occasions, such as elections.

Connecting to our services

Anyone with their own account may connect to us without approval (e.g. by ‘liking’ our Facebook page or following us on Twitter). By connecting with any of our social media accounts, you agree that we will send information directly to you.  Our Facebook and Twitter feeds are also made available as read-only for those without  an account.

Responses

We aim to give a full response to questions asked through social media services within one working day. Where this is not possible, we will tell you and respond within five working days.

Emergency or urgent requests

Emergency or urgent requests (for example reporting a missed bin or telling us about offensive graffiti) should not to be sent to us using social media. Please use the links on the council website.

Customer feedback and complaints

Official complaints or feedback on council services should not be submitted to us via our social media accounts, but by using the form on the council website. If you send a complaint by social media we will ask you to resubmit it in the appropriate way. Planning objections and comments should only be submitted in writing or by email to Development Control or through the council website.

Sharing information

Where we post information to a social media profile, you may share this on your own profile but must state the original source (e.g. Eastleigh Borough Council or The Point). Our information must not be used in a way that breaches Copyright law.

Comment monitoring

Comments posted to our social media accounts will be monitored. We reserve the right to remove inappropriate comments including those that:

Blocking

Where anyone persistently posts inappropriate comments (as set out above), we will send them two warning messages before blocking their connection to us.

Use of Twitter

The following points refer specifically to how the council uses Twitter.

Following / Followers

We do not automatically follow people who are following us. Instead, we only follow relevant organisations, agencies and professionals. Where we do follow someone it does not indicate any endorsement by the council.

Hashtags

We will use hashtags when posting about news, campaigns or events to offer a quick link to archived posts; e.g. #parksport or #eastleighmela.

We will also contribute to community hashtags with public interest information when it can be offered and is appropriate.

Retweets

We will retweet posts that we deem are in the public interest or provide impartial, commercial-free information that is politically neutral.

Live Tweeting

On occasions, we will use our account to provide live text commentary of rolling news, events or occasions. These will be marked with a relevant hashtag.

Direct Messages (DM)

Where we are asked to provide a response, but it contains sensitive or personal information, we will reply using a Direct Message, rather than respond in public. Please note: we will never DM any user asking to disclose personal information.