NAVADMIN 129/15 released in May gives a guideline for “Standards of Conduct” on social media. It applies to all DOD personnel contractor and Civilian and could affect how you treat social media. As always I would suggest reading the full message but if you are lazy here is the abridged version.
When on-duty it is required that
you “use official time in an honest effort to perform official duties.” That really limits the use of social media accounts but the message does
give some hope when it says “use government property only to perform official
duties, unless they are authorized to use government property for other
purposes.” Further reading indicates
that “authorized use” are governed by agency policy that can permit use of
Social media while on duty.
So yes if you can check Facebook
during working hours BUT only if your agency/command allows it.
We all have seen in the job title
on it on facebook “Navy IT, PO1 USN, EMO USS Bigship” so what extent can you
use official titles on social media?
The standards of conduct state that
you should not use titles in “any manner that would create an appearance that
the government sanctions or endorses their activities or those of another.”
Here are a few rules to make sure
you don’t accidently make it look like you are “government sanctioned”
1.
Never state you are acting on behalf of the government,
or use your position or title in to support statements. Don’t be that guy that says “while as a Petty
Officer in the navy……” Or “It is true I know so because I’m the EMO on the USS
Neversink.”
2.
Only post Titles and ranks in the biographical
portion of sites. Remember you should
always find out if the site is a trusted site before posting PII.
3.
Don’t prominently feature command, name, seal,
uniform, logo etc. It’s okay to have
some pictures showing off your pride for the command. Where you will get in trouble is if it gives
the idea that your Facebook is sanctioned by the command.
4.
Use Disclaimers. Sometimes you have to say “I’m in the navy” to
argue a point when this happens it is encouraged that you put a disclaimer that
it is only your opinion. So say something like “As a Navy Petty Officer I think
the beard policy in the navy is stupid.
But that is just my opinion it is.” ßTrue
story.
Endorse Others on
Social Media for Employment
This section is
2 pages long and reads like a military instruction… The jest of it is that you
can send an endorsement for employment with your official title because it is
mostly understood that the endorsement is your personal opinion.
The section goes
into a lot of rules that would more likely apply to higher ranks so if you are
one of those people be sure you read this and follow up the references.
Disclosing Nonpublic
Information
We all know you never share classified
information but what of public information? Misusing public information can
land you in hot water to. Although you can share public government information
you cannot accept compensation for statements or posts that relate to official duties.
Personal Fundraising
You can use personal social media
accounts to fundraise for nonprofit charitable organizations in a personal
capacity, but Standards of Conduct states you cannot “personally solicit funds
from a subordinate.” The only time funds can be solicited is during the
CFC. It is understood that you may be
connected to subordinates through social media and a general post for
fundraising may be seen by the subordinate.
In any case like that it would not be considered “personally soliciting
funds” if you target or PM them then you may have a problem.
Lastly on Fundraising you may not associate
your position of title for the fundraising.
You title being in your bio is not considered using it for fundraising.
More information can be found in the NAVADMIN
and at http://www.digitalgov.gov. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions
or comments please put them in the comments below.
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