Social Media Risk Management in Local Government
Part of the Critchsue blog series – Managing Social Media in Local Government
Are there any social media risks to manage in a local government setting? Everything done within that organisation is discoverable so data leakage and privacy aren’t a concern, or are they? Is brand damage a problem – we don’t have any competitors?
All organisations, even social media, have risk in relation to social media. It is just that some do not realise it. According to Altimeter, many are aware at some level but many just cross their fingers and hope.
Let’s get rid of that ‘head in the sand’ attitude and manage, rather than ignore, the risks associated in our organisations.
Getting Started
To start we need to implement a process whereby social media risks are continually identified, documented and mitigations developed. The ever changing social media environment means we can’t just do this once then put it in a draw – it will be constantly behind the times. The Accenture framework (Culp, Gomes, & Narveson, 2014) designed to generate a risk awareness culture within an organisation is a good resource if you are starting from scratch
Framework for Managing Social Media Risk (Culp, Gomes, & Narveson, 2014)
Best Practices
Some of the best practices to keep in mind when designing and implementing your risk management framework include:
- Risks are not isolated to internal staff – the public are able to produce negative content that could risk the organisation brand, quality of information and destroy trust (Schullich, 2012)
- Ensure all risks, not just those around reputation damage, are considered (Culp, Gomes, & Narveson, 2014)
- Rather than having a separate risk governance structure for social media, include the social media risk activities in the existing structures (Culp, Gomes, & Narveson, 2014). In the council there is already an audit function, recruit the manager of this area to assist with incorporating social media.
- Upon completion of the risk assessment, present it to the executive team for decisions on mitigation strategies (Schullich, 2012)
Resources
There are often resource constraints within organisations, particularly local government, in this area. Budgets are tight and the use of social media as a business tool is just emerging. Tapping into the knowledge of other councils within the region or local government specific resources such as the ALGIM resources on social media will extend the resources available to you. There are many resources available online that searches will reveal. Key words include social, media, risk, management, local, government. Some of these have been compiled for you in this storify.
Other blogs in Critchsue – “Managing Social Media in Local Government” series
Social Media Privacy and the Digital Native
Social Media Fire and Storm Prevention, Preparation and Response
Social Media Analytics – Makeover Time
References
Culp, S., Gomes, R., & Narveson, J. (2014). A Comprehensive Approach to Managing Social Media Risk and Compliance.
Schullich, R. (2012). Risk Assessment in Social Media. The SANS institute InfoSec Reading Room, SANS Institute.
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