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UK Government Civil Service

Cabinet Office releases guidance on social media for civil servants

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

May 17, 2012 | 3 min read

The Cabinet Office has today released guidance on how civil servants should use social media, based on six principles.

The guidance says that civil servants should: communicate with citizens in the places they already are; use social media to consult and engage; use social media to be more transparent and accountable; be part of the conversation with all the benefits that brings; understand that the Government cannot do everything alone or in isolation and work with those who can and are willing to help; and adhere to the Civil Service Code.

Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, said: “I am very pleased to see the publication of this social media guidance for Government. As a recent convert to Twitter and Linkedin I can attest to the value of social media channels which I hope have made me more open and accessible to a wide range of people but in particular to our own staff in the Civil Service.

“There are, of course, legacy, security and infrastructural IT issues that this guidance addresses which means that not all civil servants can easily access social media channels at this time in their workspaces and we will work over the coming months to address this situation.

“The workplace of the future will have to be less rigid, less hierarchical and a lot more flexible. Participating in social media is a good way to learn how a modern workforce engages and communicates and I hope that more and more of our staff will embrace these new ways of working.”

Emer Coleman, deputy director for digital engagement at the Government Digital Service added in a blog post: "For those who are regular users of social media there will be little new, but for some of our civil service colleagues who may have experienced both cultural and technical barriers in the use of social media at work, we hope it will be used as a means of empowering them to explore what social media offers, whether that is consulting and engaging, improving their policy practice or simply listening to better act on the concerns of citizens. The world of digital engagement is evolving all the time and we anticipate that this guidance will not be something that remains static but will continue to iterate over time."

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