Government agencies are increasingly looking to leverage social media to improve the quality of government services and elicit greater citizen engagement. Developing a social media policy can be an important first step for government agencies considering using social media and can ultimately serve as a key enabler for responsibly and effectively leveraging social media tools. Yet, many governments are struggling with what such a policy should encompass and convey. This report outlines the different reasons government employees engage in social media use and begins to answer the question, what are the core elements of a government social media policy? Our analysis identified eight essential elements for a social media policy: 1) employee access, 2) account management, 3) acceptable use, 4) employee conduct, 5) content, 6) security, 7) legal issues, and 8) citizen conduct. The report closes with brief guidance on strategies for getting started.

In response to growing interest in and concerns about social media in the public sector among government professionals, CTG launched a project aimed at exploring some of the issues and benefits connected with social media tools. This report summarizes results from two workshops held with government professionals from New York State (NYS) as part of this project. The workshops were designed to collect information on the value NYS agencies seek in their current or future use of social media, as well as their most pressing questions and concerns regarding that use. The report summarizes the results from workshops, with full results provided in three apendices, and concludes with a section outlining the next steps in the project.