Social Media Engagement Guidelines

Thank you for engaging with the Shire of Northam.

Our social media is used for sharing news, updates, issues and events, alongside our other communication channels. We encourage active discussion and value your comments.

To keep our community space welcoming and inclusive, comments and posts are moderated; comments and messages that do not adhere to these guidelines may be removed, and users may be blocked depending on frequency of posting and/or nature of comments at the absolute discretion of the Shire of Northam. The Shire of Northam has a zero-tolerance policy towards any bullying, defamatory, or derogatory content, or comments likely to incite or illicit antisocial behaviour.

By interacting with our social media profiles, you agree to adhere to the following:

• Relevance keep comments on-topic to the post you are commenting on. Only post the same message once. If you require a response and haven’t received one, please contact the Shire of Northam directly
• Accuracy be factual, truthful and accurate in your interactions, and do not spread misinformation
• Legal Compliance ensure that any comments or content posted does not infringe on copyright or other intellectual property rights
• Respect keep discussion civil and polite. Be respectful of others, including fellow users, Council Members and Shire staff. Comments of an abusive, personal, defamatory or harassing nature will not be tolerated
• Decency keep content clean (comments, images, or videos of an inappropriate nature, or using inappropriate language will be removed)
• Privacy protect your personal privacy by not including email addresses, phone numbers or home addresses on public platforms

Moderation

The Shire of Northam’s online channels are managed by the Engagement & Communications team, who will try to respond to on-topic interactions as quickly as possible. This platform is monitored during normal business hours (Monday to Friday, 8.00am – 5.00pm, excluding public holidays). Outside of these hours, we cannot guarantee that monitoring will take place; if you require immediate assistance please call (08) 9622 7267.

The Shire will not respond to each individual user, but will join the conversation where reasonable or required to do so.

We will respond to service enquiries on social media where possible, but we encourage users to contact the Shire of Northam directly via phone or email for specific queries, or if requiring a formal response and follow-up.

Our team reads all public interactions, and any recurring themes, issues, or helpful feedback are passed onto the relevant Shire business area.

Being followed by the Shire of Northam does not imply endorsement of any kind.

Feedback

If you have any feedback on the content of our online channels, please email [email protected] (for the attention of the Engagement & Communications team), or call 9622 6100.

Please report any inappropriate content, or content that goes against these guidelines to our page administrators.

Content sharing

All online content produced by the Shire of Northam is owned by us and protected by copyright. You are encouraged to share the content provided that you do not change the original message intent or misrepresent the Shire of Northam in any way.

Changes to our Guidelines

The Shire of Northam reserves the right to update these guidelines as required.