Do You "Like" Foster City?

The City of Foster City is working to define its social media presence, according to a new report by the city.

Last week, the Council was presented with the report on the City's new social media policy.

"This is how people are getting engaged online. Now, clearly you see the social media netowrks are what people are using and we thought it important to develop a policy on how the city uses it," said Assistant City Manager Steve Toler. "Many people of all different ages and walks of life are using social media."

The City currently maintains several Facebook pages, including city's overall page, the fire department, the police department, Foster City TV and the Parks and Recreation Youth Programs.

Current Twitter accounts include Foster City Earth Day (@fcearthday), the police department (@FosterCityPD), Foster City TV (@FosterCityTV) and Parks and Recreation Youth Programs (@FCPRDYouth).

Considerations for the new policy included the authorization to post, the impact on public record requests, records retention and potential political uses. In the future, the city plans to track usage, followers, proactively monitor comments and consider future civic engagement oppurtunities, Tolar said.

"The city is continuely looking for new ways to engage our public," Tolar said. "We do need to find new ways to reach out to people, and social media allows us to do that."

Several councilmembers expressed concern over the amount of time it will take staff members to monitor the various sites.

"I'm concerned that it will eat up staff time," said Councilmember Charles Bronitsky. "I would like to start slow and see how it works and maybe explore by looking at other cities' policies."

"I too am concened about how much staff time it is taking to read all these sites," Councilmember Pam Frisella said. "I would recommend anyone that has comments for us to email us directly."

Others were concearned about potential misuse of the accounts. 

"At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, it's hopeful that people will act responsibly," Councilmember Art Kiesel said. "Obviously we're going to have to monitor it and hope it doesn't get out of hand."

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