This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Southold Town Reviews Social Networking Policy

Southold Town reviewed its social networking policy for employees and also discussed the merits of the town developing its own social networking site.

Southold Town officials may not want employees to go on social networking sites on town equipment on town time, but now they are considering policing what employees say about the town on those sites outside of the workday on their own devices.

Southold Town Councilman William Ruland brought the issue up at Tuesday’s work session. Noting that some private companies have strict policies not only concerning what happens during the workday on company equipment, but aboutwhat employees post about the workplace outside of work. 

“Private companies have policies that restrict what you say publicly about your employer,” said Ruland.

Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town Attorney Martin Finnegan said the town has a general policy that employees cannot use the Internet or e-mail other than for town business but does not have a policy preventing employees from discussing the town outside of work.

Lloyd Reisenberg, network and systems administrator, said the town does block sites such as Facebook or eBay except for employees who need to use those websites as part of their job. For example, the police department can access Facebook for investigative purposes.

Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Reisenberg said the town’s current technology allows them to track what sites were viewed and how many times each page was viewed. At this time, the town cannot track who is visiting the sites. Reisenberg expects a new application allowing closer tracking of employees Internet usage to become available later this year.

Supervisor Scott Russell agreed with the town Internet use policy, but he did not support policing what employees do outside the office.

“If someone wants to say something bad about me that is his/her right. It is the same as if an employee writes a letter to the editor. It must be done on your own time,” said Russell. "Regarding employee behavior on town time vs. personal time, I don’t want to regulate what people do on their own time."

While discussing social networking, Community Development Director Phillip Beltz said he thought the town should look for ways to use social networking to the town’s benefit. He felt these sites were an essential tool for communication, especially with the town’s youth.

“I had to get Facebook on my home account to use if for the Youth Bureau Board,” explained Beltz.

In addition, Beltz said, people could go on to the town’s Facebook page for updates on town events and even updated information on the comprehensive plan.

Although the board members all claimed to have limited knowledge of how Facebook works, they did feel it could be a useful communications tool. Councilman Vincent Orlando expressed concerned aboutthe damage potential viruses embedded in certain Facebook applications could have on the town's computers .

“We’re going to have to figure out how to do it in a safe way,” said Town Justice Louisa Evans.

Reisenberg said if the town did get involved with social networking, it would have to be done in a way that the town would not get virtually attacked.

Ruland said he was glad he brought the issue up because there is a lot happening on the Internet and he is worried about people using their own devices on town time to say negative things about the town.

“It’s not that you communicate, it’s what you communicate,” Ruland said.

Russell said the town is updating the website and the issue can be brought up again as the redesign continues.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?