The Veterans Affairs Department plans to increase its use of collaboration and social media tools at individual offices and medical facilities, according to 21-page policy document released Aug. 16 but dated June 28. 

"This policy sets us on a path toward changing how we talk-and listen-to Vets," said VA Director of Online Communications Brandon Friedman in a statement.

The policy, signed by VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker and Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs L. Tammy Duckworth, emphasizes--even using italics--the department's support for social media: "The use of web-based collaboration tools such as social media tools is highly encouraged," says the document.

But while VA is opening the door wider to social media, its not just letting anyone pass through. Establishing an official VA social media account involves a formal petitioning process, which includes a business case for the site, a resource assessment, a quality standards review by OPIA and a content maintenance plan. Leadership will be required to provide a justification in the case a particular collaboration or social media proposal is denied, however.

Duckworth's office will be permitted to conduct periodic audits of social media sites to ensure alignment with VA messaging and priorities. Baker's office is tasked with collaborating with human resources to develop a process for disabling access for individuals who establish, maintain or are responsible for posting content to external collaboration sites when they are terminated from their duties.

The document offers guidance on social media conduct as well. One section highlights comment moderation--potentially providing clarity in an area other agency social media teams have viewed as difficult and subjective. It provides specific requirements for privacy protections in accordance with the Privacy Act, as well.

Social media archiving has also been a persistent stumbling block for government entities. According to the policy, Duckworth's office will work the VA records officer and the National Archives and Records Administration to establish a records control schedule for VA records generated through social media (where an RCS does not already exist for that channel). The policy requires externally-hosted social networking websites to have a corresponding website with duplicated content behind the VA firewall. This will serve as the official source for the same information provided at the third-party location.

VA's "Privacy and Security-Legal Notice," which must be linked to and customized for each social media outlet, details the archiving of comments. "VA will not collect or retain these comments in our records, this is a public forum and any information provided in comments may be publicly available on (name of website) and the privacy policies of (name of website) apply," according to the privacy-notice template provided in the policy document.

Beyond the thorough legal notice template for social media sites, the policy includes other hints of legal coverage. The document advises employees to discourage Veterans and associated participants from seeking "official VA determinations or adjudications via social media." It also requires that links to third-party websites--or any non-dot gov domain--be flagged with a statement adjacent to the link or a pop-up. This disclaimer must explain "that the visitor is being directed to a nongovernment website and that the website may have privacy policies that differ from VA," notes the policy.

For more:
- see the VA press release
- see the social media policy (.pdf)
- see a directory of VA social media sites

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