Social Media Policy

The purpose of the City of Elkins’ Facebook page—and presence on any other social media platform in the future—is to present matters of public interest relating to City of Elkins programs, activities, news stories, and photos. We welcome your comments. However, by interacting with the City of Elkins on social media, you agree to the following Terms of Use:

1. The city cannot regularly respond to posted comments. If you have a question or need assistance, we encourage you to contact the appropriate department. Contact names and numbers can be found on our website, cityofelkinswv.com. Please contact External Affairs with any questions.
2. All posts and comments–including comments left by visitors–on this page become public records and may be requested for review by anyone at any time.
3. Comments made by the public to our Facebook page will be reviewed, and while comments will not be edited by our personnel, the City reserves the right to remove comments that include:

• Topics unrelated to the purpose and scope of the page.
• Obscenity or offensive terms.
• Child pornography.
• Incitement to imminent lawless action.
• Inciting or promoting violence or illegal activities.
• Speech presenting a grave and imminent threat.
• Fighting words or personal attacks.
• Threatening, harassing, or discriminating language.
• Fraud or promoting fraudulent activities.
• Personal identifying information or sensitive personal information.
• Information that could reasonably compromise public safety.
• Defamation (libel/slander).
• Apparent spam or repetitive posts.
• Posts or comments that contain any external links.
• Solicitations to commit, or speech integral to, criminal conduct.
• Promotion or advertisement of a business or commercial transaction.
• Promotion in favor of, or in opposition to, a candidate campaigning for election to a political office.
• Copyrighted material (if posted without the copyright holder’s consent).

The City may remove your comment from a Facebook post if it falls within one of the foregoing categories or includes other material found to be inappropriate or unrelated to City matters. Commenting on posts with links has been disabled to reduce the amount of spam that the page receives. Also, please keep in mind that this is an internet page on Facebook.com. Meta Platforms, Inc. owns and operates Facebook.com. It has its own policies and standards concerning what may, and may not, be posted and the actions that it may take with regard to unauthorized posts. See “Facebook Community Standards” at https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/.

Furthermore, while we encourage debate and discussion, we respectfully request that commenters be mindful that this site is open to the public and urge participants to be courteous and civil toward one another. The City is not responsible for, and neither endorses nor opposes, comments placed on this site by visitors to this site. Commenters are personally responsible for their own comments, username, and/or any information placed on this page.

Please do not report emergencies or ask for assistance on this page. For police service call 911. All individuals who appear on this page as persons of interest, suspects, or wanted individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

This policy is also posted on the City of Elkins’ Facebook page.

Images

As the City does not employ a full-time illustrator or photographer, employees may occasionally upload AI-generated images. These images are only for illustrative purposes only.

Promotion of third parties

Nonprofit and educational organizations: The City of Elkins may share (e.g., repost) social media content from local nonprofit, community, and educational organizations when the content aligns with the City’s mission and benefits the Elkins community. All shared content must comply with the City’s social media policy, as stated above.

Due to staff limitations, the City of Elkins cannot create or draft social media content for external organizations. If you would like the City to consider sharing your post, please contact External Affairs via email with the details.

Private companies and businesses: In accordance with West Virginia Code § 6B-2-5(b) and the West Virginia Ethics Act, City of Elkins employees are prohibited from using their public office for private gain. This includes promoting businesses, products, or services on the City’s social media channels. The City does not share commercial or for-profit content unless it pertains to an official City-sponsored initiative or public service announcement.

Communications Specialist

Leon Kaye

401 Davis Avenue
Elkins, WV 26241
304.636.1414, ext. 1212 (office)
lkaye@cityofelkinswv.com