Foreign Office staff should follow the principles outlined here when using social media professionally. If you are interested in setting up a new social media channel for official purposes, please read our social media policy.

Personal security guidance on social media is available on the security pages of FCONet 

Participation online

FCO staff have much to gain from using online tools to collaborate with others and participate in relevant conversations.

Social media is a personal medium. It requires individuals to participate by identifying themselves and taking part. Digital Diplomacy Group actively encourages Foreign Office staff to take opportunities to participate in online conversations in an official capacity, identifying themselves overtly as Foreign Office officials.

FCO staff do not need to seek permission from Digital Diplomacy Group to participate online in existing communities. The rules of engagement are the same online as for staff participating in meetings or conferences. FCO staff guidelines on the 'Use of Official Information or Experience' apply to online participation as well as offline.

Online participation carries no greater risk or consequence than offline participation. In practice, there are extra safeguards for online participants: staff have time to deliberate before publishing comments, and can select where and when they participate, sticking to subjects that they are expert in. This is less risky than hostile questioning from a live audience.

The Civil Service Code endorses this approach, providing permission and clear guidance on how to participate online.

Most of what individuals will want do online can probably be achieved through participating in existing social media websites, whether or not we are officially partnering with those who run them.

Participation might involve individuals commenting online within existing social media communities.

• Example: participation could mean joining an existing climate change social network. You don't need an official FCO presence to join a Facebook group, you just need officials who are prepared to participate.
• Example: participation could mean commenting on someone else's blog, as John Duncan our Ambassador in Geneva does

Formal partnerships with other organisations or websites can also be a highly effective way to reach new or specialist audience groups.

• Example: Our partnership with VoxEU helped us to reach and engage an established online community of economists during our London Summit campaign

And working with others can remove the need for us to create bespoke social functionality ourselves if it already exists elsewhere. It is not in our interests to recreate FCO versions of social media functionality that is already delivered brilliantly elsewhere.

The culture of participation

In order to make the most of opportunities to participate online, staff need to be credible as participants. That means respecting and conforming to the culture of the conversation in any given social media forum, rather than imposing our own culture and rules. FCO Staff should not launch social media experiments if they are going to use them for broadcast. Listen first: get to know how people use the social media tool or site and respect the (usually unwritten) rules. As a minimum, all replies and comments need to be read and, if appropriate, replied to.

• Example: Twitter culture involves engaging in conversations and responding to other tweets. Participating in a two-way conversation will enhance the credibility of a Twitter voice.

Mixing personal and official participation

FCO staff will probably use social media outside work (eg using Facebook, YouTube or Flickr in a personal capacity). And many staff will be very comfortable with that fact that their personal social media profiles are already in the public domain.

Staff should be aware that when they participate online in an official capacity, it becomes more difficult to keep personal and official content separate (even if you make efforts to keep them separate).

• Example: a member of staff might mix their personal and official lives by using their personal Facebook profile to join a foreign policy Facebook community.

For most staff this is an inevitable by-product of being digitally active, and will not present a problem. But if staff have reason to be concerned about personal security or a possible conflict of interest with their official role, they should consult their line manager.

Remember: You must not take part in any political or public activity which compromises, or might be seen to compromise, your impartial service to the Government of the day. See the full guidance on FCONet.