Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Communications topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oak Harbor disables comments on official social accounts, council discusses routing messages to staff
Summary
Mayor announced that comments have been disabled on the city's social media channels to reduce spam and protect staff; council debated the change and staff explained automated responses and routes for legitimate messages.
Oak Harbor's mayor told council on Aug. 5 that the city has disabled comments on its social media channels following a review by staff and the city attorney. The mayor said the decision was made to reduce spam, fake accounts and off-topic conversation and to protect staff from harmful interactions.
"This decision wasn't made to limit communication. It was made to improve it," the mayor said, adding that the city's social pages will remain an information resource and that staff will direct residents to channels where their questions can be addressed directly. Officials said the city will continue to accept formal public comment through the website and will display submitted comments to council when appropriate.
Council members debated the change. Council Member Marrow voiced support for the efficiency gains and said staff had been consulted; Council Member Stuckey and others pressed staff to ensure legitimate Facebook messages and high volumes of input could still be surfaced to council. City staff described automated responses that indicate hours of operation and a process for the communications officer to route substantive messages to staff for follow-up.
