I was curious how much some agencies spent, in regards to advertising on social networks.  So, in October of 2016, I filed to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for records pertaining to this, and was surprised to see a huge influx in spending in 2015 compared to the other years released.

According to the SSA’s website:

Document Archive

 Social Security Administration Social Network Spending, 2013-2016 [3 Pages, 1.1MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ssa/SSA-SocialNetworkAds-2013-2016.pdf

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Use of social media has become prevalent among Federal executive branch employees and agencies. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is aware that agency ethics officials have an interest in understanding how the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Executive Branch Employees (Standards of Conduct), 5 C.F.R. part 2635, apply to the use of social media. This interest is reflected in the increased volume of questions that OGE receives from various agencies seeking advice in this area.

As an initial matter, the Standards of Conduct do not prohibit executive branch employees from establishing and maintaining personal social media accounts. As in any other context, however, employees must ensure that their social media activities comply with the Standards of Conduct and other applicable laws, including agency supplemental regulations and agency-specific policies. To assist employees and agency ethics officials in this endeavor, OGE is providing the following guidance regarding issues that agency ethics official have frequently raised concerning employees’ obligations under the Standards of Conduct when using social media.

 The Standards of Conduct as Applied to Personal Social Media Use for Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Employees [36 Pages, 3.2MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/oge/OGESocialMedia.pdf

The post Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Employee Use of Social Network Accounts first appeared on The Black Vault.

Now that the Department of Defense has permitted the use of social media for both private and official purposes, the question becomes, can the military, the Army in particular, obtain the benefits sought from social media use without seriously compromising individual and operations security?

Answering this question required an initial assessment of Army goals and objectives to determine why the Army risked the use of social media, which revealed two reasons immediately.

First, the Army needed social media to communicate its inform and influence activities more effectively. Second, social media was the primary means by which soldiers maintained contact with their friends and family and, consequently, became a significant element in maintaining soldier morale.

If the Army did not need social media to distribute its inform message, it might have avoided the difficulties created by the personal use of social media by soldiers. Thus, the security risk posed by the use of social media cannot be reduced to a simple enforcement of operations security rules.

Nevertheless, soldiers who are not trained to avoid the disclosure of classified or sensitive information will, through their ingrained habits, present a significant security risk. Bottom line, all military personnel require training on appropriate use of social media now.

The Document

 Social Media and the U.S. Army: Maintaining a Balance, by MAJOR Todd A. Moe, May 2011 [49 Pages, 0.7MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/army/2013-68.pdf

The post Social Media and the U.S. Army: Maintaining a Balance, by MAJOR Todd A. Moe, May 2011 first appeared on The Black Vault.