Social Media participation guidelines

We want Tameside to be a place where everyone can achieve their hopes and ambitions. That includes how we use our social media – creating a space where everyone feels welcome to take part, share, and ask questions in a respectful and inclusive way.

These guidelines are here to help keep our channels safe, positive and accessible for everyone.

What you can expect from us

We use our social media channels to share updates about council services, events and plans for the borough. We also use them to answer your questions and help you find the right support or service. 

We try to make all our content as accessible as possibly by:

• Using alt text on images
• Writing hashtags in CamelCase
• Including captions and voiceovers on videos to explain what is happening
• Limiting use of emojis so that our posts can be easily read by screen readers

Our community guidelines

We welcome your questions and feedback about council services, ideas and suggestions that help us improve, positive stories about life in Tameside, and friendly conversation and discussion about local issues. 

To help keep our online community respectful and inclusive, please:

• Treat others with respect and kindness, even when you disagree. Personal attacks, persistent trolling and mindless abuse will not be tolerated. 
• Stay on topic and keep your comments relevant. We know that some conversations can be wide-ranging, but if you post something which is unrelated to the original topic ("off-topic") then it may be removed, in order to keep the thread on track.
• Be honest and constructive in your feedback. 

We will remove content that includes:

• Abusive, threatening or aggressive language or images
• Foul language
• Hate speech of any kind (including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or other forms of discrimination)
• False or misleading information, especially if it could cause harm
• Spam, adverts or promotional content unrelated to the council
• Personal attacks, trolling or targeted harassment
• Illegal or defamatory material
• Offensive usernames or profile pictures
• Repetitive off-topic posts or disruption of discussions

We will remove and hide comments that break our community guidelines. If you break the rules repeatedly (three times), we reserve the right to block your account from commenting or interacting with us. 

If you’re blocked, we will let you know why. If you believe you have been blocked unfairly, you may request a review by emailing communications@tameside.gov.uk

Please include:

• Your social media handle
• A brief explanation of your concern
• Any relevant context or evidence
• Reviews will be considered and a decision provided within 10 working days. If the block is lifted, you will be informed and reminded of the social media guidelines.

We may take action to help keep our social media channels safe, welcoming and useful for everyone.

As we’re responsible for everything that appears on our pages, our moderators’ decisions are final. While we’re not able to get into individual moderation decisions (except when we have blocked a user), we do read and consider all feedback.

Need help with a council service?

If you want to:

• Report an issue or make a service request – visit www.tameside.gov.uk/contactus
• Make a formal complaint – visit www.tameside.gov.uk/complaints
• Request information (FOI) – visit www.tameside.gov.uk/freedomofinformation