When representing Girl Scouts on social media channels make safety a priority.

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1 Communicating through Social Media Communications Liaisons are encouraged to share information with their volunteers via a local area website or other social media platform. The purpose is to enhance the communication between local members and volunteers, which will enrich the experience for girl and adult members. Girl Scout troop leaders will also find these effective resources to enhance communications with parents. Once you have created a site, we encourage you to share it with the Internal Communications Manager and local Membership Services Manager, so it can be put on GSBDC When representing Girl Scouts on social media channels make safety a priority. Make sure the privacy standards settings ensure the safety of girls. Practice diligence to ensure that groups you are joining or linking to have standards consistent with Girl Scouts. Make sure the messages you post do not conflict with Girl Scouts positions. Please contact the council if you need clarity. Use good judgment and common sense - do not write or post anything that would embarrass or upset Girl Scout members and volunteers, or reflect badly on our organization. Treat others as you want to be treated; do not use the internet to attack or abuse any group, race, gender, religion, political group. Careful monitoring of social media is important in maintaining a positive image of Girl Scouting. When possible, please share articles/events from the GSBDC website, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and other communication resources. This volunteer position is key to helping us build a consistent Girl Scout brand. Volunteers are very effective when it comes to telling the Girl Scout story in their local community. This volunteer position will ensure we are telling the Girl Scout story appropriately through social media channels. Photography Use of photos or videos requires a Photo/Artwork Release form signed by parents/guardians and any adults pictured. This release only provides permission for use directly related to Girl Scouts and should never be used to promote a business or political campaign. The troop leader should keep this document on file at all times. Hyperlinks Consider hyperlinks with care. If you link to another from your website or social media platform, make not contain inappropriate or controversial material. Advertising & Product Sales Do not sell advertising on your site, either in text or graphic format. This includes banner ads and sponsored links. The sale of advertising creates an implied relationship between Girl Scouts and the goods or services advertised, and are NOT permitted.

2 Guidelines -mail address, physical address, phone number or school. Do not post the date, time and location of meetings, events or trips. Service Units can post recruitment events online. If Service Units wish to share program information with families, they should do so via or through a closed group or password protected page only. Any Girl Scout use of a social networking site for communication must have parental permission and must meet age limits set by the provider, which is 13 and older in most cases, as per the United States Child Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) and the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). Only events/opportunities that are directly related to Girl Scouts can be promoted. Under no circumstances should volunteers utilize information available on social media sites to make volunteer appointment decisions. l boundaries by using discretion when Cookie/Councilgirls to sign the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge. Members responsible for posting disparaging material, bullying, intimidation or other misuse will be reprimanded and other disciplinary measures may be taken. We expect our adult members to role models for our girls, and follow the Girl Scout Law and Promise to be considerate and caring, honest and fair. GSBDC has a zero tolerance for adult to girl cyber bullying. Comments should be deleted if they break any of the procedures listed above; contain profanity, obscenity, vulgarity or nudity in profile picture; are defamatory to a person, people or organization; contain name calling, personal attacks and/or personal issues that are more appropriately addressed offline; or infringe on copyright laws. The next section of these guidelines gives specific information on how to start Facebook, Shutterfly and Twitter accounts. Other platforms such as Google or Scoutlander may also be used. Each local leadership team is encouraged to discuss which medium would be most effective for their own use. We are not endorsing a specific product, but giving information so Girl Scout members may use social media effectively. Facebook Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council We are posting regular status updates, pictures, links and more on our GSBDC page. We also invite our fans to participate in discussions and share information. Facebook search bar or visit Best practices for Facebook: Update your status regularly Brighten your profile with photos and videos Join groups and networks Creating a Closed Facebook Group

3 The first step is to create your own Facebook account, if you have not done so already. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can create one at few minutes. To create a group, take the following steps: 1. ll appear on your screen for creating a group. 2. Choose your group name. This should be the name of your service unit (or your troop if you are creating a group page for your troop). For example: Greenbrier County Girl Scouts. Please 3. You can now add other local members to the group who also have Facebook accounts. Please make sure to add only service unit members and Girl Scouts of Black Diamond staff. 4. in the group page If you choose to add a profile picture, the Girl Scout Trefoil is a graphic you can use. If you would like one that includes your service unit name, please contact the Internal Communications Manager. Things you can do with a closed Facebook group Post messages remember a Facebook post has a limit of 420 characters Use the Notes section for longer posts Post photos Post links to other sites Post videos Create documents on Facebook Chat with group members In a closed group, any member can invite other members to join, as long as they are Facebook friends. The creator of the closed group is the administrator by default. For that reason, we encourage the communications consultant to create the closed group. It is a good practice to have more than one administrator, so that the responsibility of the account can be shared. If the service unit already has a page and you are taking over the administration, the administrator can add an additional site administrator with ease. Creating a Closed Shutterfly Share Site The first step is to create a Shutterfly account. Go to: Name your site. Again, this should be the name of your service unit. Please do not add Scouts of Black Diamond Council 4. You will be shown the site URL. 5. to Shutterfly.com will be required by site members. 6. Choose site design pick the color/design of the template. 7. You can add images, including the Girl Scouts of servicemark (logo).

4 Once your site is created, you will receive an that includes the hyperlink for your site. At the Shutterfly home page, you can find your site wh your page is created, you can customize it with photos and other additions. Things you can do on a Shutterfly share site Site members: Add people to the site member list; invite via . Favorite sites: You can add links to your favorite websites. Add sections such as calendar, message board, rosters or files. Customize your page layout. You can add files to your page just upload from your computer. To do this, add the ve the ability to upload files Change photos on your homepage upload from your computer. information. o With rosters, you can set permissions for members give page members access to only view the page, not change the information. Sections you can add on Shutterfly 1. Share Pictures and album Videos Photo books Featured pictures Text can write or share text Journal Bookmarks Files can upload word documents 2. Collaborate Recent activity Message board Comments Calendar Volunteer sign up Polls create a method for members to vote on something Tasks/to do lists Rosters Contact lists Members list who are group members 3. More options Map add locations and show on Google map Feeds from other sites Twitter We are posting 140 character tweets from our Twitter To create a Twitter account visit: The basics of Twitter are to: Follow relevant accounts

5 Post tweets Remember that people like the human touch and will appreciate posts with your thoughts and and respond to their comments. Best practices for Twitter: Build relationships on Twitter Listen for comments about Girl Scouts Respond to comments and queries Ask questions Post links to things people would find interesting Retweet messages you would like to share Use a friendly, casual tone Creating a Twitter account 1. Full Name Use your real name. It will appear on your public profile. 2. Username BlackDiamondGS.) It can be your service unit name and number or an abbreviation of the name, when creating a Twitter account for your service unit. When creating your username, be mindful that user names count as a part of the 140 character limit. 3. Password You will need a password to sign in to your account. 4. Terms of service Agree to these. You are agreeing to not spam other users. Click 5. Once your account is created, you will see an account page where you can fill in more information about yourself. Please do this. 6. Before finishing, be sure to click on th headshot is the best idea. Use the Girl Scout Trefoil for a service unit. 7. If you have any questions about creating accounts, please contact the Internal Communications Manager. Have questions? Need help? Have a great success story? Becky White Internal Communications Manager (304) x1012 becky.white@bdgsc.org