A club-wise guide to Social Media Social Media including popular platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are a very good promotional and communicational tool for clubs and their ease of use makes them popular as photos, video and text can be easily uploaded via a mobile phone in just a matter of seconds. However there are some pitfalls to social media which can cause trouble for clubs which we will touch on here and work through some ways to deal with these issues. Anti-social behaviour including things such as bullying and defamation are well known on Facebook and it is important for clubs to realize that even though 99% of members can participate online in a normal way it only takes 1% to cause huge issues, some of these in the past have escalated to such point that members have received suspensions. As the manager of a social media page, it's important to understand that the club can be responsible for what is posted by others within the page in areas such as the comments section. This situation came to light in a recent NSW case where The High Court has recently affirmed on appeal that administrators of public social media pages are deemed to be the ‘publishers’ of third-party comments made on their page. Whilst the courts have yet to fully consider or determine the applicability of the defence of ‘innocent dissemination’, which provides a defence to publishers of third-party material who did not have the capacity to exercise editorial control over the material before it was published and who did not know, or reasonably ought to have known, that the material was defamatory it is obviously extremely important that clubs have a way to deal with such posts in a way to avoid any of these repercussions. The best way is to have a Social Media Policy and this can be a fairly straight forward document which gives those managing your social media a really easy way to deal with some tough situations but also guides them around appropriate content for the page. Some rules to consider that can easily apply to all clubs are as follows: 1. Do not allow swearing, bullying or abusive behaviour. A swearing filter is available on Facebook but any comments that are personal or abusive should be immediately removed. Warning and then banning people who are repeat offenders is advised. Have a user policy posted online so it is clear to everyone what behaviour is accepted or not accepted on your page. 2. Consider how you post content from your club that may be controversial or divisive. This information may be better shared via email or at a club meeting of members. Alternatively turn off comments for these posts. 3. Negative comments provided they are not abusive should not be deleted. A better strategy may be to offer an explanation or have club advocates who can rebuff such negative comments with a more positive spin. For example, a post promoting club meals which has a person say the dish last week was terrible. The club could offer a refund, at least an apology and other members could say their meals were great. 4. If your club has a strategic or business plan that includes club values check each time content is posted that it meets those club values.
Do not post personal opinions or off subject material including anything not related to your bowls club activities, especially things like inappropriate jokes, religious or political views. 5. If your club has policies around Alcohol, Gambling and Behaviour ensure your content is consistent with those policies. Also ensure you are not breaching any conditions of your club liquor license, gaming regulations or the incorporated associations act. The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) has 14 principles for promotion of alcohol (not exclusive to social media) which touch on many unacceptable practices including Chase the Ace promotions which can only be entered by purchasing liquor and happy hour promotions over 60 minutes duration as just a couple of examples. At the end of the day its important to remember why we exist as Bowling Clubs and that primary reason is to play bowls so make sure your social media has just as much bowls promotion as it does any other non-bowls activities. Also whilst its important to promote to the general public under the Incorporated Associations Act its members and their guests who are legally permitted to use the club facilities.
For more info on how to best manage your clubs social media contact your Regional Bowls Manager or visit these links: Social Media Tips for Club Committees – Play by The Rules • Social Media Principles – Australian Institute of Sport Responsible Promotion of Alcohol 14 Principles – DLGSC 12
BowlsWA • Jack Hi • Spring 2021
