Social media use and guidelines

Our main corporate accounts are -

  • Twitter - @Hullccnews
  • Facebook - Hull City Council
  • Instagram - Hull City Council
  • LinkedIn - Hull City Council
  • TikTok - Hull City Council

Why we use social media

Social media is one of the most popular and preferred methods of communication. 

Therefore, it is important that we have a strong presence on social media channels to improve communications and promote engagement and interaction with residents and customers.

How we use social media and what we ask people to respect when interacting with our channels

We monitor and update our accounts between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

When appropriate, we endeavour to respond as soon as we can to -

  • posts
  • messages
  • comments

We want our social media channels to be inclusive and welcoming. Where people feel comfortable taking part in conversations with us, the wider city and other users.

If you'd like to contact us through social media, we ask that you -

  • be civil
  • respectful
  • relevant

Do not post messages that are -

  • unlawful
  • libellous
  • harassing
  • defamatory
  • abusive
  • threatening
  • harmful
  • obscene
  • profane
  • sexually oriented
  • racially offensive

Do not - 

  • use foul or aggressive language
  • publicise personal information, such as contact details for - 
    • yourself
    • anyone else
  • impersonate someone else

We reserve the right to remove any contributions that break these guidelines.

Persistently breaking these guidelines can lead to you being blocked from our accounts.

Following other accounts and sharing information

When we follow other accounts it -

  • is based on relevance and usefulness to the council
  • doesn't mean we endorse any -
    • individual
    • organisation
    • comments

We will only share messages/information we think will be helpful or interesting to our followers.

Social media and the pre-election period

The pre-election period (purduh) is the term used to describe the period between the time an election is announced and the date the election is held.

During this time, there are extra restrictions placed on us on the publicity it can issue.

Publicity, including social media, should not deal with controversial issues such as -

  • reporting views
  • proposals
  • recommendations

in such a way that identifies them with -

  • individual members
  • groups of members

During this period, we are still permitted to promote appropriate services, providing that the information is factual and not political in nature regarding -

  • events
  • information
  • responses to comments

Therefore, during the pre-election period, we will continue to publish content and information on social media, but may have to remove responses if they are overtly party political.

All social media platforms run by us are subject to the rules of the pre-election period. This is in accordance with The Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity (Local Government Act 1986).