Social Media Policy

Staying Informed and Involved Online

To highlight our commitment to transparency in government, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) has launched new Web-based tools for outreach, education and information. These tools are not intended to replace the channels currently in place for press and constituent communication. Press inquiries should be directed to Catherine Williams at 617-315-9386 or cwilliams@masscec.com, and questions or complaints regarding agency services should be directed to MassCEC at 617-315-9355 or info@masscec.com. Rather, these tools are meant to enhance our ability to educate, empower, and inform the residents of Massachusetts.
 

Below is one of the many ways we encourage people to stay informed and engaged, Twitter.
 

Please note that Records Retention Law of the Commonwealth requires the MassCEC to preserve records created or received by a state employee. Pursuant to this retention requirement comments posted or messages received via an official state agency page on a third-party web-site (such as an official agency profile on a micro-blog such as Twitter) will be treated as state governmental records and may be permanently archived. Information that you submit voluntarily through social media sites associated with this agency where such information is publically available, including your name, city or town, and the substance of anything that you post may be disseminated further by being posted online at this website or be  publicly discussed by a  member of the administration.
 

Twitter
 

Twitter is a free social networking site that allows users to send and read other users' updates of up to 140 characters in length.  While people use Twitter in many different ways for both personal and professional reasons, we are using Twitter at the MassCEC as another way to keep citizens informed about what we're doing and as another way to get feedback.

You can follow the MassCEC on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MassCEC
Please note:

The account is maintained and monitored by the MassCEC and its staff.
MassCEC will often follow people back who follow us.  If you’d rather we not, send us a direct message and we’ll be happy to comply.
 

While we try to respond to questions on Twitter as much as possible, if you have a question, concern or comment, you may still want to contact the MassCEC by another method (especially if what you have to say requires more than 140 characters!).
 

While the MassCEC staff watch and update Twitter as much as possible, please recognize that we also monitor and maintain many other channels of feedback, outreach and engagement, both in-person and online.
To ensure that everyone's opinions and ideas are heard, feedback on Twitter is incorporated with feedback from public meetings, email, letters, phone calls, and in-person visits.
 

Unless you protect your updates, messages you post on Twitter are public.  Because not everyone knows that we are on Twitter, we occasionally search for ‘tweets’ that talk about Secretary Bowles but don’t reference our account, [ACCOUNT], and let that user know about our account. We’re not trying to stalk anyone. We just want to let as many people as possible know that we’re listening and engaging.
 

The MassCEC will not respond via Twitter to press inquiries, resident questions or complaints, or other constituent matters.  For instructions on appropriate methods for contacting the MassCEC, please visit the Contact Us page of the MassCEC website.

Also note that this micro-blog is hosted by Twitter and is governed by Twitter’s separate website policies, including its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.  For questions, please contact Catherine Williams at cwilliams@masscec.com or 617-315-9386.