(Adapted from Public Health Agency of Canada’s Facebook Terms of Use)
Thank you for following us on our social media! The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) uses social media tools in an effort to communicate clearly, quickly and effectively to the residents of Thunder Bay District.
These Terms of Use describe how we will communicate with residents of Thunder Bay District via social media. By participating on our social media channels you are agreeing to these Terms of Use. TBDHU does not endorse any of the views shared by users. Comments in violation of these Terms of Use may result in TBDHU deleting the comment and blocking the user in question to prevent further inappropriate comments.
Content
Posts displayed on TBDHU socials will cover various topics related to public health, including, but not limited to, TBDHU campaigns, relevant health information for our region, 3rd party web content of interest, advisories and warnings, and media releases. We will also strive to provide interactive content, such as videos, polls and games.
Posting Frequency
The number of posts on each platform will vary depending on relevant material available each day, but will most likely be around 1-3 posts a day. During some periods, we may post more or less frequently than average. You should expect to see new posts mostly during regular working hours, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time (EST). Any activity during holidays, after core hours and on weekends will likely be standard scheduled content, emergency or urgent communications of significant value to our community. Otherwise, the accounts will be relatively inactive during these times.
Feedback and Messages
Feedback and interaction is highly encouraged. Users must abide by these Terms of Use and the general terms of use provided by each platform. All comments, questions and e-mails sent to the social media accounts will be read and any emerging themes or helpful suggestions will be passed to the relevant people at the Health Unit. Although we may not be able to reply individually to all messages, they will be handled on a case-by-case basis and responded to when deemed appropriate.
If we feel a comment or a question posed to the TBDHU requires a response and/or a greater level of detail, we may develop a formal response and distribute the information through other channels such as e-mail, our website, or other social media channels. We will pay attention to emerging themes and helpful suggestions and look forward to this potential interaction.
Response Time
We recognize that the web is a 24/7 medium and your comments are welcomed at any time. However, moderating and posting of comments will generally occur during regular office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m. EST. Exceptions to this may include TBDHU events taking place outside of regular hours. TBDHU is not responsible for offering this service outside of the stipulated hours. TBDHU cannot guarantee it will respond to all questions or comments.
Please note: we cannot offer medical advice, diagnosis or treatment via social media. If you have a question about a specific medical condition, you should contact your doctor. If you live in Ontario, you can also call Telehealth at 1 (866) 797-0000. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911. If you are inquiring about a specific service offered by the TBDHU (e.g. immunization records), please call us at 1 (888) 294-6630.
Media Requests
Media should forward their requests to the TBDHU Media email news@tbdhu.com.
Policy on comments
TBDHU welcomes your comments and will not discriminate against any views. Disagreements and constructive arguments are acceptable as part of the discussion. However, abusive or insulting comments are not acceptable. We expect the content of posts to be respectful of others. The views of participants commenting on these platforms do not necessarily represent the views of TBDHU.
The TBDHU:
- Will moderate and review posted comments and may participate or intervene, as appropriate. While TBDHU may not respond to all questions or comments, we will attempt to provide response and/or additional information or links as capacity permits;
- Expects posted comments to be relevant to the section they are posted to and to the overall topic of the platform;
- Disclaims all liability for comments posted to its social media platforms.
Any comments and/or commenter may be deleted and/or banned from using TBDHU's social media accounts for posting comments of the following nature:
- Offensive, profane, hateful, insulting, rude, abusive, aggressive, violent, obscene, explicit, pornographic or sexual comments;
- Content that promotes or spreads discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, age, creed, gender, marital status, socio-economic status, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.
- Personal attacks and/or offensive statements.
- Serious, unproven, unsupported, or inaccurate information (whether intentionally or not. i.e. Misinformation and Disinformation).
- Advertising/marketing purposes;
- Repetitive, copied and pasted by multiple users;
- Conduct or encourage illegal activity;
- Information that could compromise public safety, security or operations.
- Impersonate or misrepresent someone else;
- Comments containing spam or posted by anonymous or robot accounts;
- Do not make sense (i.e. are unintelligible or irrelevant)
- Off-topic and that forum moderators feel will not add to the flow of debate; and
- Infringing on copyright or other intellectual property rights;
(Adapted with permission from Ottawa Public Health Social Media Protocol)
In short, be respectful and make sure your comments are relevant to the topic under which you are responding. Anyone acting contrary to these Terms may be blocked from posting to our social media accounts. The moderators reserve the right to remove any message, in whole or in part. Users can provide comments as long as they respect these Terms of Use.
Privacy
The TBDHU corporate social media channels are not affiliated with any government organization and represents our presence on social media. Users are encouraged to read each platform's own privacy policy.
Information shared with TBDHU on social media is subject to the provisions of the Information Act and the Privacy Act, which means that the information may be accessed and disclosed in response to a request under either of these acts.
Users are advised not to share personal information. Personal information includes home addresses and telephone numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, and any other information consisting of personal information as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act. Should you have any questions about your privacy rights as explained in this notice, please contact the TBDHU directly.
Accessibility
Social media as a third party service provider is not bound by the policies for web accessibility as set out by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Links to other websites
Links to websites not under the control of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit are provided for the convenience of users. We are not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content of other sites. We do not offer any guarantee in that regard. We are not responsible for the information found through these links nor do we endorse the sites or their content.
TBDHU Employee Use of Social Media
Some TBDHU employees use social media outside of work hours and in their personal capacity under their own names or pseudonyms. Despite their professional affiliation with TBDHU, the conduct of employees on social media in their personal capacity does not represent the official position of TBDHU. The conduct of these employees should be considered as that of private citizens.
Additional Information
If you are looking for information about the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, please consult our website (http://www.tbdhu.com/). The usual ways of contacting us for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us section of our website.
Thank you for taking the time to read these terms of use. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.