Hays County Republican Party Social Media Protocol

Purpose:
Social media is a powerful, impactful tool. As leaders among our fellow conservatives in Hays County, it is incumbent upon us to leverage this tool in a way that educates and informs our neighbors without inciting negativity and ire. Our posts are meant to connect us with our followers, support our candidates and Republican elected officials and communicate legislative information. Thus, please follow the following social media guidelines and protocol when posting or commenting on our social media platforms.

Posting Responsibly Practices:
Posts must support the Mission of the Hays County Executive Committee: The County Executive Committee’s mission is to elect men and women of integrity who will fight for and govern with the values and principles we stand for as conservatives and Republicans.

  1. Be Respectful and Courteous. Use good manners when posting or commenting. Notice the tone of your writing voice.
  2. Use communication that does not damage HCRP’s reputation and brand.
  3. Focus on positive posts and comments. Avoid negative posts and retaliation.
  4. Use care when posting a controversial issue. Approval for a questionable or controversial post requires review by the Chair. When in doubt, run it by the Chair and/or Second Vice Chair (Communication). Another opinion is always good.
  5. Focus on posts that connect and establish relationships with our followers.
  6. Avoid anything that could be viewed as malicious, obscene, threatening or intimidating.
  7. Posts with content that is defamatory, derogatory or inflammatory is not allowed.
  8. Language that is vulgar or uses curse words is not allowed.
  9. Check the facts. Make sure posts are accurate and fact based before posting. For example, if posting about an elected official’s voting record, use a reliable source of information such as a .gov web page.
  10. Respect the law, which includes copyright law.

Comments or posts that are sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, homophobic, or hateful are strictly prohibited.

  1. Ignore the trolls and do not engage. Ignore them or block them if they use comments that do not follow our guidelines.
  2. Participation in a flame war or exchange of angry, abusive messages between users is not allowed. Shut down a post if this occurs.
  3. Endorsement of contested Republican candidates during primary elections is not allowed. Vet candidates that are running in races that are nonpartisan and insure they are conservative candidates.
  4. Use of Spanish on posts is encouraged. Be sure the use of Spanish language is correct.
  5. Use hashtags on all posts. It will increase our followers.
  6. Use photos that are in good taste. No photos should ever be used if it portrays someone negatively.
  7. References to alcohol are not allowed.
  8. Respond to questions or concerns our followers may have in a timely fashion. Do not ignore them.
  9. Posts and comments are forever. Please keep that in mind.