TL;DR: SCA branches can create their own Facebook events using their official Facebook page identity without going through the KSMO; however, some kingdoms might impose additional requirements for kingdom-level events.
Earlier this year I posted about an annoying stricture of paragraph IV.C.3.d. of the SCA Social Media Handbook which specified that “On Facebook, Events are to be created through Official Kingdom Pages.”
The one problematic word there is “kingdom” — because it means that local branches have to coordinate all of their Facebook events with the Kingdom’s social media officer, and in the East that means that over fifty branches have to funnel their hundreds and hundreds of Facebook events through a single individual.
With that word removed, we’re left with the much-more-reasonable rule that a branch’s Facebook events should be created through the identity of the branch’s Facebook page (rather than under the identity of an event steward or other member of the populace), which ensures that the public can understand which events are official, and if there was an emergency that took an event steward out of circulation the branch would still have the ability to administer and update the event listing.
I sent a couple of emails to the Society Social Media Officer this spring trying to elicit a revision to this rule, but had not received a response, so my expectations were not high when I emailed again today — but this time I got an answer back just two minutes later!
This is the existing policy at the Society level.
I’m pleased to have finally ironed out this issue, both because our local branches have in fact been creating their own Facebook events and it’s good to know we’re not breaking any rules, and because the previous interpretation of the rule was both ill-advised and seemingly immutable, and thus had prompted numerous people to shake their heads in dismay at the Society’s poor leadership.
Current correspondence attached below; see the previous post for last spring’s exchanges with the East Kingdom office that proceeded these.
From: Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
To: Society Social Media OfficerCc: East Kingdom Social Media Officer
Date: May 16, 2023
Hello,
I am writing to ask for some additional clarity on a provision of the Society Social Media Handbook, which says:
IV.C.3.d. On Facebook, Events are to be created through Official Kingdom Pages rather than Groups.
There are many hundreds of events organized in the East Kingdom every year — probably over a thousand.
Not all of those will have Facebook Events created for them, but the number is definitely in the hundreds.
Because access to the Official Kingdom Facebook Page is limited to the Kingdom Social Media Office, requiring all of those Facebook Events to to be set up by the the Kingdom’s Facebook page would create a significant burden on the Kingdom SMO.
May we have a variance or policy interpretation that allows events being organized by local branches (baronies, cantons, etc) to have their Facebook events created through those branches’ Official Facebook Pages without imposing on the Kingdom SMO?
Thank you for your consideration,
— Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
— Deputy for Social Media, Canton of Whyt Whey
From: Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
To: Society Social Media OfficerCc: East Kingdom Social Media Officer
Date: May 16, 2023
Hello folks,
I’m checking in because five weeks have passed without a reply to this email.
During that period, the East Kingdom’s official Facebook page seems to have created only two new Facebook events — but the official Facebook page for our local province has created more than a dozen Facebook events, while the official Facebook page for our neighboring barony has created more than two dozen — and I didn’t bother trying to count how many dozens more were created by the sixty other branches in our kingdom.
A plain-language reading of the Social Media Handbook seems to suggest that the creation of all of those Facebook events should have been channeled through the Kingdom’s Social Media Office, but I think that would be impractical and would not actually provide any real benefit to the Society or our participants.
I have no authority or privileged knowledge about this topic, but from my individual vantage point, it seems to me like there are three paths forward:
1. Leave the status quo unchanged, and continue a situation in which the rules are routinely flouted and only selectively enforced.
2. Make an effort to enforce the rule as it appears to be written, creating a significant burden on the kingdom social media officer as well as on local officers trying to get information published in a timely fashion.
3. Provide a variance or interpretation of the policy providing that Facebook events may be created at either the kingdom or local level as long as it’s done through official Facebook pages.
Of these, the third option seems preferable to me — but obviously that’s not my call to make, and perhaps there is additional information that I’m not privy to that changes the calculus.
I hope that this feedback is useful to you, and look forward to seeing how this issue is resolved.
In service,
— Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
— Deputy for Social Media, Canton of Whyt Whey
From: Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
To: Society Social Media Officer
Cc: East Kingdom Social Media Officer
Date: December 14, 2023
Hello again,
I’m checking in because six months have passed without a response to my email or a clarification on this policy.
In the meantime, the various local branches throughout our kingdom are handling this issue in a myriad of ways.
Some branches are continuing to create loads of Facebook events using their branch Facebook “page” identities. This is in violation of the Society Social Media Handbook, but as noted earlier I don’t think that it actually harms the Society’s interests in any way, and I think the policy should be revised to allow it.
Some are following guidance from the EK SMO that they can create Facebook events using their branch Facebook “page” identities for activities which are not on the kingdom calendar (like local business meetings, A&S gatherings, or martial practices), while sending requests to the KSMO only for the creation of Facebook events corresponding to events on the kingdom calendar. This is in violation of the Society Social Media Handbook as written, but seems to be the locally-desired behavior.
Others branches have just given up in frustration and have quit creating “official” Facebook events altogether, and instead are allowing other members of the populace to create “unofficial” Facebook events (under their own personal identities) to fill the gap. This seems to be in compliance with the Society Social Media Handbook, which doesn’t regulate unofficial Facebook events, but is obviously the worst of these outcomes for the Society’s interests.
Again, I strongly encourage your office to issue guidance that allows local branch officers to create Facebook events as long as they do so through their branch’s Facebook “page” identity.
Thank you for your consideration,
— Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
From: Society Social Media Officer
To: Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
Cc: East Kingdom Social Media Officer
Date: December 14, 2023
This is the existing policy at the Society level. Kingdoms often have processes in place related to Kingdom level events and I thought this was the case for the East.
From: Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin
To: Society Social Media Officer
Cc: East Kingdom Social Media Officer
Date: December 14, 2023
Again, I strongly encourage your office to issue guidance that allows local branch officers to create Facebook events as long as they do so through their branch’s Facebook “page” identity.
This is the existing policy at the Society level. Kingdoms often have processes in place related to Kingdom level events and I thought this was the case for the East.
Hello, and thank you for the rapid response!
I’m really glad to hear about the clarified policy regarding Facebook events.
This has been a persistent point of confusion, given the wording of paragraph IV.C.3.d. in the Social Media Handbook.
I’ll make sure to let folks in my local area know about this guidance.
With appreciation for your service to the Society,
— Mathghamhain
One thought on “Update: Branches Can Create Their Own Facebook Events”