[Lnc-business] cosponsors requested to have staff manage social media

Sun May 28 15:02:23 EDT 2017

Can someone explain how a volunteer criticizing a candidate is any
different from a candidate criticizing an LNC member, if both identify
themselves in ways that include their LP credibility? I have no problem
with either, but it seems others do.

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 9:05 AM, Sam Goldstein <goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Of course not, but internal criticism should be internal and not posted
> on public comment sites.  Or if it,  is the poster should not identify
> him/herself as an official of the LP.
>
> Sam
>
> Sam Goldstein
> Libertarian National Committee
> Member at Large
> 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101
> Indianapolis IN 46260
> 317-850-0726 <(317)%20850-0726> Phone
> 317-582-1773 <(317)%20582-1773> Fax
>
> On Sat, May 27, 2017 at 11:11 PM, Arvin Vohra <votevohra at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> What on earth? Are we suggesting that only staff should be able to
>> comment?? Or that now internal criticism is no longer allowed?
>>
>> I
>>
>> On May 27, 2017 9:02 PM, "Sam Goldstein" <goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> This is outrageous and would join Mr. Starr in requesting that Mr.
>>> Barton immediately be
>>> dismissed from any role in our social media platform.  Mr. Starr has a
>>> long history of
>>> service to the party, and while some members many not agree with his
>>> stances or methods,
>>> I don't think anyone on the current or past LNCs would refer to him as a
>>> Republican.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sam Goldstein
>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>> Member at Large
>>> 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101
>>> Indianapolis IN 46260
>>> 317-850-0726 <(317)%20850-0726> Phone
>>> 317-582-1773 <(317)%20582-1773> Fax
>>>
>>> On Sat, May 27, 2017 at 7:40 PM, Aaron Starr <starrcpa at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Colleagues,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> While we are on the subject, earlier this week our staff posted this
>>>> television news video clip on Facebook as an example of earned media by a
>>>> candidate opposing a sewer tax increase and spearheading a recall effort
>>>> against those elected officials who voted for that increase (
>>>> https://www.lp.org/california-libertarian-interviewed-local
>>>> -television-water-rate-increases/).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Please examine these screen shots (cropped to show only relevant
>>>> portions). Note this comment:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> “Starr is a Republican pretending to be a Libertarian. Why he hangs out
>>>> in the LP instead of just being a Republican (or joining the Constitution
>>>> Party) is beyond me. This is a dude who regularly tries to use soft bribes
>>>> to get his way in the party. Please, LP members of his region, vote this
>>>> guy out. We don’t need him and folks like him. Not at all.”
>>>>
>>>> -Josh Barton, Social Media Volunteer at Libertarian Party
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don’t believe I have ever met Josh Barton. When I hover over his name
>>>> with my mouse I see that his Facebook profile states he is one of our
>>>> party’s social media volunteers.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It’s one thing to disagree with someone over public policy (perhaps Mr.
>>>> Barton favors the Oxnard City Council’s sewer tax increase); it’s quite
>>>> another to lash out with this personal attack.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I understand we get some negative feedback from the public, but should
>>>> we tolerate that from those who are part of the organizational structure?
>>>> Who here believes that it is appropriate for someone touting himself as a
>>>> social media volunteer for the party to be posting something like this on
>>>> our Facebook page as a representative of the Party?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Our staff would never post a comment such as this. They are accountable
>>>> to the LNC and have a stake in our organization’s overall success, which
>>>> makes them largely above the factionalism and personality conflicts we
>>>> witness with some volunteers.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> When you agree to wear the party hat, you’ve agreed to a certain
>>>> fiduciary duty to the organization.
>>>>
>>>> If I were the National Chair, I would without hesitation order the
>>>> deletion of such an offensive comment and (absent a sincere public apology)
>>>> would likely fire any volunteer (or member of staff) who wrote anything on
>>>> our Facebook page like this about any of our candidates or board members.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Aaron Starr
>>>>
>>>> (805) 583-3308 Home
>>>>
>>>> (805) 404-8693 Mobile
>>>>
>>>> starrcpa at gmail.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] *On
>>>> Behalf Of *Sam Goldstein
>>>> *Sent:* Friday, May 26, 2017 7:03 PM
>>>> *To:* lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [Lnc-business] cosponsors requested to have staff
>>>> manage social media
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Alicia,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yes, my concern is that the LNC needs a supervisory presence on social
>>>> media beyond the limited ability of
>>>>
>>>> the APRC.  Ultimately, it is the LNC, not staff, that is responsible to
>>>> the members and delegates in convention
>>>>
>>>> for the public image of the party.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sam
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sam Goldstein
>>>>
>>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>>>
>>>> Member at Large
>>>>
>>>> 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101
>>>>
>>>> Indianapolis IN 46260
>>>>
>>>> 317-850-0726 <(317)%20850-0726> Phone
>>>>
>>>> 317-582-1773 <(317)%20582-1773> Fax
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 9:48 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Sam,
>>>>
>>>> So is your desire to just have LNC members/alternates in a supervisory
>>>> role, or in the role of posting public comment?  If it's just a supervisory
>>>> role, I don't think it should be our job to do that, but I'm okay with
>>>> allowing such access to the page.  But I'm not sure I want LNC
>>>> members/alternates making the postings instead of staff.  If a 4th
>>>> co-sponsor was interested with some tweaks, we could hash out some
>>>> alternate language.
>>>>
>>>> -Alicia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -Alicia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 6:00 AM, Sam Goldstein <
>>>> goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Alicia,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Would you consider adding "members and alternates"  to your motion
>>>> following "LNC"?  If so I will
>>>>
>>>> co-sponsor.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sam Goldstein
>>>>
>>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>>>
>>>> Member at Large
>>>>
>>>> 8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101
>>>>
>>>> Indianapolis IN 46260
>>>>
>>>> 317-850-0726 <(317)%20850-0726> Phone
>>>>
>>>> 317-582-1773 <(317)%20582-1773> Fax
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 8:38 AM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'm asking for co-sponsors for a motion to insert a new Policy Manual
>>>> Section 2.06.5 Social Media to read as follows:
>>>>
>>>> Only LNC employees and contractors shall serve as administrators of,
>>>> serve as moderators of, or post content to, the Party’s social media
>>>> accounts. Volunteer content creators may submit content for approval.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> At the LNC meeting there was majority support for the motion to both do
>>>> the above and also to create a committee to review our social media
>>>> processes.  I could have supported it, but if we know what we need to do to
>>>> fix the problem, why spend the time to have a committee study it first?
>>>> Just fix it.  I thought there was majority support for the other motion to
>>>> simply turn control of our social media back over to staff.  Turns out that
>>>> I was mistaken, and one person was not willing to turn control back over to
>>>> staff without the creation of the committee, so then the other motion
>>>> failed.  Because I misread the room, an option that actually had majority
>>>> support didn't pass.
>>>>
>>>> Now that we have separately created the committee, I want to go back
>>>> and re-visit turning control back over to our staff.
>>>>
>>>> Please note that the motion welcomes volunteers to submit material.  It
>>>> does not eliminate their opportunity to contribute.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I want to add some details to the discussion we had in Pittsburgh, with
>>>> two Facebook PR blow-ups on our minds at the time.
>>>>
>>>> Since Pittsburgh, we have had yet another PR disaster.  Granted it was
>>>> not on our official FB page, but on the personal page it was posted to, the
>>>> person's party position was touted right there in the sidebar, and we took
>>>> a lot of damage from it.  The Convention Oversight Committee lost two very
>>>> valuable volunteers over this latest disaster -- volunteers who did a lot
>>>> of work for us in Orlando and were again helping for New Orleans.  Gone.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> There are no group votes before volunteers post on the party's FB.  One
>>>> person puts it into the schedule, and unless someone else sees it and
>>>> objects, it goes public.  We publish so much material that the APRC doesn't
>>>> always have time to review everything in advance.  Though the group has an
>>>> informal rule against people posting their own material, people sometimes
>>>> do it anyway.  The comments about the military could easily have been
>>>> posted on our page.
>>>>
>>>> There was a very recent incident in which a new volunteer was driven to
>>>> quit on the same day she joined for the crime of suggesting that we post
>>>> more positive material and less negative material.  I don't want to hear
>>>> that the LNC giving final control to staff is somehow disrespecting the
>>>> work of the volunteers, when that new volunteer's desire to contribute was
>>>> so summarily disrespected.
>>>>
>>>> We have some important policies that I don't believe the volunteers
>>>> have even been informed about, and volunteers are not really accountable
>>>> for following policies in the same way that our staff is.
>>>>
>>>> Policy Manual Section 2.09.6:
>>>>
>>>> Party resources shall not be used to provide information or services
>>>> for any candidate for party office unless:
>>>>
>>>>    - such information or services are available and announced on an
>>>>       equal basis to all Libertarians who have declared they are seeking that
>>>>       office, or
>>>>       - such information or services are generally available and
>>>>       announced to all party member
>>>>
>>>> Not all party members have access to post on our Facebook page.  Not
>>>> all candidates for internal party office are offered the chance to post on
>>>> our Facebook page.
>>>>
>>>> I think some of our Facebook posts cross the line into personal
>>>> promotion of people who intend to run for internal party office at the next
>>>> convention.
>>>>
>>>> There was a time in the past when staff established criteria to try to
>>>> manage application of this policy, with criteria for what constituted
>>>> "news" or "earned media" that involved a candidate, etc.  I don't believe
>>>> there is any such attention to his policy right now for our social media.
>>>> Some candidates have already declared.  The closer we get to a national
>>>> convention, the more these posts will be perceived as self-promotion that
>>>> unfairly isn't available to their opponents.
>>>>
>>>> So I'm asking for co-sponsors for this motion, to return final decision
>>>> power to our staff, who are expected to know and follow our policies, and
>>>> who are accountable to the LNC.  The volunteer groups can continue to
>>>> generate material just like they do now, but staff would schedule the
>>>> actual posts.
>>>>
>>>> If the Social Media Process Review Committee comes back to us with
>>>> suggestions for reasonable ways to manage this later, we can amend this
>>>> policy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -Alicia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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>>>
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>>
>
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-- 
Arvin Vohra

www.VoteVohra.com
VoteVohra at gmail.com
(301) 320-3634
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