Our Social Media House Rules

Welcome to our social media pages. We’re glad you’re here.

We use social media to share news, promote local events and services, and have conversations with our community. We want these spaces to feel friendly, informative and respectful for everyone.

We welcome questions, comments and feedback, including where people disagree with us and we ask that everyone follows a few simple house rules so our pages remain a positive place to be.

Be Kind and Respectful

Please treat others as you would in a face-to-face conversation.

We’re always happy to engage in constructive discussion, but we won’t tolerate content that is:

• Abusive, threatening or intimidating

• Discriminatory or offensive

• Personally attacking others or using aggressive language

Comments that cross these lines may be hidden or removed.

Remember It’s Public

Everything posted on our social media pages is public and visible to others.

Please don’t share personal, private or confidential information about yourself or anyone else. If you need to discuss something sensitive, send us a direct message or contact us via email instead Stotfold Town Council: Contact Form

Keep Conversations On Topic

We love hearing your views, especially when they relate to the post or topic being discussed.

To keep things useful for everyone, we may remove:

• Repeated off-topic comments

• Spam, adverts or promotional posts

• Content intended to provoke or disrupt discussion

Disagree - Just Do It Respectfully

Different opinions are welcome. Healthy debate is part of community life.

What we ask is that disagreement stays respectful and focused on the issue, not the person. Comments that turn personal or hostile may be removed.

Protecting Our Staff and Community

Please don’t name or single out individual council staff, councillors or contractors in a negative way. Remember we are all human and we are someone's son, daughter, sister, brother, mum or dad and there's a human being behind the screen, not a chatbot. 

If you have a concern or complaint, the council has a formal complaints process which ensures matters are handled fairly and properly.

Accuracy Matters

We aim to share accurate, up-to-date information and we ask the same of our followers.

Posts that are misleading, factually incorrect or could cause harm or confusion may be removed, particularly where public safety is concerned.

Political Neutrality

As a local authority, we must remain politically neutral.

We won’t engage with party-political comments or campaigning on our social media pages. 

How and When We Respond

Our social media accounts are usually monitored during normal office hours, Monday to Friday.

We do our best to respond as quickly as we can, but social media shouldn’t be used for urgent matters. For anything time-critical, please use the contact details on our website.

Moderation

Our team may occasionally hide or remove comments that don’t follow these house rules. In rare cases, users who repeatedly ignore the rules may be blocked.

This isn’t about silencing views, it’s about keeping our online spaces safe and welcoming for everyone.

A Final Word

We want our social media pages to reflect the best of our community: open, respectful and inclusive.

Thank you for being part of the conversation 💙