Tired? Stressed? Telford councillors told ‘stay off internet if angry’

Representatives from across Telford & Wrekin's political spectrum were given the specialised training, which included advice warning them to avoid posting on Twitter or Facebook if they were tired, angry or in a bad mood.

The session was organised by former council leader Councillor Kuldip Sahota, who said that social media can be a powerful tool for communicating with residents – but that the line between personal and professional could easily become blurred.

He said: "I put stuff on social media as Councillor Kuldip Sahota, and I put things on my personal Facebook as Mr Kuldip Sahota.

"You have to be able to differentiate that, when you're a councillor and when you're a mister, but sometimes that line gets a little blurred.

"Social media can be a good thing to get your message across to constituents, advertising Christmas light switch-ons or dinners. But that's the positive side of it. You can have a little tittle tattle among politicians and councillors."

The growth of social media use by politicians has brought some disputes into the public arena in a way that would not have happened previously.

Earlier this year the council's Labour Leader Shaun Davies came under fire for his own use of social media with Shrewsbury & Atcham's Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski calling for an investigation over what he saw as "intimidating tweets about Simon Wright, the boss of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.

Councillor Davies dismissed the move and said he was simply representing his constituents and holding public decision makers to account.

Councillor Tim Nelson, who attended the training session, said they had been advised to think and calm down if angry before they post or reply on social media.

He said: "It was very valuable and very useful, centred around various case studies of alarming and costly social media disasters created by councillors.

"The message was clear: keep it social, don’t type in haste or anger, don’t name names and remember the use of social media by councillors – and politicians in general – can be the equivalent of shouting in public."

Russell Griffin, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said councillors had been warned about how the use of social media had gone wrong for other elected representatives.

He said: “As part of general member development and training that is provided through the year the session was held to focus on the benefits of social media as a way of for members to engage with local people about local issues. It explored tips for keeping content interesting and relevant and encouraging debate and interaction.

“The session also addressed some of the possible risks associated with social media, exploring examples of where its use had gone wrong for councillors in other parts of the country. It was a positive event that members found very useful and practical.”

The session cost £500 to run, and included a visit by expert Paul Hoey.