Understand when and how to use social media to amplify your agency’s news, mission, and goals.
Social media consists of a number of technologies including blogs, photo and video sharing services, live streaming, social networking, geospatial mapping tools, discussion forums, and wikis. USDA uses social media to reach stakeholders quickly and easily, delivering information through a variety of digital platforms and formats as part of our integrated communications strategy.
Goals
- Understand USDA guidelines for posting social media content
- Understand the process for approving new social media accounts
- Learn when to use specific social media channels and platforms
Understand USDA Guidance and Learn More!
Follow Federal Guidance and Mandates
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The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires that federal agencies use clear communication that the public can understand and use. Executive departments and agencies must follow Federal Plain Language Guidelines, follow Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Guidance on Implementing the Plain Writing Act (PDF, 269 KB) and have a plain writing section on their website. Visit USDA’s Plain Writing page for more information and training.
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Agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. In 2017, the Access Board updated the 508 Standards and Guidelines with several major changes to provide clarity and keep up with advances in technology and standards. Significantly, the revised standards incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which require websites to meet Level A and Level AA success criteria.
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The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a (PDF, 188 KB) establishes a code of practices that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual.
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USDA Department Regulation 3080-001 details the rules and regulations that Records Officers within each Mission Area, Agency must follow. For a list of regulations related to Electronic Record Management within the USDA, see Electronic Records: Office of Chief Information Officer. For comprehensive guidance on managing web records, see NARA Guidance on Managing Web Records.
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This page was last updated July 31, 2019.
Tell Us What You Think
The USDA Digital Strategy is being produced iteratively and relies on feedback from you to tell us what content you need to see, as well as what is and isn’t working. To send feedback, email us at feedback@usda.gov.