Navy Public Affairs Guide

Social Media

NAVSO P-5720.15 April

2015

O F FI C

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O F

INFO

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U.S.NAVY

NIL NISI VERUM

DISCLAIMER: The mention of specific social media platforms or Internet tools does not imply endorsement by the 

Department of Defense or the Department of the Navy.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 2 Page

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 Social Media – Another Communication Tool

5 Social Media Policy

6 Social Media Approach

8 Effective Social Media Starts with Listening

9 Determining if Your Command Needs a Social Media Presence

11 Planning for Communication Success in Social Media

12 Choosing the Right Social Media Platform(s) for Your Command

13 If a Social Media Presence is Right for Your Command

14 Best Practices in Managing Your Command’s Social Media Presence(s)

18 Creating “Social” Content

20 Measuring Effectiveness

21 Maintaining OPSEC

22 OPSEC Checklist
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Social Media Defined

Social media describes the different means by which people, enabled by digital communication 

technologies, connect with each other to share information and engage in conversations on 

topics of mutual interest. Social media is an umbrella term describing a variety of communication 

mediums and platforms including social networks, blogs, mobile applications, and others. 

The way people get information has changed and the desire to have real conversations with 

individuals, organizations, and government entities has increased. This presents a tremendous 

opportunity for all commands to more effectively communicate with Sailors, Navy families, and 

the public. 

Social Media as a Communication Tool

The Navy has an obligation to provide timely and accurate information about the activities of our 

commands to the public, keep our Sailors informed, and build relations with our communities. We 

are not limited to a particular medium to complete these objectives.

In fact, social media allows us another means of sharing information with external and internal 

audiences, enables more symmetrical, two-way communication with stakeholders, and also 

reaches out to offline and online communities.

If we want to effectively reach an audience, we have to use the communication channels they 

use. Data clearly shows that our audiences are increasingly using social media and they expect 

that we will be there for them. Social media and other Web 2.0 technologies present unequalled 

opportunities for us to share the Navy story in an authentic, transparent and rapid manner 

while building richer, more substantive relationships with people who we may not have reached 

through traditional communication channels.

If we choose not to participate in social media, conversations about the Navy will still take place, 

only those conversations will not include our perspective. 

Your social media sites should be an integral part of your command’s communication strategy. 

Before launching a social media site for your command, consider what you want to accomplish. 

What are your communication objectives and how do they move your command closer to 

achieving its mission? Is the level of transparency required in social media appropriate for this 

command and its missions?

You also should consider your command’s priority audiences and use the right social media 

platform to reach them. Do you most want to communicate with Sailors in your command, 

command leadership, family members, the local community, a broader DoD audience, the 

American public, or another group altogether? 

Social Media - 

Another Communication Tool
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 4 Page

Examples of measurable communications objectives with priority audiences identified: 

INFORM our command’s Sailors and family members of command news, 

announcements and accomplishments, to promote readiness of the 

command. 

ENGAGE in a dialogue with the local community including Navy family members where 

our command is based to build awareness and understanding about the Navy 

in the area. 

INCREASE level of awareness and support for your command’s mission among the DoD 

community. 

Benefits of Incorporating Social Media into Command Communication

EFFICIENT: Leveraging social media allows the command to publish once and reach 

many, share key information and messages and instantly access a worldwide 

audience. 

DIRECT: We no longer rely solely on external, traditional news media to share the 

Navy’s story with external audiences. Social media enables Navy commands 

to augment or amplify traditional news media efforts by directly reaching 

audiences. 

ENGAGED: Social media channels encourage two-way communication by allowing users 

to provide feedback, share opinions, or comment on information, yielding 

rich insights for communication planning and decision making. 

TRANSPARENT: Directly engaging on an open, social platform builds a relationship between 

your command and the public. By listening, sharing and engaging with others 

online, social media provides a unique opportunity to build trust with your 

audiences and present authoritative information about your command. 
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Department of Defense Policy 

Department of Defense Instruction (DODI) 8550.01, released Sept. 11, 2012, discusses the 

use of Internet-based capabilities such as social media and provides guidelines for their use. 

The instruction acknowledges Internet-based capabilities are integral to operations across the 

Department of Defense. It also requires the NIPRNET be configured to provide access to Internetbased capabilities across all DoD Components while balancing benefits and vulnerabilities. 

Three new terms are explained in this instruction:

Internet-based capabilities (IbC)

All publicly accessible information capabilities and applications available across the Internet in 

locations not owned, operated, or controlled by the DoD or the Federal Government. Internetbased capabilities include collaborative tools such as social networking sites, social media, 

user generated content, social software, e-mail, instant messaging, and discussion forums.

External Official Presences (OPs)

Official public affairs activities conducted on non-DoD sites on the Internet (e.g. the U.S. Navy 

on Facebook).

Official use

Official uses of Internet-based capabilities unrelated to public affairs are permitted. 

However, because these interactions take place in a public venue, personnel acting in their 

official capacity shall coordinate with public affairs and operations security staff to ensure 

organizational awareness.

Department of the Navy Policy

SECNAVINST 5720.44C Change 1, Department of the Navy Public Affairs Policy & Regulations, 

provides policy for the official and unofficial (personal) use of social media and for the content 

and administration of official Navy presences on social media.

In addition, it is important to educate Sailors on safe and effective social media use to promote 

morale and readiness as well as avoid operations security (OPSEC) violations or other risks 

that could compromise the command’s mission or Sailors’ reputations and safety. OPNAVINST 

3432.1A, Operations Security, details the Navy's OPSEC policy.

Social Media Policy
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No matter which social media platform is used, the basic principles of transparency and 

authenticity should apply to your command’s communication. Social media platforms are 

designed for building and fostering relationships and, as such, your command’s use should 

embody the following principles:

Authenticity

It is critical that people know who you are on social media. If they can’t be sure they won’t 

trust you and won’t form a relationship with you.

Transparency

On social media, there is more than an expectation of transparency; there is a demand for 

it. Attempts to hide embarrassing information or avoid unpleasant topics will not only be 

ineffective, it will likely be counter-productive and draw more attention.

OPSEC

Take care to balance transparency with OPSEC. Think about the level of detail of your posts, 

both individually and over time. For example, instead of saying the ship is operating off the 

coast of India, say the ship is operating in the Indian ocean. Consider the risk of an adversary 

putting all the pieces of a puzzle together as you post on social media. In most situations you 

can find a way to share information at a level of detail that doesn't degrade OPSEC.

Consistency

Your stakeholders who are using social media will quickly go elsewhere to meet their 

information needs if you are erratic with your participation. Decide how much time you will 

dedicate to your social media effort and stick to it. A burst of activity will be wasted if it is 

followed by a long period of absence.

Listening

To best identify and meet your command's communication needs on social media, it is 

imperative to use social listening techniques to identify and assess conversations about your 

command and communication goals. The best way to create a social listening or monitoring 

strategy is discussed later in this guide.

Responsiveness

Social media, even more so than traditional media, requires responsiveness on the part of the 

organization. Answer questions. Acknowledge concerns. Thank people who offer suggestions. 

This is a two-way medium, and you are talking with your stakeholders to build understanding.

Social Media Approach
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Positive attitude

Just like in interpersonal relationships, social media users want to interact with others who 

help create solutions, not problems.

Sincerity

Be yourself and be genuine. Social media is conversational, and it is appropriate to show some 

personality, even in an official capacity. You do not need to be a disembodied voice of the 

organization.

Humor

While we take what we do as a Navy seriously, don’t take yourself, your content, or others’ 

criticism too seriously. Social media users expect and approve of levity and humor. Know 

where the line is between appropriate and inappropriate, and use humor when warranted.

Respect

Social media is a flat environment. You and your organization are not above the collective or 

individuals. Respect others’ opinions, even when you don’t agree with them.

A common concern of using social media is the loss of control of the command’s communication 

with the public. The reality, however, is that in this flat environment the command never had 

control in the first place. The only communication the command truly controls is what its 

representatives say and to whom. Not participating in a conversation on social media does not 

mean that the conversation is not taking place; it just means that the command is not part of 

it – and probably unaware of it. On social media, just as in the rest of the world, there is always 

the possibility that what it said would be spread and possibly misinterpreted. In fact, a distinct 

advantage of social media is that if the command is listening, misinterpretations can be quickly 

spotted and accurate information shared.

The flat environment of social media also allows for many points of view and does not necessarily 

favor a single authoritative voice. So, a comment about the Navy by a citizen is potentially just 

as important and authoritative as a comment by an official Navy spokesperson. This equity 

should not be a deterrent to participating, but rather a motivating factor. The command can 

leave it to the engaged public to communicate for it or the command can participate and lead the 

conversation. Through consistent and dependable participation on social media, Navy commands 

can build trust with their communities and be an outstanding, authoritative voice among Navy 

conversations online.

Social media is a significantly more open and global communication platform than the Navy has 

used. It has demonstrated real power and benefits in reaching key audiences. With this openness 

comes some risks, they can be mitigated through training, in monitoring, and applying the 

principles mentioned earlier in this guide; the real risks are found in not being present. Ultimately 

the command can choose to either lead conversations, or be led by the conversations that take 

place without it.
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Effective Social Media

Starts with Listening

Before you stand up a command presence on social media, the most important thing that you should 

do is listen. Social listening, or sometimes referred to as monitoring, is the proactive action used to 

determine what is being said about your command or communication priorities to best understand 

your command's reputation, identify conversations, find influencers, and recognize breaking news. 

Regardless of your personal or command involvement in social media, every public affairs officer/shop 

should set up a system to listen to social media and elsewhere online for content and conversations of 

relevance to the command. Listening should be an active portion of your social strategy and must occur 

regularly to be effective.

There are a number of tools available to manage the listening effort. The following bullet points are 

based on the Navy’s experience monitoring the Internet and social media. Each command’s experiences 

using these tips may vary, so experiment and come up with the best combination that works.

Develop a keyword glossary for the command. Spend some time to develop a glossary of all of the 

keywords and phrases that might be used to either describe or search for the command, its mission(s) 

and subjects of interest to the command. This list will change over time as new issues arise.

Setup an RSS aggregator. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a simple method for 

having relevant information pushed to you. There are a host of RSS aggregators available. It is 

important to have a single means to collect the RSS feeds created.

Setup automated searches. Each command is free to use any other search site or tool for 

automated searches. You may create searches using the keywords from your keyword glossary. 

For each search there will be an RSS link on the results page. Clicking on this link will give you a 

page with an RSS feed address. Copy and paste this URL from your browser to your RSS aggregator, 

and whenever one of those keywords or the combinations of them appear in a search, it will 

automatically be fed to your feed aggregator, automating the search process.

Subscribe to RSS feeds. If there are specific websites and blogs that have information of relevance 

to the command, those RSS feeds from those sites can be added to the command’s aggregator. 

Sites offer a variety of feeds of their content. If a site doesn’t offer feeds of its content, try entering 

the URL for the site and the aggregator will do the rest of the work.

Use General Services Administration (GSA) approved vendor services. There are an increasing 

number of services available on the market that will help you monitor social media for relevant 

content. Generally speaking these services will give you a greater insight into issues of relevance by 

automating your monitoring and providing relevant analytics. The trade-off for these labor saving 

services is that many of them aren’t free and may exceed your available resources. Ultimately, it 

is up to the command to determine if the insights and/or time saved using one or more of these 

services meet communication objectives on social media.

Nothing is perfect — trust, but verify. While this methodology will go a long way to improving 

and automating the command’s listening online, it is not a 100 percent solution. Relevant content 

can still evade automated searches; analytics from both free and paid services may just scratch the 

surface of an issue. Maintain a reasonable skepticism about what you hear and before responding, 

make sure you have reliable information and verify the content.

Once you have the command’s listening system is in place, it will be easier to provide an accurate 

picture of public opinion and develop more informed, effective communication campaigns, regardless 

of the medium used to communicate those messages.
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Determining if the Command 

Needs a Social Media Presence

Social media presences are not a silver bullet for all of your command’s communication needs. 

Not every command needs a social media presence. It is far better to not create a presence, than 

to start one and rarely post or abandon the socail platform. The commander and PAO should 

consider the following before standing up any command social media presence: 

Why does the command need a social media presence? 

Are you creating a presence to engage an audience or to post press releases? Make sure 

social media will actually meet your command goals and be willing to identify which type 

of online communication platform is right for your command. If you plan on posting press 

releases, social media might not be the appropriate venue. Also consider the command's 

mission. Depending on the goals and what the command wishes to communicate, a social 

media presence might not be appropriate.

Do you have the right manpower and resources to maintain a social presence? 

Does your command have a full-time PAO (either an officer designated 1650/1655, a Mass 

Communication Specialist or a government civilian in the 1035 series)?

If not, does your command have a trained collateral duty PAO? Has anyone discussed this 

with the command’s immediate superior in command’s (ISIC) PAO?

Before creating a presence , make sure you have the staff necessary to remain engaged 

long-term, identifying and posting good content, social listening, and engaging with your 

audiences. Also consider who will take over when you leave this command. 

Who will be responsible for approving the content prior to posting?

Who will post the content? 

Who will review the information for public release IAW SECNAVINST 5720.44C Change 1, DoD 

Instruction 8550.01, and related instructions?

What information does the command need to share? What other means exist to share/

disseminate this information at the command?

Does your command or base already have a presence?

We discourage creating a presence for a small, segmented audience if the content is 

available elsewhere. Good social presences offer something unique. Splintering an audience 

among too many social presence can confuse audiences. In many cases, it is better to create 

sharable content to be posted on established presences. 

How often will new content need to be posted?

How often will existing content need to be updated? What drives content updates?
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Alternatives to Social Media Presences

If your command desires to share information or content privately with command members only, 

a social media presence is not the best choice. Using social media regardless if it's a private, 

closed, or members only platform is never the right place to share sensitive information. If your 

command is not comfortable with sharing its communication content with the entire world, do 

not post it on social media. If you have sensitive information you want to make available to only 

a specific group, consider participating in one of the Navy’s private portals requiring a CAC to 

access, or sharing the information via morning quarters, command bulletin boards, shared drives, 

command-wide emails, etc.

If the information or content is to be shared with family members, a social media presence may 

not be the best choice. Consider using the command’s dial-in family line, conveying it through 

the command ombudsman, emails and or family support group meetings. 

If the information or content is to be shared with the local community, but the command is not 

one of CNIC’s subordinate commands, contact the base PAO and/or the Navy region PAO and 

request to have it shared on the base’s social media presences.

If you have information or content that does not regularly change, the command’s public website 

might be a better choice, particularly if the information does not change often. Contact the 

command’s PAO or the ISIC’s PAO for further guidance.

If you have content that is for a specific exercise or mission, a social media presence may not be 

the best choice. A social presence should not be created for a specific event. If you do not plan to 

post content regularly, do not create a social media presence. Instead of creating new presences 

for exercises, consider creating content about your exercise that is optimized for established 

social media presences.
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Planning for Communication 

Success in Social Media

When planning to use social media, you should first consider how social media fits into your overall 

communication strategy. Social media efforts should complement your other communication 

efforts. Your command’s social media presences function as an extension of, not instead of, your 

command’s primary public website.

• Define and measure success

• Develop shared understanding of the purpose of social media use for your command

• Define social media roles and responsibilities among your command

• Justify future resources

IDENTIFY AUDIENCES

Identify and prioritize 

audiences you hope to 

communicate with

Be specific (Sailors in your 

command, local residents, 

families, etc.)

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Develop a standard operating procedure to 

manage workflow, assign tasks, and allow for 

seamless personnel transitions

Determine the most appropriate team to manage 

account(s)

Determine the right roles and level of access for 

each manager on each tool

DEVELOP A CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR 

EMERGENCIES

Breaking news, social media hacking, hijacking, 

or vandalism; loss of staff/Internet access are 

all incidents where having a plan ahead of time, 

with specific procedures identified, will help your 

organization deal with a crisis situation. Take the 

guess work out of “what should we do” and save 

your team time by planning in advance so you can 

begin handling the crisis. 

Tips to consider including in your plan:

Multiple site administrators – If you lose 

Internet service, go on vacation, or cannot 

make posts for any reason, you should have a 

trusted colleague who can take the reins of your 

account and post time sensitive information. 

For ships, this might be an ombudsman. 

How will your team handle command breaking 

news? Who has release authority? 

GOAL

What is the “big picture” 

reason for using social media?

Goals should reflect your 

command’s communication 

goals

OBJECTIVES

Set realistic and measurable 

objectives to track progress

Plan for the near, medium and 

long term

Consider engagement, not just 

headcounts of fans

CONTENT

Determine the story you want 

to tell and how, which should 

align with your command’s 

goals

Draft posting guidelines and/

or comment policy to set 

expectations and determine 

after-action when a violation 

of policy occurs

Find topics that interest your 

command’s stakeholders and 

achieve its communication 

goals

Create a content calendar, 

providing a quick tool to plan 

posts

Be flexible and allow the 

command’s stakeholders to 

shape conversations

Listen to the audience and 

enable a real dialogue

Go beyond repopulating 

content prepared for 

traditional channels

Post content that engages the 

audience with the command 

and with each other while 

maintianing OPSEC.

1

5

6

2

3

4

IF ONE OF YOUR COMMAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCES HAS BEEN HACKED, HIJACKED OR VANDALIZED: 

A strategy 

allows 

you to: 

Like any overall communication 

strategy you’ll want to consider 

many of the same things:

Inform the platform that your 

command’s site has been compromised.

Inform CHINFO at 703-614-9154, which can contact social media POCs at each 

platform directly to help monitor and secure your site as quickly as possible.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 12 Page

If a Social Media Presence

is Right for the Command

Official use of social media is a public affairs responsibility. DoD Instruction 8550.10 requires 

that all official social media presences be registered with the DoD. This is because on many 

social media platforms anyone can create an account to discuss issues related to any subject, 

including the command. Therefore, it is necessary to be clear which social media presences 

are official. This can be done by registering a command presence with the Navy Social Media 

Directory at www.navy.mil.

Besides being a requirement, registration benefits the command. First, it puts the command 

social media presences on the social media directory at Navy.mil. Registration ensures that 

the command’s presences are included in any U.S. Government/DoD Terms of Service (ToS) 

Agreement(s). For example, official sites on Facebook have targeted advertising removed. 

Second, it validates that the command’s presence is official and valid, deterring impersonation.

Requirement for social media sites to be accepted into the Navy Social Media Directory

• CO and PAO approval

• Submit with valid .mil email address

• Presence must link to official Navy URL (website address)

• Presence must post disclaimer text

• Presence must have a user agreement as appropriate

• Presence must be clearly identified as “official”

• Presence must be unlocked and open to the public – no private groups/pages will be 

approved as official command presences

• Only “official pages” on Facebook can be registered and should be labeled as

“organization — government.” Private groups will not be approved

• Presence identifying the individual instead, the command or billet are not acceptable as 

“official” presence with the exception of a notable few (SECNAV, CNO, MCPON)
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Choosing the Right Social Media 

Platform(s) for Your Command

A command could use any number of social media platforms to reach its key audiences, but 

to be effective, the command should carefully consider a select few platforms that will reach 

the largest percentage of its audiences and enable it to accomplish its communication goals. 

It is important to ensure the command communicates with all relevant audiences without bias 

toward any one particular platform. Additional research into the command’s audiences will 

be necessary. A matrix of popular social media platforms is included here to help the PAO 

determine which one(s) is/are the best fit to reach the command’s audiences based on its 

communication objectives, audience preferences, and available content.

PLATFORM DETAILS USER INFORMATION*

Facebook Most popular social media site with the highest 71% of adults

level of engagement

Twitter Popular among college-educated audiences and 23% of adults

high income earners

Instagram Popular among young adults and minorities 52% of 18-29 year olds

Pinterest Popular among women 42% of women

*Per 2014 Pew Reserch data based on internet users (not the total population).

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/

The best social media platform(s) are where the command’s key audiences are active online. 

Often, listening and following social media platforms and conducting simple web searches on 

sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms will be enough to determine where the 

command’s key audiences are located. Once you have a good sense of where the command’s 

primary audiences are active online, then the PAO can make an informed decision about which 

platforms are right to achieve the command’s communications objectives. 
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 14 Page

Best Practices in Managing the 

Command's Social Media Presences

Managing command social media presences takes time, how much depends on the popularity 

of its content and community size. Although some commands find it useful to have one main 

point of contact to manage social media sites, it’s strongly recommended that any social media 

presence be run by a small team to ensure that there is no potential single point of failure for 

being able to manage information in a timely manner.

Establish a Single Command Presence 

In larger commands, there is a tendency for offices/units within a command to want to have 

their own presences. For example, the chapel may want to have its own presence, the Navy 

Counselor or DAPA for the command may want their own presence, etc. While this is up to the 

discretion of the command, it is recommended that you maintain a single command presence 

within each social media platform and allow those different offices/units to feed content to the 

command presence. That means one command Facebook page, Twitter account, and so on. 

The reason for this is that each subset of the command that has its own social media presence 

splinters the audience for the command and can increase the time spent managing multiple 

presences. Unless there is a compelling reason for a social media presence as a subset of the 

command presence, such as reaching a unique audience, it is strongly recommended that there 

be only one command social media presence per registration.

Communicate with Families 

For many commands, communicating with families will be a priority. Many Navy ombudsman 

and family readiness groups use social media to communicate with families. Command spouses 

and your ombudsman are an essential part of the command leadership team. As such, they 

should be part of your communication strategy. 

Reach out to these family resources when developing your communication strategy to determine 

how you can best work together on social media. Some commands provide their ombudsman 

with administrator rights to their social media accounts. Others manage online presences in 

tandem and cross-promote content as appropriate. Others still use their main command page 

to communicate with family members and welcome discussion from families on their site. 

Whichever approach the command chooses, actively engaging with family members on social 

media will demonstrate a willingness to listen to families and amplify command leadership 

messaging across multiple communities. Post-deployment lessons learned found a single 

command presence that kept family members informed with command-vetted information 

reduced the likelihood of OPSEC related disclosures and sharing critical information.

Ensure Information is Releasable 

Managing official social media presences is a public affairs function. Like any content posted to 

a Navy website, information posted to an official social media presence must be either already 

in the public domain or must be approved for release by the Commanding Officer, Public Affairs 

Officer or anyone else designated with release authority on behalf of the command. Commands 

are ultimately responsible for official content posted on their social media. Contractors may help 
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 15 Page

manage a social media presence but they cannot serve as a spokesperson for the Navy. Also, to 

the maximum extent possible, any content released by the command also must be present, in 

some form, on the command website for compliance issues.

Create a Written Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

To ensure consistent management, commands should establish standard operating procedures 

to monitor, post content and engage with people. The command should not be expected to 

manually monitor social media command around the clock - that’s a full time job for anyone! 

Instead, aim for the command’s team to be able to check on the command’s social media 

presences periodically throughout the day. Distributing this work across a team can result in 

better listening and management of social media. There also are listening systems available 

for purchase if they meet the command's communication objectives and the command has the 

budget.

The plan to manage command social media sites should be coordinated with command 

leadership, public affairs, and other personnel who may be generating or publishing content to 

the site. The management plan should be led by a command spokesperson and should include 

the following elements:

Site administrators:

Who has access to administer the account? Grant permission to multiple administrators to 

ensure there is no single point of failure.

Objectives for the site:

What do you hope to accomplish by communicating on this site? 

Target audience(s)

Who are you trying to reach? 

Type and frequency of content to be posted:

Will you share news stories, images, original content, or information about local events? 

What’s important and interesting to your target audience? See a sample content plan in the 

Appendix. 

Comment policy:

Why will posts be removed? Will comments be moderated or automatically published? See the 

Navy’s Facebook comment policy as an example at Facebook.com/USNavy under the “about” 

section. 

Listening policy:

How often will you check the page for comments? Will you respond and engage in a dialogue 

with your community members? 

Transition plan:

When personnel change over, how will you transfer administrator rights and the plan to new 

personnel? 

Emergency/Contingency Plan:

Due to the speed, reach, and direct nature of social media, these channels have proven 

to be effective for use in crisis situations. In recent crises, social media has facilitated the 

distribution of command information to key audiences and media while providing a means for 

dialogue among the affected and interested groups. Trust can’t be surged following a crisis, 

so the best course of action is to consistently engage the command’s social media community 

before a crisis occurs. Use this checklist to prepare and respond to a crisis using social media 

before, during, and after a crisis occurs.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 16 Page

BEFORE

Establish a command presence on relevant social media platforms 

Plan and train multiple people at the command to communicate on social media presences 

during a crisis 

Identify keywords that may be used when communicating about the command in a potential 

crisis (e.g., crash, collision, evacuation, humanitarian assistance) 

Identify key audiences such as Sailors, family members, local citizens, media, etc. 

Post regular, relevant content to the command’s social media presences to alert key audiences 

that the command page is an authoritative and consistent resource of information

Establish a list of alternative communication methods such as text messaging, Twitter, and 

Facebook 

DURING

Use all available communication channels to distribute information to affected audiences 

Communicate relevant and timely information as it is released — even if the command only 

has part of the full story. It is better to release information in segments rather than waiting 

until you have the entire story (at which point, it may be too late) 

Listen to what people are saying about the topic by watching the command’s social media 

presences and answering questions as accurately and quickly as possible 

To identify and correct misinformation, identify other channels to distribute information to 

reach additional audiences and query relevant keywords on social media platforms and search 

engines 

AFTER 

Thank community members for their assistance in disseminating information, answering each 

other’s questions and supporting one another through the crisis 

Ask designated communicators for lessons learned and incorporate changes into the 

command’s crisis plan 

Continue to provide updates and information to audiences to maintain interest in the 

command’s social media presences

Responding to Comments on Sensitive Topics

If your command has a social presence, it is expected that you will engage with your audience. 

Often times, it may mean responding to sensitive topics that may or may not pertain to your 

communication goals. People reach out through social media as a means to get help or because 

they are frustrated by conventional communication channels. For command climate, sexual 

harassment or assault issues, work with an identified Navy subject matter expert before drafting a 

response. As a manager of a command social media platform, you should be prepared to respond 

to sensitive topics and when necessary, elevate questions or remarks to the proper Navy chain of 

command.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 17 Page

Content Removal Guidelines

Don’t remove content or take a page offline unless there is specific violation of the 

command’s published business rules warranting removal, including OPSEC. Organizations that 

remove content simply because the content is unflattering lose the trust of their audiences 

and risk very public backlash. While the fear of someone posting negative content about 

the command on your social site is an often cited argument against social media, research 

finds the majority of organization/brand mentions on the Web are positive and only a small 

percent of brand mentions are negative. Furthermore, if a negative comment is posted on the 

command’s social media presence, it is likely to be addressed by other users on that platform.

Follow Records-Keeping Policy

All federal public websites and online presences must comply with existing laws and 

regulations related to the management of public web records, including the NARA guidance 

related to web records issued on December 17, 2005. Organizations should review existing 

laws and regulations, and other guidance, to ensure their public websites and online 

presences comply: 

• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 1220-1238 

• E-Gov Act of 2002, Section 207(e), “Public Access to Electronic Information” 

• End-of-Administration Web Snapshot 

• National Archives and Records Administration Web Harvest Background Information 

• Federal Agency Records Officers, by Agency 

• NARA Guidance for Implementing Section 207(e) of the E-Gov Act pf 2002 

• NARA Guidance on Managing Web Records (January 2005) 

• NARA Guidance on Managing Records in Web 2.0/Social Media Platforms (October 2010) 

• Implications of Recent Web Technologies for NARA Web Guidance 
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 18 Page

Creating �Socialˮ Content

Before covering a story, discuss the concept of gathering content with the goal of having products 

that are appropriate for sharing through a variety of channels, including a news story, blog, 

quote, or photo on Facebook, etc.

Social media content is easily created by making small adjustments to the content the PA team 

already produces. Just keep in mind “value added” and whether the information posted to social 

media is something the command fans and followers feel compelled to engage with and forward 

on to their network of friends.

Here are some tips on how to make your content more sharable:

Facebook

Command Facebook pages have provided platforms to recognize Sailors and civilian employees in 

addition to providing timely information and announcements. The type of content the command 

shares on Facebook will vary depending on how the Facebook page is used and the target 

audience. Here are some considerations for engaging Facebook posts:

• Create posts that encourage fans to participate and engage. Some examples: pop quiz 

questions, photo contests, etc.

• Messages from the commanding officer and/ or command leadership (often displayed as a 

Facebook note)

• Creative videos

• Links to content (on Facebook or elsewhere online) that are relevant to the command 

audience

• Command leadership/personnel engaged and interacting with the audience, answering 

questions and being social

Twitter

Initially, it is tempting to tie the command’s Facebook feed to its Twitter account, but these are 

different platforms with different audiences. Connecting a Twitter account to an automated feed 

usually costs the command interested followers. Even if the command does not tweet on a daily 

basis, it should maintain a Twitter presence and monitor Twitter as often as possible as part of its 

listening system.

The Navy effectively used Twitter during contingency operations, Humanitarian Assistance and 

Disaster Relief missions, and for crisis communication. Often Twitter will be the first source of 

breaking news, and it is important that all Navy communicators understand how the medium 

works. When Twitter must be used for crisis communication, provide a shortened URL from 

https://go.usa.gov to an official Navy website with more detailed information.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 19 Page

Tips for creating engaging and informative tweets:

• Post clear and concise updates in real time

• Create clever content that intrigue followers to click the link you provide.

• Limit tweets to no more than 120 characters of the 140 character maximum. This is to leave 

room for your followers to share your tweet

• Use a URL shortener to share links to content and track click-through data

• Include relevant Twitter handles or hashtags in your tweets

A hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by a #. Tips for creating and using hashtags:

• Hashtags make it easier for your tweets to be discovered and followed

• Research how a hashtag is used and make sure it's context aligns with your 

communication goals

• Don't overuse hashtags. Make sure they are used purposefully. Some frequently used 

hashtags are #USNavy, #OperateForward, #PresenceMatters, #Milspouse

Video

Video received over social media has a unique feel that differs from packaged material that Navy 

commands have provided in the past for All Hands Updates and All Hands Online. Commands 

should always forward video to Navy Media Content Operations because it can push video content 

to an even larger audience and ensure it is considered for inclusion in the Navy’s permanent 

archive. Be aware of copyright laws and do not use music without permission (See the Navy Public 

Affairs Guide to Release of Information for more details).

Tips on creating sharable videos:

• Use B-roll (natural sound, minimal edits) video

• Keep videos short. Social media viewers’ attention span is shorter than the TV viewers. 

Depending on the platform, video does best when it's between 30 seconds to 2 minutes. 

• Consider size limitations to ensure upload or download

• Use creative video pieces set to music (remember the copyright issues)

• Record and share short video blogs or a Sailor or commander speaking directly to the 

camera with b-roll video covering it

• Consider a video angle that offers a “behind the scenes” feel

• Use minimal computer graphics with any video product

• Put the video slate at the end, not the start of the piece. 

Photos

Social media increased the command’s ability to share photos with a larger audience. Commands 

can post photos from awards ceremonies to a Facebook page or upload photos from a command 

event to Flickr, but this does not alleviate your responsibility to follow current instructions on VI 

release and records management. Forward photos of significant importance to the Navy to Navy 

Media Content Operations for wider distribution and archiving (no grip and grins, please!). 

While it is easy to post photos, remain mindful of all of the considerations used to release the 

image to the media. If the command wouldn’t give it to them, don’t post it on social media. 

Photos posted to social media should be captioned so that it is clear what is taking place. A photo 

without appropriate context may give an unintended message. Also, consider that photos posted 

online often have extra metadata attached such as GPS coordinates. Before posting any image 

make sure that you don’t accidentally include any location information that may violate OPSEC.
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 20 Page

As communicators, it is our job to help leadership set clear and measurable objectives for our 

command’s communication efforts. Once these objectives have been set, there are a number of 

metrics that can be used to demonstrate effect and impact.

With traditional forms of media (newspaper, television, radio), we are only able to capture the 

number of relative impressions or general reach numbers of particular media outlets, making it 

difficult to know how effectively your message/content was delivered or if it was understood.

One of the significant advantages to using social media to communicate is that digital technology 

provides the opportunity to collect data about your communications, your audiences and your 

overall effectiveness. Through this data you can quickly determine how many people are 

viewing, reading, liking, commenting and sharing your content. You also have the ability 

to track how relevant issues are being discussed by monitoring feeds and searches for 

keywords.

Not all social media metrics have the same level of significance. Depending on your 

command’s mission and communication objectives, different metrics will have more or 

less significance. Measures such as fan and follower counts and number 

of posts you make have limited value, as they only tell us about the reach 

of the message and don’t provide insight into the effectiveness of that 

message. Metrics that show engagement and interaction are good measures 

of effectiveness as they demonstrate direct interaction with your content. 

Examples of these metrics include, likes, comments and impressions 

in Facebook, replies or re-tweets in Twitter, and comments in Flickr, 

YouTube, Facebook, and blogs. Metrics are most significant when they are 

tied to measurable objectives as they can give clear indicators of trends and 

progress.

Most verified social media platforms offer some form of basic metrics for posts, 

interactions, sharing, etc. as a part of their product. However, you should not 

limit yourself to the metrics and analytics that sites provide. Additional capabilities are available 

through paid services, but it is important to do a certain level of analysis by hand.

Tracking your command's posts, significant issues, and events can provide significant context to 

any trends online. Performing content analysis of posts and comments to examine reoccurring 

themes and sentiment (positive/negative/neutral) can take time, but it’s an easy way to get a 

sense of the tone of conversations and can alert you to important shifts in conversation over time.

Measuring Effectiveness
NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 21 Page

OPSEC rules are universal. If you wouldn’t say it, write it or type it, don’t post it on social media. 

Operations security should be maintained online just as it is offline. OPSEC violations commonly 

occur when personnel share information with people they do not know well or are unaware of 

loose privacy settings. Focus on communicating these key tips with Sailors and their families to 

avoid OPSEC violations at your command. 

Take the following steps to avoid OPSEC disclosures at your command:

Protect your families by limiting the amount and type of information you post about family 

members such as names, addresses, local towns, schools, etc.

Identify personnel authorized to post content to social media sites and ensure they are the 

only individuals with access to those sites.

Establish local procedures to ensure that all information posted on social media is releasable.

Ensure all information posted is in accordance with local public affairs guidance and Navy 

Public Affairs Regulations.

Monitor your command’s social media sites for posts that violate OPSEC and if there is a 

violation, remove the information.

Conduct periodic training with Sailors and families on appropriate versus inappropriate social 

media behavior.

Carefully consider the level of detail used when posting information.

Maintaning OPSEC
NAVSO P-5720.15 • NAVSO P-5720.15 • April 2015 April 2015 22 Page Page

Social Media OPSEC Safety Checklist

Social networking sites connect people and information in spontaneous, interactive 

ways. While they can be useful for sharing information and fun, they also can provide 

adversaries such as terrorists, spies and criminals with information that may be used to 

harm you or disrupt your command’s mission. Remember, hacking, configuration errors, 

social engineering and the sale/sharing of user data means your information could 

become public at any time.

THINK BEFORE YOU POST and ask yourself the following questions before sharing 

information online:

Passwords – Are they:

Unique from your other online passwords?

Difficult to guess?

Adequately protected (not shared or given away)?

Settings & Privacy – Have you:

Carefully look for and set all your privacy and security options?

Determine both your profile and search visibility?

Sort “friends” into groups and networks and set access permissions accordingly?

Verify through other channels that a “friend” request actually was from your friend?

Add unverified people to the group with the lowest permissions and accesses?

Personal Information -- Do you:

Keep personal, sensitive and work-related information OFF your profile?

Keep your plans, schedules and location data (including geotags) to yourself?

Protect the names and information of co-workers, friends and family members?

Tell friends and family to be careful when posting photos and information about you 

and your family?

Posts – Did you:

Check all photos for indicators in the background or reflective surfaces?

Check filenames, tags and metadata for sensitive data (your name, organization, 

location and other details)?

Security – Remember to:

Regularly update your anti-virus software

Beware of links, downloads and attachments just as you would with e-mail

Beware of apps and plug-ins, which often are written by unknown third parties who 

may use them to access your data and friends

Look for HTTPS://, the lock icon or a green browser bar that indicate active 

transmission security before logging in or entering sensitive data (especially when 

using wi-fi hotspots)