Closing Facebook comments 

We’ve had rules of engagement in place for some time. We’ve blocked and reported repeat offenders and fake profiles and called out those deliberately spreading misinformation.  

But those who want to be abusive or use disrespectful derogatory language just navigate those rules with misspellings and other workarounds. That just takes us back to square one of having to devote time to moderating when we could be doing important work for the whole community.  

We don’t have the resources to dedicate to 24/7 moderation or even to just clean up all the existing posts on our Facebook page. 

We’ve managed this way for some time, but people continue to post misinformation, abuse and profanities pertaining to council work, and in some cases about individual staff. We’ve decided not to empower this anymore because our staff’s health and wellbeing outweigh the benefit of having this particular open forum. 

Comments left on our Facebook page aren’t collected for use in any DCC consultation. In its current form it is used as a place for people to leave an opinion, chat, ask questions and, seemingly, swear at us. We have many other channels for meaningful engagement, and we strongly encourage people to explore and use them.  

Our commitment is to ensure that genuine questions and observations which come through our other channels are shared, so everyone has the benefit of having as much information about DCC’s work as possible. That means you will see what your community has been asking/telling us – it will just be in a different format to the Facebook comments function. 

We routinely get far more ‘reactions’ than Facebook comments, and we won’t be removing that function as it tells us the sentiment of the community.  

We’re encouraging and promoting constructive feedback, debate, and questions. We’re only removing the opportunity for abusive pile-on. 

Yes. Social media is a great tool and entirely up to the discretion of the user. We can use our platforms as we choose, as can everyone else with a Facebook account. 

Please do!  

In working hours, we are constantly monitoring your questions via Facebook Messenger and you’ll get an answer as soon as we can. You can email us, you’ll get an answer. Pop into our central city centre, or South Dunedin or Mosgiel if you want guidance face-to-face.  

If you want to make a submission as part of a consultation process, your thoughts, no matter how long or short, will make up the formal consultation. And yes, they all get considered.  

For all normal council queries, we have staff available onsite 8 – 5, and our afterhours service takes care of all calls through the night and at weekends. 

All these channels to talk to us already exist. We will continue to promote them widely and regularly. 

In a local emergency the DCC Facebook page will continue to be a place to find up-to-date information. Instead of posting your questions as a Facebook comment, we’re asking you to message us directly so we can respond to you, and that includes sending photos of your situation if you wish. 

We will also be updating our Facebook page with key messages based on what you’re telling us. This will be constant and in real time, 24/7, for the duration of the emergency event.  

There is no other time at which we have dedicated resources to do this. In an emergency event, a team member is always specifically assigned to manage social media for the duration of the event. We also always have Customer Service team members answering calls through the day and night. This is a key part of the public information management process under the Civil Defence system. 

We want your feedback even if it is critical or different. We want the positives and/or the negatives, but whatever your feedback, it needs to be respectful. 

We’d also like a lot more useable comments than we have traditionally received. Our consultations are widely advertised and simple to use, they usually only require one or two more clicks than it takes to post a comment on Facebook. Or one email. Or one phone call. 

We want all valid opinion and constructive feedback. That includes passionate speeches and points made in enthusiasm or anger. We are asking people to consider sending more constructive messages than “DCC so woke leftist ideology brainwashed idiots”.  

If you want to directly message us and say you vehemently disagree with the issue of the day and why, we welcome that. 

Our news and information will continue to be published regularly. You can share how you feel by liking, disliking, or sharing the posts - we’ll get the picture. If we get a flurry of questions through other channels that indicates we need to add more information, we will do that, and we’ll make sure that update is shared and promoted. 

If we post information about traffic changes or consultations, we want you to share these posts widely as you always have done.

Ask yourself how many abusive or derogatory comments do you accept before you’d get sick of it? Five comments? 25? 125? Or do you choose not to accept it at all? 

We no longer accept that our staff should spend valuable ratepayer time and dollars moderating this type of commentary. Nor do we accept that our community should have to read or chip in to moderate the bad behaviour of their peers. 

No. Other councils have switched off their Facebook comments function as a last resort of combating abuse, misinformation, and irrelevance. 

Not necessarily. We will review at 6 months and 12 months (February and July) to see if this is truly disinviting people from genuinely contacting us. Over that time, we will continue to promote all the ways we are encouraging people to get in touch.