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http://www.startribune.com/local/west/893685 87.html <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />F'okr~t ~o~r <br />mnt~ile bro~~~=.er to <br />` f.ttp:/jstartrit;un+~ corn <br />StarTribun+~~com <br />For cities, friending Facebook is <br />trickier than a click or two <br />Ask Edina or Blaine, "'What's on ycnir <br />mind`?" when. it comes to using social <br />media, and they answer with <br />concerns about censorship and <br />other legal issues. <br />By MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune <br />Last update: March 28, 2010 - 8:29 PM <br />'The city of Edina has astate-of--tyre-art <br />website and routinel}% uses Twitter and e- <br />mail lists to crnnmunicate with residents. But <br />it doesn't have a Facebook. page. Neither <br />does its larger neighbor, Bloomington. <br />They are among the Minnesota cities that <br />have hesitated to join Facebook, the <br />matntnoth social media site that recently <br />topped GoogJe as the most visited place on <br />the Inteniet. Unnerved by 1^acebook's <br />freewheeling nature, cities that have held. <br />back from joining the rush to the «~ebsite are <br />asking questions that in many cases don't yet <br />have definitive answers. <br />Do they need to keep copies of hacebook <br />pages as public records? Is it censorship to <br />remove an obscene comment:`? If City Council <br />members join a discussion on a city's <br />Facebook page, does that. mean. the give and <br />take has suddenly become a meeting subject <br />to the requirements of the state's open <br />meeting law? <br />"I have had a lot itf reservations," said <br />Jennifer Bennerotte, Edina's comrnttnications <br />°director. "The l.aw has not caught up with <br />social media.." <br />The mood is less cautious just up Hwy. 1.00 <br />irr St. Louis Park, where Jarnie7.willing nms a <br />city Facebook page that has attracted 1.,700 <br />fans in its first six months. The city's <br />communications coordinator answers users' <br />questions under the moniker "City of St. <br />Louis Park, Minnesota." When critical <br />comments are posted, they're left aloa~e in <br />the interest ofopen dialogcre. <br />Tom C:n•undhoefer, general counsel fc7r the <br />L.,eague of Minnesota Cities, said dealing with <br />social media is "a tough one" for cities. So far, <br />he said, court rulings that would help clarify <br />the law are scanty. <br />"1 don't think the issues are insurmountable <br />in any way, but it's a new thing," he said. <br />"Everybody's figuring it out." <br />Advertisement <br />,' <br />5.'iF ~~~ <br />,'-- , ~ `; Ti~lUR.rsC1AY, S~EP'TJrM~E~ '!<~' <br />l~i~ 'SAtf C?!/ rf~xFrn~asr~a.Gt)NI ~.,~c ~-~ <br />~ - ~.. C!~*c+~~an~rpc•°,3~xdt~~:"cstrskc+xvsr~rkut~o-„ ar~~trp n1j7StFE~3~f@,C©~l7 ., <br />Print Pcawerecf l'ly ' <br />http://www.startribune.com/templates/fdcp? 1276105 808583 <br /> <br />06/09/2010 <br />