The researcher wanted to determine the manner in which digital records created via social media were disposed of at the SABC Limpopo regional office. The data presentation regarding the disposal policy for social media content is presented under the following sub-headings:
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Policy on the disposal of digital records emanating from the use of social media Storage site for digital records emanating from the use of social media
Disposal of digital records emanating from the use of social media
4.6.1 Policy on disposal of digital records emanating from social media
The respondents were asked to indicate if there was a policy on the disposal of digital records. The researcher did not have access to the policies on the management of social media content, except broadcast review policies which are available on the SABC’s website for public access. The SABC Limpopo is a SOE and is classified as an NKP, therefore, its policies on social media content management are not available to the public. Only the editorial policies are available for public access. Figure 4.6 revealed that 35 (58%) of majority of the respondents indicated that they do not know if there was a policy regarding the disposal of digital records emanating from the use of social media, while only 19 (32%) indicated that they knew about the existence of a policy or guidelines, of which the researcher has never seen. The only policies the researcher managed to locate on the SABC portal were editorial policies. Six (10%) of the respondents affirmed that there was no policy regarding such records.
Figure 4.6. Social media content management policy (N=60)
It was also relevant for the researcher to investigate whether the respondents considered the policy on the disposal of digital records at the SABC Limpopo relevant.
19=32%
6=10% 35=58%
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The respondents were asked to indicate if the policy on the disposal of digital records is relevant or not. Most of the respondents 40 (64%), as reflected in Figure 4.7, did not responded to this item, which was deemed to imply that the policy did not existed.
Figure 4.7. Relevancy of the policy on management of digital records (N=62)
The respondents were again asked to indicate the position or rank of the person responsible for the management of digital records at the SABC Limpopo. In this case, by asking this question, the researcher wanted to determine who is responsible for the implementation of the policy on the disposal of digital records emanating from social media. As reflected in Figure 4.8, 20 (31%) respondents indicated that the Web Administrator was the person in charge of digital records, eight (13%) indicated that the Information Manager was the person responsible and seven (11%) indicated that the Records Manager was the person responsible for the policy on the disposal of digital records. It is also revealed that ten (16%) respondents did not know who was responsible for the implementation of the policy on the disposal of digital records emanating from social media. It was also revealed that HR, the COO, the Digital Content Specialist and the News Managers were each indicated by one (2%) respondent to be responsible for managing digital records emanating from social media. Figure 4.8 also illustrates that 10 (16%) of the respondents did not know who was responsible for managing digital records created through social media, while four (6%) participants did not respond to this item.
19=31%
3=5% 40=64%
0=0%
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Figure 4.8: Ranks or positions of officials responsible for implementing records management policy (N=62)
4.6.2 Storage site for digital records emanating from social media
The respondents were asked to state the exact place where records are stored. The areas indicated were as follows: the SABC headquarters, the Limpopo provincial office, the external third party, the social media service provider, the library and archive. The respondents mentioned the marketing manager and digital marketing as other storage sites or offices responsible for the management of records. As indicated in Figure 4.9, 28 (44%) respondents indicated that digital records emanating from social media were managed by the SABC head office, while 13 (21%) indicated that
7 8 20 3 6 10 1 1 1 1 4 11% 13% 31% 5% 10% 16% 2% 2% 2% 2% 6% 0 5 10 15 20 25 RE SPON DENTS
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digital records were managed at the Limpopo provincial office. Only one (2%) of the respondents indicated that digital records were managed at various offices and these offices were external offices of the third-party organisation. These offices included marketing management, digital marketing and the archive of the Limpopo provincial office of the SABC, which are all internal offices of the SABC. Only seven (11%) respondents indicated that they did not know which office was responsible for the storage of digital records emanating from social media at the SABC Limpopo provincial office and seven (11%) claimed that digital records were managed by the social media service provider.
Figure 4.9: Office responsible for preserving social media records (N=62)
The respondents were asked to indicate who was responsible for disposing of their digital records emanating from social media. As reflected in Figure 4.10, 43 (69%), respondents did not know how digital records emanating from social media were disposed of at the SABC Limpopo provincial office, while ten (16%) claimed that official digital records emanating from social media were disposed of at the discretion of the officials who oversaw them. It was claimed by three (10%) of the respondents that the automated disposal system was used to dispose of the digital records. Of the total number of respondents, only two (4%) claimed that the external party was the one that was used to dispose digital records emanating from the use of social media. Four (6%) of the participants did not respond to this item.
28 13 1 7 1 3 1 1 7 44% 21% 2% 11% 2% 5% 2% 2% 11% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
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Figure 4.10: Disposal strategies of the digital records (N=62)