Pedidos

Records are defined differently by various standards, organisations and legislative frameworks that are designed for providing guidelines and regulations on how official records should be managed best by organisations that are entrusted with these records and archive management. The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) defines records as any document, device or item, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including an electronic record, created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of any public office of the state or its political subdivision, which serves to document the organisation, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the office (Ohio Electronic Records Committee 2012:3). ISO 15489-1:2016(en) defines “record” as “information created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business” (ISO 2016). ISO 15489-2016(en) is part of an International Standard Organisation that “defines the concepts and principles from which approaches to the creation, capture and management of records are developed” (ISO 2016). Social media digital records are considered as official records as they are sometimes required as evidence to not only defend cases in court, but also to serve as evidence of business transactions (Kemoni 2009:191). According to the NARSSA Act (2004), records are defined, firstly, as recorded information, regardless of form or medium and, secondly, as evidence of transactions, preserved for the evidential information it contains. All the definitions provided does not contradict one another, as they both depict that records serve as evidence of transactions concluded, stored and

32

preserved in various types of media, including social media, for future reference in case they are required to serve as evidence for the action taken.

In order to be considered as an official record, the authenticity and credibility of social media digital records need to be maintained. Duranti (2013:83) states that in order to maintain the authenticity of electronic records, it should first be ascertained that the most important part of these records that should be used to verify its authenticity in future be preserved with the records. Duranti (2013) emphasises that the important part of the records that should be taken care of depends on the type of content. However, losing this important part, called the metadata or the colour in the case of pictures, maps or charts, for example, is the same as losing the whole record or all the content. It is advisable to take care of essential components of records that should be used to establish its authenticity over time (Duranti 2010:83).

Many of the international communities as well as in South Africa, digital records emanating from social media are considered as records. They are created using social media platforms such as SNSs, blogs, microblogs, wikis, OCCs, discussion forums, podcasts, vlogs and websites for public bookmarking. These formats of records are not born as paper format like other digital records. Social media content are digital records born in electronic format in the form of videos, pictures and text (Byrne 2008:64).

In the USA, NARA (2011:14) stressed that social media content is treated as federal records that need long-term preservation. There are problems that exist regarding the acceptance of social media content as official records. Zheng (2013:489), who conducted a study in China on social media in the Chinese government, claims that treating social media contents from SNSs such as Twitter, Facebook and others, as official records, was a problem experienced by the public sector in China, as compared to the other traditional electronic records such as newspapers and emails. Nevertheless, official records in the form of social media content are used as a fundamental source of the uncontaminated sources for criminal investigation, fraud and civil lawsuits (Sipior et al. 2013:357).

33

The management of records contained in the social media platform is essential as they contain important information to protect one’s rights. It is therefore required by officials in charge of records management in public organisations to formulate policies on how social media content should be identified for capturing and maintenance for the easy retrieval of social media records if they are required by law. In order to identify and capture records contained in social media platforms, clear policies and guidelines as to which records should be integrated into the ECM system need to be put in place. ECM was hailed by its proponents as the only solution to the existing electronic records and information management problem (Svärd 2013:160). Svärd (2013:160) asserts that ECM is the best technology for managing unstructured organisational records and information that is placed on multiple platforms such as the web and other electronic platforms. Types of records and information include video clips, audio files, web pages, documents, shared disk drives and desk tops (Svärd 2013:160). However, a study by Sipior et al. (2013:357) has revealed that even though there is in some instances no formal integration of social media content by other organisations, social media contents are still considered crucially important as evidence in a court of law. Sipior et

al. (2013:354) lament that records need to be managed in such a way they can be

recovered electronically by the user if they are requested by a court of law to be used as evidence.

Most studies conducted in developing countries regarding social media focused more on the values of social media than on the value of social media content. Such values are the value that social media hold such as crime prevention, value as a community outreach and value as a source for criminal investigation (GCIS 2011; Sipior et al. 2013:352). With the advent of electronic records came various challenges regarding managing social media content as digital records that records managers are faced with (Kemoni 2009:192; Ngoepe & Saurombe 2016:34). These challenges include non-availability of reliable and stable storage of digital media for long-term preservation in the form of ERM systems for capturing the content and context, obsolescence of technology and impermanence and acquisition of information technology skills (Kemoni 2009:192). Not only reliable ERM and information technology skills are required for the effective management of electronic records, but also the implementation of up-to-date guidelines and policies to manage the social

34

media as a strategic tool and as web-based content (Dreher 2014:345; Ngoepe & Saurombe 2016:24).