In some cases, posting a message to a social networking site such as Facebook can be as public as writing a letter to the editor.
But if government is doing the Facebook posting, is it public record?
It's a new concept that Herschel Fink, a Detroit-based attorney specializing in media law, said appears to be untested in Michigan courts. But he thinks social media activity by government should be considered public record.
"If government and officials are communicating on issues of government policy, using these new means of communication - social media - then the public has to have access to that as well," he said.
Public record, Fink said, is anything of an informational nature that is created by, received by, kept by or used by a public body.
All public records, unless falling under narrow categories of exception, are under the purview of 
Some cities and states appear to be acknowledging on their own that their social media activity is public record.
"City of Seattle social media sites are subject to State of Washington public records laws ... " reads Seattle's social media policy, which is available on the city's website, www.seattle.gov. "The Department maintaining the site is responsible for responding completely and accurately to any public records request for public records on social media."
North Carolina takes a similar position in its social media policy, which was published in December 2009.
Michigan is in the process of finalizing a policy, said Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the state's Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
"What the state realizes is like other states, younger generations are getting their messages in other ways, be it Facebook or Twitter," he said. "So when the state has important information to share, that's an important avenue we have to look at."Read more here.
