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How Does Social Media Fit In


C Culham

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Reading through issues related to social media and employment I was wondering about the following –

Scenario - RFP issued by Agency. Proposal received from many including Company A. Technical evaluation criteria of RFP do not address any aspect of social media information. RFP does carry commonly used verbiage that reads something like – “Evaluation will be based on information provided by the offeror that addresses the criteria stated in this RFP and other information available to the CO.” The CO either through personal involvement or experience or through information provided to him/her has access to social media (company blogs, Linkedin blogs, WIFCON, Facebook, etc.) information that factually shows that an individual of Company A who is in a critical position as it relates to the procurement (pick one like contract manager/administrator, project manager, VP, etc.) has many social media statements that demonstrate a poor understanding of Federal procurement and/or feelings of bad blood against the agency or Federal agencies in general and/or a poor lack of communication as it relates to posting in the social media (cynical, rude, etc.).

Questions –

1. Can, under the scenario above, the CO use the knowledge regarding the social media postings to support an unfavorable rating by the SSA for Company A?

2. What if the RFP criteria carries a Key Personnel provision and the specific individual is identified as the Key Personnel could it affect the rating then?

3. In this new world could/should a social media evaluation criteria be considered for a future procurement evaluation factor for key personnel or otherwise?

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Carl,

I think we need more information about your hypothetical evaluation factors to give you a good answer.

I don't believe that comments made on social media are off-limits, per se.

BTW, I think I know what prompted your question. That woman on the LinkedIn forum is single-handledly lowering the standards of our profession.

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If the RFP indicated that other information available to the CO would be evaluated I don't see why the CO could not evaluate this information and if it was determined to be a weakness in the Offeror A proposal then at a minimum ask the offeror about it during discussions.

It is an interesting question and I don't seem to recall any recent protests based on social media information but with the way technology is moving it could be just a matter of time until there is a protest. I have read artilces about hiring of college graduates where employers are looking at social media sites and the pages of the applicants so it may be the next step that choosing a contractor this way may happen.

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I think the CO could use social media as a discriminator. But the CO better have reasonable assurance that the social media webpage is actually that of the contractor being evaluated. I could foresee fake accounts being established to sabotage competitors.

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Don - Thanks I agree in general on both accounts.

policyguy - Questions prompted in part by a friend that just faced the issue with regard to employment matters. Complicated area for sure on the employment side and would imagine it could get that way related to acquisition matters.

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Guest Vern Edwards

My thoughts about this are not well developed. I suspect that the source of information is not as much of a concern as the nature of the information. It's one things to reach conclusions and base evaluations about offerors on documented facts and documented opinions of third parties. It's another thing to reach conclusions and base evaluations about offerors on the personal comments that company officers and employees post at personal social media sites like Facebook, Linkedin, and Wifcon Forum. I'm not saying that it would be improper to do so, only that there seems to be something different about it. Based on some reading I have done, there may also be issues about the authenticity of some social media posts.

I have no idea how the GAO or the Court of Federal Claims would handle protests that such evaluations are unreasonable. Maybe we'll find out in the near future.

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I agree with policyguy statement "If the RFP indicated that other information available to the CO would be evaluated I don't see why the CO could not evaluate this information and if it was determined to be a weakness in the Offeror A proposal then at a minimum ask the offeror about it during discussions."

IMO it is no different than getting a bad past performance survey back from someone. Unless it is on PPIRS you must allow contractor rebuttal of any negative past performance information discovered. I would treat it (negative social media discovery) no different. Address during discussions. The interesting part (as Vern pointed out) is what happens when a CO discusses, says "noted" and proceeds to give weakness based on social media info and contractor loses. How would GAO rule? I too have no idea but believe it is not far from happening.

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