How to Write a Social Media Policy. Why is having a social media policy in place so critical? Because virtually 100% of companies are now involved in social media—whether they acknowledge it or not. Even without any formal plan to use social media, every organization with more than a handful of employees (and many under that benchmark) is present in social media because people are talking about them.
If no one else is discussing a company, its employees almost certainly are. Half of all Americans are now members of at least one social network, and that figure rises to 67% for 25- to 34-year olds. Those employees may be accessing social networks away from work and using them primarily for sharing pictures of their kids or planning their weekend activities, but workplace topics are all but certain to come up from time to time; how many people do you know who never talk about their company outside of the workplace?
Essential Topics for an Organizational Social Media Policy Introduction and Definitions Social Media Objectives. Writing-a-social-media-policy. An office worker was fired after her employer discovered her sex blog. A waitress was fired for venting about a customer on Facebook. A woman lost a job offer at Cisco because of something she said on Twitter. These incidents illustrate why it might be wise to create a social media policy for your employees. "I would say it is absolutely crucial for any size business with employees to have a social media policy," said Vivienne Storey, general manager of BlandsLaw, a boutique law firm outside of Sydney, Australia, that specializes in employment law.
Storey also writes for the firm's blog on social-media policy issues. "If you don't, how do you manage and monitor what is being said about the company and how social media is used? " A social media policy outlines for employees the corporate guidelines or principles of communicating in the online world. Writing a Social Media Policy: Deciding When to Create a Social Media Policy There are two approaches to creating a social media policy. 1. 2. Corporate Policies on Web 2.0. One of the barriers commonly cited during my presentations around eLearning 2.0 (use of Web 2.0 / social media for work and learning) is that organizations often have not established their policies or guidelines around the use of these tools. Unfortunately, companies sticking their head in the sand doesn't do any good.
Employees are using these things in some way. Companies need a policy. And most corporate guidelines out there around social media are fairly similar. They generally make each employee personally responsible, they need to abide by existing corporate rules, obey copyright and other IP rules, keep secrets and act appropriately. I think IBM's policy is a pretty good starting point: IBM Social Computing Guidelines Updated 6/2/2009. Other company policies or discussions of guidelines I've seen around blogging, social media, web 2.0: However, I'm not really sure how many organizations have these kinds of policies and who in most organizations establishes them.
14 Ways K–12 Librarians Can Teach Social Media by Joyce Valenza. Media in the Middle | Empowering learners through creative inquiry, lifelong reading, purposeful research, and ethical use of information.