Knowing About A Social Media Policy

 

Over the past few years I’ve read about and personally researched the social media policy of a many organizations, the regulatory laws and existing conditions in industries and professions, and in each when considering the business risks involved no one gave much attention to this area. I’ve heard about and witnessed a huge tidal wave of sites like Facebook force itself into both personal and professional lives, giants like Myspace swell up and fade away, and services like Google flip a switch and declare a new way of doing things and even to say, "You have to do it our way!".

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders large or small today is that society at large has taken a mindset of open dialogue and personal opinion on every issue. I personally believe that this has led to some great changes in some cases, but the downside is that no one has the time keep up with the changes in technology, legal regulation, social trends, and the business and corporate impacts.

In most cases someone in the company's management group is given the voice of common sense for all… and the messenger sometimes gets to be the bearer of unpopular messages.

While the message of a social media policy is generally not the most popular topic, the combination of open dialogue and personal opinion weighed against the need to be held accountable and being in the driver's seat of the company in profit driven America. This is often puts folks on contradictory ends of the spectrum. There are very important and long-term benefits that need to be considered by everyone in your audience and all of them must be addressed.

To say that a social media policy is complex would be an understatement.

To say that a social media policy is simple would be idiotic.

However, business owners, employees, investors, and consumers all have to find a way to have common ground when dealing with each other. Instead of jumping into a legal abyss of what your social media policy should or should not contain, try to wrap your head around these 5 tips that will help to put you in the right mindset for the situation at hand, Writing A Good Policy.

The essential beginning of any corporate or small business management document for that matter today is to research the impact groups of the policy. If not properly assessed and this relationship is lost during the process with the rank and file and leadership, any worthwhile benefits to each will dwindle away. As a leader and writer of the policy to you should remained focused on gratitude, humility, and collaboration. If the new police sets uneasy with you in its writing you should rethink your viewpoint and being in other collaborators.

The social media scene has driven all of us to venture into a vast uncharted territory of personal expression and social interaction. The fact that technology is often involved only means that both elements have an economy of scale and the rapid ability to multiply in months, days and sometimes by the hour. Today it is rare that someone commits a violation of trust on purpose for an intended negative reason, and when assessing these issues the management of any given situation should be guided by your professional ethic, respect for others, personal accountability, and leadership of your development team.

Remember, your company's social media policy won’t protect you from a line or management team member doing something stupid. Even the best people occasionally have bad days and do something questionable which can place the company in a difficult situation. Keep this important factor in mind when setting the tone and text of your policy. Over the years it has been proven that if you treat talented and trusted professionals like adolescent children you can expect a few memos of retort in the backlash.

A consideration one should make when writing your policy is, if you have a client, vendor, or employee list that is a valuable asset to your company it should be protected at all costs by a proper and enforceable non-disclosure, intellectual property, and non-compete contracts. Make sure that you research your state laws as in some states these documents are not enforceable by law. These types of documents are not exclusive to just of social media document they are often attached at all corporate and small business agreements these days. The world of social media today often opens the door access to some very portable and proprietary lists.

As you can see her I have only touched on the tip of the iceberg here so your research for your company, your state and your document should be approached with a strict ethical pledge. There are many areas to be considered employment perimeters, acts committed before, during, and after employment, was the employee on-the-clock, was the employee required to do the act as part of his or her job function and even encompassing weather or not an account was created on behalf of the company, with or without permission.

To day in most companies big or small that company could easily have multiple social media accounts on Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, and many other now available and rising each and everyday. Industry blogs are now becoming very popular and also can serve as the face of your organization in the media world.

I closing, one can gauge the importance and need for a policy by asking a few simple questions:

What if our company suddenly had our access to one of these media service providers revoked or permanently disabled, what types of business impacts would it have on us?

What liability and loss will we as a company incur in a social media scandal, misrepresentation, libel or slander?

I am sure that my thoughts have been food for your thoughts as you prepare for this important and arduous task.