Just a few short years ago many businesses struggled with the question, “Should we dive into social media?” The eventual answer for most companies was “yes.”
While businesses have now seen the benefits of using social media to promote their products, services and company culture, many still struggle with social media policies. Having a well thought out policy that employees understand will go a long way to avoiding a social media crisis down the road.
When creating a social media policy, be sure to include these guidelines for employees:
- Be honest and transparent
- Post meaningful, respectful comments and information
- Always be sure to check your spelling and grammar
- Post about company events and activities in a positive manner
- Be smart about protecting your privacy, the privacy of coworkers and confidential company information
- When sharing others’ posts, always credit the source
- And never:
- Post anonymously
- Post on behalf of the business unless you’re authorized to do so
- Represent yourself or the company in a false or misleading way
- Discuss or post about internal matters
- Discuss or post confidential information
- Discuss or post about disagreements within the company
- Share off-topic or offensive posts
When in doubt about posting something, that’s probably a good indication that it should not be posted.
Once you have an approved, comprehensive social media policy developed, be sure that all employees know what’s expected and who they should contact if there are questions. With the rapid pace of change in social media, it’s also recommended that your social media policy be reviewed annually and updated as needed.