The Importance of a Social Media Policy

It is no secret that we are in an era where social media has become a communication mainstream in our culture. Today, you can know who is dating who, who just changed jobs, who traveled to Europe, and exactly what your great aunt did this weekend with a simple scroll of a social media feed. While social media allows us to express ourselves and communicate with others easily and quickly, it’s important to keep in mind that you are representing more than yourself with every post.

There’s no shortage of social media horror stories on the web. From executives who lost their jobs for political rants, to teachers who post photos with non-kid-friendly beverages, or this employee who got a little too up close and personal with the taco shells. Taco Bell wasn’t amused.

Source: CBS News

It’s sad, but true. We forget that even after we leave the office (or apparently when we are still at the office in the case of Taco Bell guy), we still serve as a representative of our employers. According to an article on Mashable, 8% of large companies report firing an employee over social media posts.

At Relationship One, we understand that social media has tremendous power when it comes to our company’s efforts in marketing, recruiting, customer communications, prospecting, and partner relationships. Our team members participate in social media on the daily — in fact, it’s encouraged. After all, we are marketing geeks, so time spent on social media is training and research, right? In an effort to help put our employees’ social media influence on our company on a good path, we created a social media policy.

We created this policy to provide clear, concise, and fair rules around the use of social media that can be followed easily and still leaves the right for our team members to be normal people outside of the work place. Included is information for all team members (our brand advocates) about how their use of social media can positively and negatively impact Relationship One as well as suggestions around how these channels can be used effectively. Examples of our do’s and don’ts include:

DO use social media to communicate and network with other professionals in thoughtful and creative ways
DO support your employer and help with brand recognition through positive posts
DO think twice before posting, and fix mistakes as soon as possible if posted

DON’T post dishonorable content (racial, ethnic, sexual, religious, political)
DON’T use trademarked logos or designs without permission
DON’T release private information (financial, legal, operation)

We borrowed Ford Company’s three simple guidelines as a summary:

1. Use your common sense.
2. Beware of privacy issues.
3. Play nice, and be honest.

Every company may hold different values and have different theories about how social media should be utilized, or not, by employees. What’s important is that employees be cognizant of how their social media use reflects on their employer, and that employers communicate their expectations.

If you need more reasons as to why it’s important to put a social media policy in place at your company, check out these 10 stores featured on CNN.com. #HappyPosting