I'm trying to gather some good and not so good social media policies for a training session and I'm looking for some nice examples - there are some reasonable ones here http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php?f=0 - has anyone else got any they think are especially good or especially bad they can share? I'm looking specifically at large multinationals, blue chip industries and need to incorporate both the 'engagement' part of the strategy and the 'you will not do this' section.
And obviously although the goal would be to have people having policies which will stand up in court, I am trying to avoid the 15 page legalese style ones, unless they're so bad its funny to show people.
that's a tough can of worms you got there, Gurtie. I don't really have any experience here, so I'll throw out a couple, but not sure if they might help/work the way I think they might:
1.) when multiple people post on behalf of a company page, they should add their name under their post, so people (internal and out) know who is talking on behalf of the company. As you know, social interactions need to be personal to be effective. I don't want to talk to God if I'm a fan of a given company, and if I'm a company, I don't want people to think they are talking to the CEO when they are talking to an intern. Plus there needs to be some accountability for what is said.
2.) first you need to clearly define your marketing goals, then create the messaging/social strategy to meet them. For example, you might break down the week into days and time of day, and say, in the morning we post our latest company news because this is when our customers are receptive to hearing about it, at lunch we post something fun and useless to show we arent so stiff, in the afternoon, we post industry news because people are bored at work and are looking for an excuse to surf related material, etc. Then maybe divide these up among the staff so everyone doesn't come up with a morning post and you have nothing for lunch.
...uhhh that's all I have for now:)
Have you been following the stories in the news recently about employees in the US fired for violating company social media policies and the courts found that companies could not limit employee free speech on private accounts outside of work time?
Not really what you asked, but if you want to liven up your talk a bit, some of these stories will wake the audience up I think.
First she got fired
Then the National Labor Relations Board called the firing illegal:
http://suffolkmedialaw.com/2010/11/10/employee-allegedly-fired-for-facebook-comments-about-boss/
Then she sued her company and won:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/company-employee-settle-over-facebook-comments-about-boss.ars
Yet 8% of companies have fired someone based on Facebook activity
http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse/
The US courts have also upheld the rights of students to sue their schools for being suspended for making non-threatening derogatory remarks about teachers
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/02/student-suspended-for-slamming-teacher-on-facebook-can-sue.ars
The firings at least also happen in the UK, judging by the language of this exchange:
http://thefillmorejive.com/news/employee-got-fired-for-bitching-about-her-boss-on-facebook/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10470209-71.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259763/Chelsea-Taylor-sacked-Facebook-Girl-discovers-shes-lost-Saturday-job.html
cool - I'll have a read through those in the morning!
There have been some awesome (and very funny) social media sackings which have hit the news - from the dozy air stewardess through to the girl who said she was pulling a sickie because her boss was hitting on her forgetting she had friended him, and he was gay. A serious example of how it can effect things from the corporate side is going to be very handy though.
My basic stance is that the contract of employment should include all the legalese about defamation and what staff may or may not say about their job/company. That then covers any speech method including social media. The social media policy itself is then free to concentrate more on how the company encourages use of social media within [defined] business parameters and is happy for staff to be active on social media in a personal capacity provided the normal employee standards are met. I certainly don't want to get into the whole legal area around what you can dictate staff should or shouldn't do in their own time - thats a nightmare can of worms I reckon!
oh, sorry, I misunderstood the type of policy you were looking for...
I'm interested in the side you posted too Dogboy - thanks for that - I reckon a major part of creating a social media policy is, as you say, defining what you need/want. Its quite hard to get people to do!
Quotelegalese about defamation and what staff may or may not say about their job/company. That then covers any speech method including social media.
Did you get a chance to read through my links? The assumption you're making here is not upheld by the courts in the US. Facebook is seen in the same light as conversation around the photocopier or in the break room - you can issue guidelines, but they're just that.
An analogy would be the fact that many companies make it part of their corporate policies that employees cannot discuss salary or give out their salary information to other employees. The courts in the US have invalidated all such policies. Companies can of course have them as guidelines, but they are legally prohibited from taking legal action based on violation of that guideline (as I understand it).
So one question would be: are these guidelines designed to generally and vaguely promote a friendlier work atmosphere or to hold up in court?
Quoteoh, sorry, I misunderstood the type of policy you were looking for...
Dogboy - actually, I understood the question the same as you did and wasn't sure Gurtie was interested in the type of stuff I was posting. I just posted it because I didn't have anything to add to what you said and, relevant or not for his talk, I thought those links would provide some good stories to liven up the presentation and keep the audience in the game. I don't think it's the most important part.... just the most interesting part!
oh yeah, no worries, I should've followed the link before I shot my mouth off but I was on my phone and its a PITA to cut and paste links in here so I went off half cocked...