You can tell how long someone has worked in social media by asking about their biggest gaffe. The mis-tweet that was deleted as quickly as it was sent. The time Facebook went live from a phone inside a pocket. Accidents happen, sure. But as social media enters its second decade of being someone’s job, accidents can become major offenses. Even fireable ones.
No one wants to lose their job because of social media, so employees and employers must align on the proper ways to use social media on company time. Boundaries and consequences must be defined alongside other company rules, usually in an employee handbook.
What is a social media policy?
A social media policy serves to protects employees as much as it does the company for which they work. It provides employees guidelines for personal social media use in a way that isn’t completely obvious and controlling, but also protects both the employee and employer.
History of Social Media Policies
What originated in the 2000s as “Blog Policy” was essentially warnings about what employees could and shouldn’t blog about or post on an online message board. This quickly evolved into guidelines for “online content” and, specifically, social media activit… Read More