Social media: Usage policies.

22 October 2014

A social media usage policy

The purpose of developing an internal social media policy for an organization is to provide managers with a framework and rules to follow when using social media. Sites such as Facebook are now used by a large proportion of Quebec citizens. Such a policy must apply to all employees of the company, whether they use social media for personal or corporate purposes. Although the following information provides social media managers within organizations with a framework for drafting and managing their governance and publishing policy, a social media use policy should ultimately be drafted by managers from an organization's marketing, information technology, communications, management, human resources, and legal departments. An internal social media management committee will enable stakeholders to successfully implement the policy. The committee's work should also extend beyond the initial phase of establishing your presence on social media. The committee can regularly discuss issues that have arisen, relevant performance indicators, training needs, the integration of new networks (such as Twitter or LinkedIn), etc., as well as changes to privacy regulations. Indeed, the possible configurations of a network, its security rules, and privacy protection are constantly evolving. To take a recent example, Facebook has changed its rules of use regarding the minimum age required for sharing photos within the network. CEFRIO has published case studies describing a series of concrete experiences of organizations in terms of organizing monitoring committees.

Desirable information

The information elements of a social media use policy can be internal and/or external. While the external use policy is published for all internal and external users, the internal policy applies only to employees of the organization. In the list of elements below, the word “internal” is added when a content element is intended only for company employees:

What is meant by social media? Company employees need to understand what the policy covers. Does it include YouTube, for example?
Who in the company is covered by this (“internal”) policy? In publishing content, but also in sharing that content. It is important to clearly identify who can use social media on behalf of the company. Unlike more open approaches where anyone can do so, the decision to allow only officially designated employees to use social media to speak on behalf of the company is obviously a wise one. And it is important to distinguish between managers who can officially publish news or posts (e.g., on the Facebook wall) and other employees who may be invited to post comments only (their contributions can of course be very relevant).
What are the roles and responsibilities of the employees involved (“internal”)? Present the resources involved and confirm the existence of a specific management committee. This is where the governance rules will be presented. For example: “The administrative management of Company X's Facebook page is handled by the Marketing and Social Media Advisor”; “Comments are processed during the following hours...”; “Please send any requests for information to...”; etc.
What are the corporate objectives (“internal”)? Transparency about your objectives will give managers a clearer editorial framework for their daily efforts. It is important to go beyond the typical “attract new potential customers.” The following objectives are possible: “convey the organization's values; promote information sharing with the company's ‘friends’; actively contribute to community and social life and increase the company's visibility; etc.”
What constitutes inappropriate content? It may seem obvious, but it is worth emphasizing: obscene, racist, defamatory, confidential comments, etc., as well as promotional comments or calls to action, for example. “Netiquette” refers to an informal rule, and then a charter, which defines the rules of conduct and politeness recommended on the first communication media made available by the Internet.
What values should be conveyed on social media? A company's values are central to its reputation. However, issues specific to social media must also be taken into account, such as privacy protection, copyright, etc., as well as rules governing the use of brand image, such as the use of event photos, logos, etc.
What communication processes should be followed? Here, we will focus specifically on the procedure for reporting abuse.

Comment management

The comment management scheme

The concerns of companies and organizations regarding their presence on social media often relate to managing complaints and insults. Laval University's social media observatory for public relations has developed a tool for organizations to process comments. Presented in the form of a logic diagram, it provides companies with a reference framework categorizing the types of interactions possible with users. The most important part of preparing for their presence in the media, Facebook, or elsewhere, is to have a channel for handling complaints and an escalation process in place. Such a comment management plan is essential and should identify at what point in an exchange communication should switch to “private” mode and who within the communications and public relations departments should lead the communication.

Facebook-specific comment management settings

Facebook also offers advanced privacy settings for page administrators:

How do I remove negative comments posted by certain people on my Page?
How do I hide or delete posts? What is the difference?
How can I permanently block someone from viewing my Page?
How do I remove someone who is connected to my Page?
How do I highlight a post on my Page?

A procedure concerning confidentiality management and the publication of Pages is presented on their website. It is clear that an organization must protect its rights to publish or not publish comments by clearly stating its external editorial policy. The “About” section of your Facebook Page could include a paragraph setting out a disclaimer. For example:

“The organization” reserves the right to remove any inappropriate content posted by a user on Facebook Pages.
By publishing content, the user agrees to release the “organization,” its officers, and employees from any liability, judgments, and costs (including legal fees) that it may incur as a result of the published content or any related reason.

Examples of social media usage policies

This well-known American database contains a long list of examples of policies adopted by various types of organizations. We recommend that you consult it. Some netiquette guidelines are also available in Quebec and are largely limited to acceptable language, when they are not integrated into general privacy policies:

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