Even if your group doesn’t have an official Twitter page or Facebook fan page yet (and if you don’t, what are you waiting for?!?!), you can bet your members and people involved are at least somewhat active online! Unfortunately, they may not be presenting the organization in the best possible light. Sure, there are tons of filters on Facebook (Twitter, not so much), but not everyone uses them to the best advantage.
It’s important to keep a policy fluid — social media and communications are changing at a rapid pace, and a policy that’s too stringent can be suffocating for your members. (I mean, think about social media just three short years ago. Things are changing quickly.)
It’s not 2002 anymore, and the lines between our personal and professional lives are blurring. Sure, it’s still acceptable to fire someone for writing negatively about the company or work experience, but employers now are realizing that people are going to be on Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites, so their policies have to adapt to accept that.
On social networking sites, nothing is ever really private — a judge could easily issue a subpoena ordering the company to reveal protected information. It’s important to convey to your members or employees that they must be responsible for what they write on the Web. If they have a personal blog, they should include a disclaimer such as, “”The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent so-and-so-group’s positions, strategies or opinions.”
Have a unique and real voice behind your organization. People on Twitter and Facebook want to engage with real people, not a brand. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are two excellent examples of corporations who have real faces behind their brands on Twitter. It’s all about cultivating relationships online — people see beyond a flashy brand name quickly and want to put a name to the logo.
Define how social media matters to your organization. What do you want to use it for? Marketing? Fundraising? Internal communication? Collaboration? Hopefully, you’ll be able to combine your social media efforts to include all of those, as well as any more uses your group finds beneficial.
Mashable has compiled a list of 10 Must-Haves For Your Social Media Policy, and each one is dead-on.
My rule of thumb? I never post anything if I wouldn’t want my mom to see or read it.