By Fraser P. Seitel
Since social media rules the communications scene, every organization should create and abide by its own social media rules.
Indeed, without corporate guidelines about who can use it, when they can use it, and how they can use it – organizations run the risk of employees running amok on Facebook and Twitter, to the ultimate detriment of their employer.
Social media zealots, of course, argue against imposing rigid corporate guidelines on the use of social media during work. After all, they argue, social media isn’t "part time" but is at work 24/7, and employees aren’t constructed with "firewalls." Companies that block social media, they say, "are unwisely removing themselves from the conversation."
Conversely, if employees are allowed to vent, unfettered by corporate sanctions, so this argument goes, they will ultimately be happier, more trusting, more dedicated workers.
Poppycock.
You work for the company, get paid by the company, and, therefore, when you are at the workplace, you are subject to the company’s rules. And if the company wants to monitor your emails, restrict your computer browsing, and bar you from socializing on Facebook or Twitter, then that’s its right as your employer; just as it’s your right to leave if you don’t like those policies.
So what kind of social media rules then, should internal communicators suggest that management adopt? The following should be considered:
1. Admit you’re watching.
Every employee should know straightaway that Big Brother is aware of what they’re sending out. They may grouse about it, but they’ll at least give you credit for making them aware that off-color emails, boneheaded tweets, or foolhardy Facebook messages will be monitored.
Employees should understand that some companies go to great lengths to continually scan internal social media activity to catch inappropriate or noncompliant activity. Forewarned is forearmed – and ultimately appreciated by those being watched.
2. Explain who can do what.
An increasing number of organizations sponsor corporate blogs, designed for employee participation. In so doing, companies encourage the staff to share their experiences, air their concerns, suggest improvements, and engage in the conversation. So everybody is eligible.
Then, too, for some employees, social media is a primary part of their job. Public relations staffers, for example, are assigned to monitor and keep apprised of developments on the Net. So those employees are relatively unrestricted in their use of social media.
For others, however, whose jobs have nothing to do with conversing on the Net, the use of Facebook and Twitter and other social media vehicles may be expressly limited to use at breaks or outside work.
Again, all of this should be spelled out.
3. Forbid anonymity.
Anybody who posts a comment on an internal blog must identify him or herself. If not, the censors shouldn’t allow the comment.
Corporate blogs should be "moderated" by the company, and employees should understand that. Comments shouldn’t be posted immediately, but rather only after they are screened for relevance and compliance to internal rules of the road for social media conversation.
Censorship? You bet. But the boss pays your salary so he makes the rules. We need to know who you are and that you are not posting a "no-no."
4. Clarify what’s a "no-no."
Prohibited social media activities should be clearly spelled out in guidelines for all, so that employees are aware of what they’re not permitted to do.
Here, for example, is what Wells Fargo prohibits from going on its internal blog:
· Offensive language.
Maybe if you work for Eminem or Akinyele, tossing around Internet profanities might be par for the course. But in most organizations, profane or provocative language has no place on the corporate blog. And that goes double for racist, sexist, ethnically offensive or obscene language of any type.
Politcally correct? You bet.
· Personal attacks.
Dissing other employees is also taboo on a corporate-sponsored social communication vehicle. The blog is meant for civil discourse. Civility may be a concept that is becoming outmoded in a society of declining standards. But corporations ought to be better than that.
· Litigation-related.
As loathsome a collective group as they might, nonetheless lawyers must be listened to. Blog comments on actual or threatened lawsuits can only lead to trouble. And the last thing an organization needs from its internal blog is more trouble.
· Sales-related.
Comments focused on selling or recommending a product or service also ought to be barred from the blog. Such spam has no place in a blog designed for airing employee concerns and suggestions.
· Off-topic.
The Internet is a spawning ground for uninformed, off-the-wall, and often reckless commentary, offered up by manic shut-ins with little better to do than ramble on to the blogosphere. (No offense.)
So those who manage the corporate blog must keep a sharp eye to keep a sharp focus on the conversations represented. They should exercise the prerogative to exclude comments that have little relevance to the topic-at-hand.
5. Acknowledge the penalties.
Just as all employees should know the rules that govern internal social media, so, too, should they know the consequences they will face if they violate the corporate social media strictures.
The point is – as professional communicators know better than most -- any time anyone puts words on paper or a computer screen and sends those pearls of wisdom to others, he or she is taking a calculated risk. When the words are sent under the auspices of a corporate employer, it is the organization which shares in the risk.
That’s why in a day where "social media rules," every organization must clarify for its employees, its own set of "social media rules." |