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Suggested rules to include in a library's social media policies

jrogers's picture
Submitted by jrogers on Thu, 09/02/2010 - 10:28am
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I think that it's most important to stress that, although any working environment is composed of a collection of individuals, these individuals--while working--represent the collective working organization. By this I mean that a boundary must be set in stone/iron/brick regarding protocol and behavior in the workplace and all its representations.

1) Widen the existing (?) confidentiality clause to include the creation of and engagement in social media.

2) Widen the mandated codes of conduct to include the participation in social media.

3) Dictate that any employee's personal usage of social media remain devoid of work-related stories or topics. (I surmise this one must be fleshed-out a fair amount; some dosage of relativity thrown in.)

4) Dictate that any participation in any social media under the organization's name and representation must be vetted by a supervisor, any writer of such be selected and instructed as to policies and subject production.

5) Rather than detail policy specific to each social media outlet, policies will be universally dictated across all outlets.

6) Include those employees more active in social media in policy-making and creative production in social media networks.

*Inspiration gleaned from Inc. magazine's "How to Write a Social Media Policy"

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/05/writing-a-social-media-policy.html

 

As part of our reading this

hayleybeale's picture
Submitted by hayleybeale on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 8:40am.

As part of our reading this week, I looked at Coca Cola's Online Social Media Principles. I thought it was interesting that they had two sets of 'expectations': one for those "speaking on behalf of the company" and one for speaking "about" the Company, meaning "personal or unofficial online activities where you might refer to Coca-Cola".Clearly the guidelines for online spokespeople are much more rigorous than those for personal behavior.The personal guidelines are pretty sensible, however, and look to protect both Coca Cola and the employee, even though it does feel a bit intrusive to have your employer tell you how you should behave online. It made me wonder how comfortable libraries would feel about having such a policy.

I think that it's always a

Pamela H's picture
Submitted by Pamela H on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 9:10am.

I think that it's always a sticky situation when dealing with employees' personal lives. It's completely understandable and expected for spokespeople to have rules like these to follow, but it is hard to ask others to monitor what they post. Many people love posting random tidbits of information about their day on facebook/twitter, etc., and I think that even for myself, it wouldn't come naturally to think about the consequences of what I post regarding work (even something seemingly inconsequential like posting how it was a tough day at work or that something new is happening at work).

But saying all that, I do think that it's the new reality for companies to have social media policies. It will just be interesting to see how people react to "being told what to do" with their personal lives.

Well, I guess "social" media

jrogers's picture
Submitted by jrogers on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 10:04am.

Well, I guess "social" media tends to blur the lines between the work-a-day and the personal much more than a lot of other activities I suppose?
Or maybe it's that sleeping with a co-worker is just one co-worker; whereas interacting and conversating on-line is with a potentially unlimited amount of people.

For me, I completely understand why companies would want to ensure that their employees fully understand the guidelines to be followed when bringing their job business into their personal communications.

Granted, I was always right at the front of the line slamming the last restaurant I worked at: but I didn't do it on Facebook.

 

I agree with you that #3

meredithfarkas's picture
Submitted by meredithfarkas on Sun, 09/05/2010 - 7:01am.

I agree with you that #3 would need to be fleshed out more. Most people using social media within their profession will write about work. I write about my work and most people I know write about work. The key is considering what you write. Do you write about a cool program you're doing at your library? Or a project you're planning at work (that isn't a secret)? Sure! Do you write about a disagreement you had with a co-worker? Or something that was discussed confidentially at a staff meeting? Absolutely not. And while most people tend to do a great job with writing about work within the boundaries of propriety, confidentiality, and people's feelings, there are plenty of missteps too. Organizations will have to understand that people have the right to write about their work online (to an extent), and create policies that guide employees on what is and is not appropriate to divulge through social media.

I agree with all of these

ErikT's picture
Submitted by ErikT on Tue, 09/07/2010 - 2:26pm.

I agree with all of these suggestions, but # 3 especially resonated with me after my research for our exercise.  In my searches for mentions of "Borders," I came across a tweet from an employee who was ready to leave work and felt trapped, concluding "stupid Borders."  I thought it was hilarious that she posted a public tweet attacking her own place of work, while on the clock, and using her real name.  I think people forget that tweets are public and searchable.  Making them aware of a policy like yours at the beginning could prevent some unfortunate incidents down the road.

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