Social Media Policy Proposal
Social media are tools used to as forms of communication. These tools are “dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration,” (Social Media, 2015, p. 1). Social media allows connections between individuals, businesses, and organizations. Some benefits of social media for businesses and organizations are: increased exposure and traffic, potential to create loyal fan following, generates leads, improved search ranking, potential to grow business partnership, reduction of marketing expenses, improvement in sales, and the potential to provide marketplace insight. “
Guidelines
Proper use of social media guidelines is important. “Social media policies—like any other policies—are about respect: respect for an employer's legitimate needs and respect for an employee's privacy. If a social media policy is centered on respect, it will work to highlight the benefits of social media and to guard against its potential misuse,” (Handman, 2014, p. 1). In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange outlined guidance in regard to bloggers and other social media outlets to properly disclose important connection information.
Guidelines allow organizations to let their employees know what is expected of them in regard to social media. It details how employees will be dealt with in regard to the misuse in social media. These guidelines allow the protection of both businesses and employees in regard to proper and improper use of social media. They outline employee use of social media for communication purposes; and personal use of social media.
“Social media is changing the nature of business and introducing new learning and development needs. These are not confined to the specific skills required to design and implement social media strategies: in many companies, more extensive transformations of culture and organizational systems are necessary to support the new ways of working that are being driven by social media usage,” (Schroeder, 2014).
Since an organization or business performs background checks on all employees these reports should be taken in account in regard to social media authorization. A check on popular social media sites should be done at this time to investigate the employee or potential employee image. If the image portrayed on social media can lead to negative exposure for employees it should be brought to employee’s attention or should be taken into account when hiring potential employees. A monitoring system should be set up by the IT department to track employee use of social media in the workplace.
Sharing Content
There are many reasons why employees should be careful of any information they share on social media. One reason is that the information could be perceived in a negative manner even if it was not intended to be. Many times an individual words can be taken out of context and cause a poor image on the individual and the business or organization they represent. Even information that is shared on a personal level can have a negative influence on an organization or business.
Another reason why an employee should be care about the information shared is because they can reveal important information that they may not intended to or information that was not supposed to be for the public knowledge. All information may not be intended to be shared with sources outside of the organization. Just because the individual was not specifically told not to share does not mean they should share the information. Information that is shared can lead to unsuccessful business ventures and failure of a business or organization.
Potential legal issues can arise if an employee shares information that was not intended to be shared. This can lead to the termination of an employee and can cause the business or organization a lot of money, which could lead to the company going bankruptcy.
Employee’s Reputation
“The way in which the human user represents the self in cyberspace is fascinating, complex and, with respect to our human nature, ultimately revealing,” (Brunskill, 2013). Social media tools have the potential to effect an employee’s online and in-person reputation in a negative and positive. Positive communication and posts can lead to positive online and off line reputation. This could lead to an expansion of exposure and an increase in business and popularity.
Even though some comments may not be intended to be negative they can be perceived as such. Comments can be taken out of context and can lead to cyberbullying. “Cyber-bullying, unwanted/inappropriate contact, the posting of inappropriate/distressing information and problems related to the concept of addiction have all been identified as online behaviors which can have a negative impact in the general population,” (Brunskill, 2013). A negative image online can lead to harassment at the workplace and at home.
An employee should think before they post or reply to certain comments. Comments may be interpreted in different ways by different individuals. The best way to ensure proper posting of comments is to post or respond only when necessary in an appropriate manner, detailed by company policies and guidelines.
Accountability and Responsible Use of Social Media
Strict guidelines have to be put into place to insure proper use of social media. Confidential assigned employee codes will be given to all employees. This will allow the IT department to track use of each employee. The codes will ensure and detail which employees had access to which computers at any given time. The IT department will also be able to track which sites were visited and what information was shared on the sites.
At the time of employment for new employees and at the time of implementation of social media policy with current employees; an agreement will be signed to ensure that each employee has read and understand the organization’s policy, rules, and regulations in regard to social media in the workplace. This will also include proper social media use on a personal level and how it can affect the workplace.
Ethics must be included in accountability. In order to be accountable an employee must act in a responsible and ethical manner. An ethical clause should be included in the guidelines to ensure ethical guidelines will be followed in a responsible manner.
“Businesses have developed a system of social responsibility that is tailored to their company environment. If social responsibility is maintained within a company than the employees and the environment are held equal to the company’s economics. Maintaining social responsibility within a company ensures the integrity of society and the environment are protected,” (Social Responsibility and Ethics, 2015, p. 1).
Responsible Use within an Organization
An individual employee is affected by responsible use within an organization social learning environment in a positive manner. When an individual employee follows an organization policy they are being structured in a social learning environment. They perform as a team because the guidelines outline the proper use by all employees. Working as a team allows an employee to become loyal to the organization and the team they are working with.
Employees are also taught how to perform responsibly in a social learning environment within an organization. This is structured detailed guidelines assist in teaching employees on how an organization expects their employees to behave and/or act.
The only way an individual can ensure they are being responsible is if they follow the organization’s rules, regulations, and guidelines on social media.
How Social Media Policy Enhance Organization
Social media can become an important part of society, the workplace, and personally. “Social media is an integral part of business operations. Its use is now commonplace for product launches, developing consumer loyalty and sharing news. Citizen journalists use social media to instantly provide information to their followers and the general public, often hours ahead of traditional media,” (Walaski, 2013). Social media assists an organization in expanding their marketing efforts, give them more exposure, sharing of information and bring in new clients. This can lead to a bigger bottom line.
“Sharing of information, ideas and resources ultimately creates an increased level of productivity among users because their learning and knowledge base expands as does their ability to complete work tasks,” (Walaski, 2013).
Conclusion
Social media can be defined in many ways. Social media includes many different tools and applications. Ultimately, social media should be seen as a benefit. “It is no longer a matter of whether a company should utilize social media to communicate with audiences, but rather how and with what platforms. Social media is becoming such an integral part of business operations that its use is now commonplace for product launches, developing consumer loyalty and sharing news.” (Walaski, 2013).
References
Brunskill, D. (2013). Social media, social avatars and the psyche: is Facebook good for us? Australas Psychiatry, 527-532.
Handman, D. (2014, August 14). Social Media Policies in the Workplace: It's All About Respect. Retrieved January 18, 2015, from Bloomberg Law: http://www.bna.com/social-media-policies-in-the-workplace-its-all-about-respect/
Schroeder, H. M. (2014). Social media in business strategy: the learning and development implications. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 12 - 15.
Social Media. (2015). Retrieved January 18, 2015, from What Is: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media
Social Responsibility and Ethics. (2015). Retrieved January 18, 2015, from Pachamama Alliance: http://www.pachamama.org/social-justice/social-responsibility-and-ethics
Walaski, P. (2013). Social Media. Professional Safety, 40 - 49.
Social media are tools used to as forms of communication. These tools are “dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration,” (Social Media, 2015, p. 1). Social media allows connections between individuals, businesses, and organizations. Some benefits of social media for businesses and organizations are: increased exposure and traffic, potential to create loyal fan following, generates leads, improved search ranking, potential to grow business partnership, reduction of marketing expenses, improvement in sales, and the potential to provide marketplace insight. “
Guidelines
Proper use of social media guidelines is important. “Social media policies—like any other policies—are about respect: respect for an employer's legitimate needs and respect for an employee's privacy. If a social media policy is centered on respect, it will work to highlight the benefits of social media and to guard against its potential misuse,” (Handman, 2014, p. 1). In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange outlined guidance in regard to bloggers and other social media outlets to properly disclose important connection information.
Guidelines allow organizations to let their employees know what is expected of them in regard to social media. It details how employees will be dealt with in regard to the misuse in social media. These guidelines allow the protection of both businesses and employees in regard to proper and improper use of social media. They outline employee use of social media for communication purposes; and personal use of social media.
“Social media is changing the nature of business and introducing new learning and development needs. These are not confined to the specific skills required to design and implement social media strategies: in many companies, more extensive transformations of culture and organizational systems are necessary to support the new ways of working that are being driven by social media usage,” (Schroeder, 2014).
Since an organization or business performs background checks on all employees these reports should be taken in account in regard to social media authorization. A check on popular social media sites should be done at this time to investigate the employee or potential employee image. If the image portrayed on social media can lead to negative exposure for employees it should be brought to employee’s attention or should be taken into account when hiring potential employees. A monitoring system should be set up by the IT department to track employee use of social media in the workplace.
Sharing Content
There are many reasons why employees should be careful of any information they share on social media. One reason is that the information could be perceived in a negative manner even if it was not intended to be. Many times an individual words can be taken out of context and cause a poor image on the individual and the business or organization they represent. Even information that is shared on a personal level can have a negative influence on an organization or business.
Another reason why an employee should be care about the information shared is because they can reveal important information that they may not intended to or information that was not supposed to be for the public knowledge. All information may not be intended to be shared with sources outside of the organization. Just because the individual was not specifically told not to share does not mean they should share the information. Information that is shared can lead to unsuccessful business ventures and failure of a business or organization.
Potential legal issues can arise if an employee shares information that was not intended to be shared. This can lead to the termination of an employee and can cause the business or organization a lot of money, which could lead to the company going bankruptcy.
Employee’s Reputation
“The way in which the human user represents the self in cyberspace is fascinating, complex and, with respect to our human nature, ultimately revealing,” (Brunskill, 2013). Social media tools have the potential to effect an employee’s online and in-person reputation in a negative and positive. Positive communication and posts can lead to positive online and off line reputation. This could lead to an expansion of exposure and an increase in business and popularity.
Even though some comments may not be intended to be negative they can be perceived as such. Comments can be taken out of context and can lead to cyberbullying. “Cyber-bullying, unwanted/inappropriate contact, the posting of inappropriate/distressing information and problems related to the concept of addiction have all been identified as online behaviors which can have a negative impact in the general population,” (Brunskill, 2013). A negative image online can lead to harassment at the workplace and at home.
An employee should think before they post or reply to certain comments. Comments may be interpreted in different ways by different individuals. The best way to ensure proper posting of comments is to post or respond only when necessary in an appropriate manner, detailed by company policies and guidelines.
Accountability and Responsible Use of Social Media
Strict guidelines have to be put into place to insure proper use of social media. Confidential assigned employee codes will be given to all employees. This will allow the IT department to track use of each employee. The codes will ensure and detail which employees had access to which computers at any given time. The IT department will also be able to track which sites were visited and what information was shared on the sites.
At the time of employment for new employees and at the time of implementation of social media policy with current employees; an agreement will be signed to ensure that each employee has read and understand the organization’s policy, rules, and regulations in regard to social media in the workplace. This will also include proper social media use on a personal level and how it can affect the workplace.
Ethics must be included in accountability. In order to be accountable an employee must act in a responsible and ethical manner. An ethical clause should be included in the guidelines to ensure ethical guidelines will be followed in a responsible manner.
“Businesses have developed a system of social responsibility that is tailored to their company environment. If social responsibility is maintained within a company than the employees and the environment are held equal to the company’s economics. Maintaining social responsibility within a company ensures the integrity of society and the environment are protected,” (Social Responsibility and Ethics, 2015, p. 1).
Responsible Use within an Organization
An individual employee is affected by responsible use within an organization social learning environment in a positive manner. When an individual employee follows an organization policy they are being structured in a social learning environment. They perform as a team because the guidelines outline the proper use by all employees. Working as a team allows an employee to become loyal to the organization and the team they are working with.
Employees are also taught how to perform responsibly in a social learning environment within an organization. This is structured detailed guidelines assist in teaching employees on how an organization expects their employees to behave and/or act.
The only way an individual can ensure they are being responsible is if they follow the organization’s rules, regulations, and guidelines on social media.
How Social Media Policy Enhance Organization
Social media can become an important part of society, the workplace, and personally. “Social media is an integral part of business operations. Its use is now commonplace for product launches, developing consumer loyalty and sharing news. Citizen journalists use social media to instantly provide information to their followers and the general public, often hours ahead of traditional media,” (Walaski, 2013). Social media assists an organization in expanding their marketing efforts, give them more exposure, sharing of information and bring in new clients. This can lead to a bigger bottom line.
“Sharing of information, ideas and resources ultimately creates an increased level of productivity among users because their learning and knowledge base expands as does their ability to complete work tasks,” (Walaski, 2013).
Conclusion
Social media can be defined in many ways. Social media includes many different tools and applications. Ultimately, social media should be seen as a benefit. “It is no longer a matter of whether a company should utilize social media to communicate with audiences, but rather how and with what platforms. Social media is becoming such an integral part of business operations that its use is now commonplace for product launches, developing consumer loyalty and sharing news.” (Walaski, 2013).
References
Brunskill, D. (2013). Social media, social avatars and the psyche: is Facebook good for us? Australas Psychiatry, 527-532.
Handman, D. (2014, August 14). Social Media Policies in the Workplace: It's All About Respect. Retrieved January 18, 2015, from Bloomberg Law: http://www.bna.com/social-media-policies-in-the-workplace-its-all-about-respect/
Schroeder, H. M. (2014). Social media in business strategy: the learning and development implications. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 12 - 15.
Social Media. (2015). Retrieved January 18, 2015, from What Is: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media
Social Responsibility and Ethics. (2015). Retrieved January 18, 2015, from Pachamama Alliance: http://www.pachamama.org/social-justice/social-responsibility-and-ethics
Walaski, P. (2013). Social Media. Professional Safety, 40 - 49.