Drafting a social media policy

Developing a social media policy for an organization requires several steps. Creating a team to develop the policy, what to include in the policy, determining what behavioral expectations are in your community. According to the literature - 1/3 of employees in the U.S. don't think about what their boss or customers might think of what they post online. 73% of American teens ages 12-17 used an online social network and 86% of teens regularly post comments. Cleary social media policies are a necessity. So, first organizing a team to develop the policy:
1. Create a cross-departmental team.
2. Determine how employees, students, or other members of your organization are using social media.
3. Decide what the purpose of your policy is.
4. Develop an overall philosophy regarding the use of social media
5. Review existing company policies

Developing the policy:
1. Use a wiki platform to write the policy, that way it can be updated or changed easily.
2. Be really specific - develop acceptable use guidelines for a variety of platforms like blogging, Facebook, Twitter and other micro-blogging services.
3. Establish clear guidelines for both professional and personal posts.
4. Focus on user behaviors and what they can do rather than what they cannot.
5. Institute employee/staff/faculty training on social media across the entire organization or community.

Basic social media expectations/guidelines (this could be a lot more than 5)
1. Use good judgment
2. Be yourself
3. Respect copyright & post accurate information
4. Accept responsibility for your posts and content
5. Be respectful of other individuals & don't share secrets.

Social media policies should be very specific to the institution that creates them. There is no one size fits all policy and organizations shouldn't adopt one they find. Legal counsel should be consulted when drafting a policy. All people who use social media should use common sense and the same goes for drafting a policy. Focus on what people can do rather than what they can't. If possible keep the policy simple and easy to understand. Make sure everyone in your organization understands the policy implicitly. Social media is not going away, it is only going to become more ubiquitous. The lines between professional lives and personal lives are growing ever thinner, therefore it is necessary for every organization that uses social medis or has employees who use social media to develop a policy.