Creating a Social Media Policy at Your Business | Stacey Dahl

The rise in social media has raised numerous questions about the right to privacy, especially in regards to the relationship between a business and its employees. Many business owners are now confronting questions about whether their employees? actions and behaviors on social media websites could potentially reflect poorly on their business. However, at the same time, social media sites are believed to be private forums in which users can share whatever information they choose with those in their social network. Here are several pointers for how your business can create a social media policy that works for the owner as well as for the employees.

1. One basic rule of thumb: Don?t put anything on the internet that could get you fired or jeopardize your business

While it may seem like common sense, many social media users seem to lose track of this simple idea. It is unwise to write anything on the internet that could get you fired or could put the well-being of your business at risk. As a social media user, when signing up for any online site, you are basically signing an unspoken contract that you are responsible for what you say online. If your boss has given you information that should not be shared, the worst thing that you as an employee could do is put that information online. Furthermore, business owners should adhere to similar rules when discussing confidential information about their businesses over the internet.

2. Make sure all of your employees know about privacy settings

Making sure that your employees? actions and behavior on social media sites is compliant with company standards does not necessarily mean that they can?t maintain a personal social media profile and to make the most of what the sites have to offer. On Facebook in particular, there are a series of privacy settings that can be as detailed as you want them to be. If a user is ?friends? with his or her coworkers or other professional contacts, for example, that user can make sure that certain photo albums, status updates, or other features of his or her profile are hidden to those people. Similarly, a user can limit his profile in such a way that no one can see any personal information unless he or she accepts that person as a ?friend.? Clearly, because of this feature of Facebook, make sure your employees know that they should be wary about which friend requests to accept.

3. Twitter guidelines
Using Twitter can be slightly more risky when it comes to maintaining a positive and professional reputation in the workplace. Because of the nature of Twitter, it can be tempting to disclose confidential or personal information, and the privacy settings are much harder to monitor. Therefore, it is important to communicate with your employees that they should be using their best judgment when posting to Twitter and that, for the sake of the business, what they say on the site can be considered public information.

4. Create rules about using social media at work

Many business owners are running into confusing new questions about what should and should not be allowed when it comes to employees using social media at the workplace. It is up to you as the small business owner to decide what you consider appropriate, but many?small business owners agree that employees should be using these media in their own time and in their own homes. It may be a good decision to talk to your IT department about limiting access to certain sites to ensure that employees are staying focused on their actual work. However, keep in mind that social media marketing is becoming a more and more effective marketing tool for small businesses, and you may need to access these sites while at work.

By: Lily Faden
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