BUILDING A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

@EricSchwartzmanNew Comm ForumApril 21, 2010

Practices, Principles and Politics

Session Overview

Business Case for Social Media Policy Dovetailing with Existing Policies Basics of Corp. Policymaking Policy Anatomy DoD Case Study Other Considerations Follow Up Resources

Do You Need a SM Policy?

Marco Belluci

Scalabilitycenteredgesworld

Discoverability

Why Not Use Existing Policies?• Unique Requirements

Transparency Confidentiality Security

• Risks Dilutes Focus Confuses Ownership Marshall Ast

or

Updating Existing Policies• Code of Conduct Updates

Update public disclosure definition

Loosen “personal gain” restrictions

Updating Existing Policies

• IT Policy Updates Confidential vs. public information Extend protection mandates to social

media Restrict “inappropriate solicitations” Assign password management to IS Add password security to IS policy Permit personal links in emails

Corporate PolicymakingAssembling the Stakeholders

Generation Gap

Building a Stakeholder CoalitionDept. Risk Opportunity

HR Existing policy violations; policing

Goodwill with work force; recruiting

IT Information security; data loss

Reduce network and desktop support requests

Legal Copyright, free speech, libel and audit trails

Better corp. oversight; tighter controls

Marketing Aggravate brand fracture

Enable market to self-educate

Customer Service Perceived productivity loss

Reduce call center demand

PR Negligible Unfiltered communications

PA Negligible ID opposition points

IR Selective disclosure Better shareholder communications

Sequencing

Consensus on objectives Stakeholder assembly

InfluenceSocial media aptitudeCommunication skills

Draft review order

greg westfall

Ambiguity

kevinpoh

Clarity

SM Policy Anatomy

Policy Statement

Definitions Objectives Guiding

Principles Policy Elements Penalties

Policy Statement

• That employees have the right to use social media• That social media is changing the way people communicate• That existing policies apply to social media• That your company respects the legal rights of its employees• That this policy applies to activities outside of work as well, if

those activities impact job performance or any other corporate business interests

Objectives

Establish practical, reasonable and enforceable guidelines by which employees can conduct responsible, constructive social media engagement in official and unofficial capacities.

Prepare the organization and its employees to utilize social media channels to help each other and the communities it serves, particularly during a crisis, disaster or emergency.

Protect the organization and its employees from violating Municipal, State or Federal rules, regulations or laws through social media channels.

Guiding Principles

EXAMPLES:

• …trusts and expects employees to exercise personal responsibility…

• …never use social media for covert advocacy…• …clearly identify themselves as employees when communicating

on behalf of the organization…

Source: IBM Social Computing Guidelines

Disclosure & Transparency

Transparency for Agencies?

Disclaimers

SAMPLE DISCLAIMERS:

• "I work for <ORGANIZATION NAME HERE> and this is my personal opinion."

• "I am not an official <ORGANIZATION NAME HERE> spokesperson but my personal opinion is..."

• "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent <ORGANIZATION NAME HERE>’s positions, strategies or opinions.“

sources: Social Media Business Council and IBM

Compensation & Incentives

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed.

Source: FTC

Respectfulness

bjornmeansbear

Diplomacy

kmoney56

Confidentiality

CarbonNYC

Security

Mr Wabu

During Emergencies

mashleymorgan

Legal Matters

mecredis

• Employees may share links that transit users to works hosted by rightful copyright owners or their resellers without obtaining permission first, and include an original text description of that link.

• Employees may share an excerpt of up to 140 characters with spaces without obtaining the copyright holder’s permission, so long as the work being shared is publicly available on a rightful copyright holder’s website and provided the sharing is not being done to blatantly undermine the financial objectives of the copyright owner.

• Employees may embed copyrighted content in social media channels without obtaining the permission of the copyright owner, so long as the embed code has been provided by a rightful copyright owner.

Case Study: DoD

Challenges:• Competing Agendas• Disengaged Command• Operational Security• Blocking Access U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen,

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Case Study: DoD

Approach:• Stop Blocking• Initiate a Thawing Effect• Self Educate DoD via

Access• Follow Up with Additional

Policy Development

Source: DoD Social Media Policy [PDF]

Case Study: DoD

Irony:• Trust and Confiden

ce• No More Wars on A

bstract Concepts• Every Service Me

mber a Spokesperson

Other Issues: Policing the Brand

raincoaster

Other Issues: Instituting Values

kkimpel

Other Issues: Multiple Policies

Public Affairs

CustomerRelations

Investor Relations

Labor Relations

Community Relations

Industry Relations

Marketing/PR

Analyst Relations

Stakeholder Relations

Other Issues: Training

Follow Up Resources

•     Social Media Policy Podcast• Index of Social Media Poli

cies• Social Media Boot Camp• Social Media Master Class

Eric Schwartzman

(310) 455-4000 Phone

eric[at]ericschwartzman[dot]com Email

ericschwartzman.com Website

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