Sample Internal Social Media Policy

In our previous post, Create Your Internal Social Media Policy, we took a look at how you can create an internal social media policy. In this post, we give an example of a short social media policy.

Social Media Policy Example

Here’s an example of a short and sweet social media policy we wrote for one of our clients:

Discretion

Staff have discretion in responding to comments posted on our commenting system. However, where possible, post pre-approved responses to Frequently Asked Questions.

Tone

Be a Person. Respond in a friendly way. Do not use emotion.

Be Accurate

Make sure that you have all the facts before you post. It’s better to verify information with a source first than to have to post a correction or retraction later. Cite and link to your sources whenever possible.

Think Before Posting

Don’t be in a hurry to respond. Make sure you have the facts and you are not responding with emotion.

When in Doubt, Do Not Post

Associates are personally responsible for their words and actions, wherever they are. As online spokespeople, you must ensure that your posts are completely accurate and not misleading. Exercise sound judgment and common sense, and if there is any doubt, DO NOT POST IT.

Long, Repetitive Threads

If a comment thread gets too long and repetitive, ask the poster to take it offline by sending their contact info to our email address.

Commit to the Conversation

Don’t stop listening just because you are busy. Don’t stop participating because you don’t agree with someone. Relationships are not built in a day. Be in it for the long haul and we will all reap the benefits.

Keep Records

It is critical that we keep records of our interactions with participants in our commenting system. The system keeps all posts, so this is usually only comes up when you must delete a post. Copy the offending post into a call record before deleting.

Negative Posts

When encountering a negative post (that does not violate the terms of service), encourage the poster to explain him or herself. Often they will reveal the source of their frustration. Use the Air Force blogging decision tree to guide your response. If a response to the negativity is not covered in the FAQ, let the subject matter experts respond.

Troll Policy

A troll is someone who repeatedly posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages. Ignore trolls. Do not engage them. If they violate our terms of service, request management approval to delete them from the community.

We discuss creating policies, including the Air Force blogging decision tree, in a bit more detail in the posts to come.

Next up: Technical Support for Social Media Engagement

Create Your Internal Social Media Policy is the 24th in a series of excerpts from our book, Be a Person: the Social Media Operating Manual for Enterprises (itself part of a series for different audiences). At this rate it’ll be a long time before we get through all 430 pages, but luckily, if you’re impatient, the book is available in paper form at http://bit.ly/OrderBeAPerson and you can save $5 using Coupon Code 62YTRFCV

See the previous posts What is Social Media?, Social Sites Defined, Why Social Media? How is Social Media Relevant to Business? First Steps Toward a Social Media Strategy, and Decide What Your Business Will Do About Social Computing, pt. 1