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10 Social Media Policy & Guidelines Documents

22 November 2011 at 15:43

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10 Social Media Policy & Guidelines Documents

Posted by Social Media Conference, 22 November 2011 at 15:43

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Tags: Social Media in HR , social media , twitter

This blog post contains a collection of 10 ‘Social Media’ guidelines documents & policies pulled from around the web. Some are from the UK, some are from further afield, but all are interesting in one way or another!

First – a little bit of background on why we thought it useful to pull these together.

In advance of the CIPD's upcoming 'Social Media in HR' conference, we thought we'd take a look to see which social media topics were most popular among the CIPD’s website users. Here's a little wordcloud showing other words people use when searching the CIPD site for ‘social media’:

As you can see, there’s a nice mix: recruitment, talent, engagement, some around law, a few around bullying. But one of the bigger themes is around ‘policy’, ‘guidelines’, ‘policies’ & ‘usage’.

“How interesting” we thought, and began to pull together some of the more interesting guidelines and policy documents companies have posted to the web so far.

Have a read through, & please do leave a comment letting us know:

Does your organisation have a Social Media Policy?
Have you taken the leap & published any guidelines on your website?
If “no” to the above, are you in the “wait and see” camp, or the “there’s no need for a policy here” camp?

10 Interesting / Useful Social Media Guidelines Documents

1. The BBC's Social Media Guidance

The BBC's 'Social Media Guidance' document splits down into 3 sections:

'Personal Activity'.
'News carried out in the name of BBC news'.
'Activity as part of official BBC news output'.

As an example of what the content of those looks like, here are 3 snippets from the ‘Personal Activity’ section:

"Remember that even though you are acting in your own personal capacity, you are on show to your friends and anyone else who sees what you write, as a representative of the BBC. If you are editorial staff, it doesn't make much difference whether or not you identify yourself as someone who works for the BBC"

"You are allowed to say that you work for the BBC, and you can discuss the BBC and your work publicly. But your name/title should not contain BBC in any form. And you should make clear that the views expressed are personal, and not those of the BBC"

"If you want to start a blog where you feel conflicts of interests are possible, you should discuss it first with your line manager; he or she won't unreasonably stop you, but will want to discuss potential risks. If you already have a blog like this, you should have already had this conversation. If you haven't, then make sure you do."

Read the full PDF at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_11_news_social_media_guidance.pdf

2. BT's Social Media Guidelines

Putting their money where their mouth is, BT's Social Media Guidelines sit outside of the BT’s main network of sites, on the personal blog of Richard Dennison, the man in charge of their Social Media / Intranet. The document is a long, long stream of bullet points, broken up into 10 sections. Among them you’ll find:

BT’s explanation why they feel it’s important to have a set of Social Media guidelines:

"BT recognises that its transformation into a global communication services company delivering software driven products relies on a workforce that can actively participate in collaboration and innovation with colleagues, customers, partners and suppliers on the web using social media tools. It is therefore important that we all understand how social media tools can help BT achieve its business objectives and that we are empowered to contribute effectively to this collaborative activity on the web when it supports our roles within the organisation."

…and some closer guidance on what’s ‘good’ & ‘bad’. While the BBC guidelines were largely a 'framework' approach, BT's attempt to guide people a little more specifically by setting out ideal behaviour. For example:

"A good blogger... Knows how to maintain good relationships online. It’s more than just responding to comments and emails. It’s more than just linking, cross-linking, promoting and cross-promoting fellow bloggers. It’s about knowing when to assert yourself and when to back down. It’s about following up on your word and keeping your promises. It’s about respect and responsibility."

Read the full guidelines at http://richarddennison.wordpress.com/bts-social-media-guidelines/

3. Intel's Social Media Guidelines

Intel – the computer chip manufacturer – have produced a tightly organized, specific set of Social Media Guidelines. The document breaks down into 4 main sections: 'Guiding Principles', 'Rules of Engagement', 'Contractors & Endorsements', & 'Moderation Guidelines' Their 'Rules of Engagement' section is firm, fair, and very specific. Here are 4 the 11 rules:

Your Responsibility: What you write is ultimately your responsibility. Participation in social computing on behalf of Intel is not a right but an opportunity, so please treat it seriously and with respect. If you want to participate on behalf of Intel, take the Digital IQ training and contact the Social Media Center of Excellence. Please know and follow the Intel Code of Conduct. Failure to abide by these guidelines and the Intel Code of Conduct could put your participation at risk. Contact social.media@intel.com for more information. Please also follow the terms and conditions for any third-party sites.

Create some excitement. As a business and as a corporate citizen, Intel is making important contributions to the world, to the future of technology, and to public dialogue on a broad range of issues. Our business activities are increasingly focused on high-value innovation. Let's share with the world the exciting things we're learning and doing—and open up the channels to learn from others.

Be a Leader. There can be a fine line between healthy debate and incendiary reaction. Do not denigrate our competitors or Intel. Nor do you need to respond to every criticism or barb. Try to frame what you write to invite differing points of view without inflaming others. Some topics—like politics or religion—slide more easily into sensitive territory. So be careful and considerate. Once the words are out there, you can't really get them back. And once an inflammatory discussion gets going, it's hard to stop.

Did you screw up? If you make a mistake, admit it. Be upfront and be quick with your correction. If you're posting to a blog, you may choose to modify an earlier post—just make it clear that you have done so.

Read more at http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_SA/social-media.htm

4. IOC - London 2012 Social Media, Blogging, & Internet Guidelines

If you imagine what the International Olympic Committee’s London 2012 social media guidelines might look, and then click through to the document, chances are you won’t be far off. While some sets of guidelines are quite warm & friendly, these include strongly worded sections under titles like 'Liability', 'Monitoring' and 'Infringements'.

Here's the section looking at 'monitoring':

"The IOC will continue to monitor Olympic on-line content to ensure that the integrity of rights-holding broadcasters and sponsor rights as well as the Olympic Charter is maintained. The IOC asks for the support of all participants and other accredited persons in halting any ambush activity or any sites engaged in conduct which is offensive to or adversely affects the goodwill associated with the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. The IOC asks that participants and other accredited persons discovering unauthorised content, please report it immediately to www.olympicgamesmonitoring.com"

The monitoring site doesn't appear to be open for business yet, but the fact that they are creating an entire separate site for monitoring shows how serious they are. Read more at http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Games_London_2012/IOC_Social_Media_Blogging_and_Internet_Guidelines-London.pdf

5. Template Twitter Strategy for Government Departments

Twitter is – of course – well known for allowing users to write just 140 characters per message. Alongside that, a 20-page guidance document may look a little out of place. This ‘strategy’ guide was published by Neil Williams who was (at the time of the document’s publication) Head of Digital Comms at the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.

Whereas most other documents in this post were designed purely to guide employee behavior, this document attempts to guide both individual and organizational use of Twitter. The document is designed to be modified by individual departments to suit their own needs. As a result, it may be useful for anyone trying to put together a twitter policy/guidelines document for a very large organisation.

An example of that is this section, talking about defining a departmental 'tone of voice':

"Though the account will be anonymous (i.e. no named officials will be running it) it is helpful to define a hypothetical ‘voice’ so that tweets from multiple sources are presentedin a consistent tone (including consistent use of pronouns)"

Though it perhaps goes a little far at times, specifying exactly how long each team should spend on particular activities:

“The Digital Media Team will be responsible for sourcing and publishing tweets, co-ordinating replies to incoming messages and monitoring the account. This activity is expected to take less than an hour a day. Evaluation will take longer: approximately one day every 3 months. The provision of content will require some low level input from communications colleagues and private office. This will be an add-on to business as usual internal activity – for example a quick discussion of potential tweets at daily press cuttings meetings, or emails between digital media and private office/speechwriters/stakeholder relations teams to identify potential content for tweets.”

Read more at http://www.scribd.com/doc/17313280/Template-Twitter-Strategy-for-Government-Departments

6. Walmart's Twitter External Discussion Guidelines

At the other end of the lenghth spectrum, ,Walmart’s 600 word "Twitter External Discussion Guidelines" document is short & to the point. Here are 4 key points they address:

"While many of our 2.2 million associates around the world are using Twitter and other social networks, all official Walmart Twitter users will be identified on this landing page and will have a link back to this page from their Twitter profile. Unless otherwise noted, U.S.-based Walmart approved Twitter users will follow the following naming conventions of "business unit + name/category." For example, "walmartmeeting," "samsclubrobert," and "walmartgames." We won’t reply to off topic @replies. Personal attacks and foul language = FAIL. Adding to the discussion = WIN. @replies should contribute to the dialogue. Please support any claims with links to sources whenever possible. We love opinions. We love it even more when you back them up.

Take a look at: http://walmartstores.com/9179.aspx

7. The US Coast Guard's "Way Ahead"

With the epic title 'THE WAY AHEAD', the US Coast Guard’s guidance document is written entirely in BLOCK CAPITALS, and is about as 'no nonsense' as we’ve seen. Here is point 3 of 9:

“BECOMING A MORE AGILE AND CHANGE-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION REQUIRES THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND INTERACT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA. ACCORDINGLY WE MUST ADJUST TO THIS PARADIGM CHANGE AND MOVE FROM A VERTICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE TO A MORE NETWORKED ORGANIZATION. THESE CHANGES OFFER TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGES IN MISSION EXECUTION AND SUPPORT, COMMUNICATION, AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING OUR NEW BUSINESS MODEL FOR LOGISTICS. HOWEVER, THE MANAGERIAL AND CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS CHANGE ARE SIGNIFICANT. THAT SAID WE WILL MOVE FORWARD TO ADAPT OUR ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES TO POSITION US FOR SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE.”

The 9th (and most succinct) point is simply “INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.”

Read more at http://www.uscg.mil/ANNOUNCEMENTS/alcoast/ALCOAST45708.txt

8. Gartner's 'Public Web Participation Guidelines'
Gartner’s guidelines document ranges from ‘loose and friendly’ to ‘tight and formal’.

Here is one of the stricter notes:

“You may not initiate or maintain a personal blog, social network discussion group, or other internet site that discusses or relates to Gartner, our business, or to the information technology industry.”

Followed later by a section explicitly trying to protect the company’s commercial interests:

“As Gartner associates, we want clients to pay us for information. At the same time, associates who create Gartner’s research content (e.g., analysts, consultants, Executive Partners, Leadership Partners) may want to participate in Web conversations about IT — which means exchanging information and opinion about IT. To ensure you aren’t divulging too much information, be thoughtful about what information you post and how you respond to feedback. Ask yourself: “Is this the kind of information that our clients normally pay us for?” If the answer is “Yes” or even “Perhaps,” then confer with other Gartner colleagues before posting.”

And these strict, commercial guidelines are followed later still by a section advising employees to be ‘playful’:

“Web participation is about enjoying personal interactions, not delivering corporate communications. Always identify yourself. Write in the first person. If your Web participation feels like work, you’re probably doing too much of it and it’s likely to interfere with your work at Gartner. A big part of the Web experience is that it is more playful than most other media. Your Web participation should reflect this characteristic. The most successful blogs are those with an informal and humorous style. It’s OK — some might say mandatory — to poke fun in Web postings, but keep in mind that such humor should always be appropriate and should stimulate discussion, not stifle it.“

At just over 2,000 words, it’s perhaps more of a ‘lunchtime read’ than a 2-minute skim: http://blogs.gartner.com/?page_id=69

9. Chartered Institute of Public Relations

The CIPR have released quite a grown-up, very nicely organised 'Best Practice Guidance' document. The heart of the document is a set of 10 'Dos', 5 'Dont's', along with a set of legal considerations.

If you've ever wondered where all of those "all views are my own" notes on twitter bios came from, point 8 in their 'Dos' list may well be one source:

Add a ‘views are my own’ disclaimer where appropriate

This disclaimer is typically needed if a practitioner uses an individual social media account to share both personal and professional opinion on matters. For example, it is advisable to add a ‘views are my own’ disclaimer to a Twitter biography, if a practitioner tweets about client and industry related news / opinions, [professional] and also shares their personal views on a subject that lies outside of their work remit [personal] through the same Twitter account. This will avoid confusion and will reenforce that a practitioner’s personal opinion on issues is NOT the opinion of their company.

Download the full PDF at http://www.cipr.co.uk/sites/default/files/CIPR_social_media%20_best%20_practice%20_guidance%20_2011_1.pdf

10. ACAS

And finally... ACAS have put together a very useful set of guidelines on social networking. They begin by advising employers to:

Draw up a policy on social networking
Treat 'electronic behaviour' in the same way you would treat 'non-electronic behaviour'
React reasonably

The guide very helpfully contains a section titled ‘How to develop a social networking policy’. Here's a snippet:

“A report published in 2010 by My Job Group found that 55% of employees questioned admitted to accessing social networking sites at work. The research does not suggest that use of these sites is affecting productivity but your induction programme is a good way to set clear boundaries about the use of the internet. Each organisation will have its own culture and standards of 'acceptable behaviour' but it is best to be as clear as possible about these from the start.”

Read the full guide at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3375, or you may like to jump straight to the 'How to Develop a Policy' section.

How about you?

That’s it - a whirlwind tour of 10 social media guidelines & policy documents ahead of the CIPD’s “Social Media in HR” conference.

Let us know what you think in the comments. Have you tackled social media guidance? Is it a ‘hot topic’ for you or a ‘maybe next year’?

And, of course, are you planning to come along to our Social Media in HR conference?

Your comments

3 comments

Sinead Carville

23 November 2011 at 13:34

Really useful. Thanks :)

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Doug Shaw

27 November 2011 at 16:03

Good stuff - here's a link to the guidelines cocreated by IBM staff on social computing. I like that this is pulled together by staff, for staff.

www.ibm.com/.../guidelines.html

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Sophie Featherstone

02 December 2011 at 15:02

The difference in approach and tone is quite startling. The guidance approach linking to existing policies and behavioural guidelines is probably preferable for our type of company (providing digital marketing strategies) where many people have a permanent an online presence.

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