Sample social media policies?

January 31, 2011 9:09 PM

Sample social media policies?

My employer has asked me to review a draft social media policy. It's incredibly harsh, basically prohibiting any comment about our company at all, ever. I know it needs toning down, and am looking for some samples - something that says "hey, we know you use social media, be sensible and don't degrade the company or speak on our behalf without permission, and don't post pictures of the company/your cooworkers" is kind of the balance I'm looking for.

The company doesn't have any social media of its own; this is related to personal sites referencing job stuff (not personal sites referencing personal stuff).

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (10 answers total)

This is a pretty solid place to start. The BBC one in particular is a decent example.
posted by Jairus at 9:17 PM on January 31, 2011

I think IBM's [my employer - gosh I seem to be going on about that a lot here this week!] are very good. No nonense, not overly restrictive, assuming good faith.
posted by smoke at 9:17 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]

This policy [PDF] has just four simple rules. I think it's remarkably fair and workable.
posted by embrangled at 9:20 PM on January 31, 2011

I don't have any advice on specific content for the policy but I would note that, in the U.S. at least, there appear to be several ongoing lawsuits at the moment related to social media policies regarded as restrictive enough to be infringing employees' rights. I confirmed this by googling "social media policy" "free speech".
posted by XMLicious at 9:24 PM on January 31, 2011

I really like Roche's, very fair and understandable. Importantly, makes a distinction between personal and professional communications.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 9:38 PM on January 31, 2011

Second for IBM. It is often held up as the model for social media policies, both in what it says and how it was constructed (i.e. through employee engagement).
posted by londonmark at 6:14 AM on February 1, 2011

embrangled, I can't open your link. It says "This domain is blocked." I'm eager to know what the four simple rules are!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:34 AM on February 1, 2011

I helped develop my company's internal policy. If you mefi mail me, I can send you a copy. I think it would be relevant to what you're asking.
posted by Kimberly at 9:40 AM on February 1, 2011

ThatCanadianGirl - That's strange, perhaps it's only accessible from within Australia? The guidelines are reproduced here.
posted by embrangled at 7:19 PM on February 1, 2011

Thanks, embrangled - that link worked. Those rules are perfect for my organization. (The timing of this question is perfect!)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:53 AM on February 2, 2011