PRSA Toolkit: How to Build Your Social Media Policy A social media policy must meet the standards

of an organizations industry, as well as satisfy other internal policies that are instrumental to an organizations operations. Its also important to recognize that not only will organizations build a social media policy, but they also will maintain it for years to come. Social media policies should morph and grow as social media use and tools evolve, and as an organization forges ahead in the social media landscape and interacts with stakeholders in new ways. Policies should address how an organization approaches social media, how employees interact in social networks and how the public should interact with an organization. As a best practice, organizations should change and update their policies every year during the communications strategy and planning phases. When an organization is ready to develop (or expand) a social media policy, it should develop its own process for producing a policy that meets its needs. Identify a team that will map out the policy, research the organizations current presence in social media and where it wants to go, and keeps employees up to date as social media evolves. While each organization will have policies suited to their needs, there are common components that should be included in all policies. A. Best Practice Approach to Building Your Social Media Policy* A social media policy should be customized to meet the communication needs of an organization and to guide employee participation in the social landscape. When you are setting up your organizations guidelines, it is important to keep the following areas in mind: 1. Employee Access to Social Sites. Many companies have an open access policy to social media and different websites. However, for those that dont, consider the following: Are there any sites that are currently off limits and/or have limited use within your organization? If so, these sites need to be discussed in your policy. What is the process/protocol for employees to access social media? Can an employee just set up a social profile or account on behalf of your brand (whether or not the employee just wants to create a social media initiative or is asked by a supervisor or leader within the company to participate)?

2. Account Management of Social Sites. Setting up accounts, when only a few people in an organization are participating, is easy to manage. But what happens when there are hundreds of employees who want to set up accounts? Do you have a process in place for creating profiles and social networking accounts? Is there one department or officer (e.g., a public information officer) who manages the accounts? Is this person working in conjunction with human resources so that there is a central database of domain names and user names and passwords? What is the process when employees leave a company and they are in charge of a social networking site or account(s)? Who is in responsible for changing a sites user name and password upon an employees departure? 3. Participation and Rules of Engagement. There are many policies that include best practices for the rules of engagement know who you want to reach, write what you know, contribute to your community, avoid starting fires, etc. however, other areas of conduct relate to how employees are supposed to identify themselves in communities. What type of disclaimers does the organization require employees to make with respect to their own opinions and views when they blog and post comments? What is your policy on the personal use of social media? How do you advise employees with respect to customer privacy and/or patient information if you are in the health care industry? There should also be guidelines in your policy that help the public understand how they should participate with your brand on your social properties. For instance, its important to let the public know your comment/spokesperson policy and when comments will not be allowed in the community, or if content is posted, how the brand has the right to reproduce, distribute, publish and display such content. Decide whether or not you need addendums to the policy that include blog, podcast or video policies. 4. Content Creation and Branding Guidelines. Content creation is at the heart of an organizations social media program, yet handling how content is developed is often overlooked. If an organization has employees participating in social media, then its critical for employees to understand what type of content can be developed and shared. A couple of important questions to ask when building your policy include: Are employees sharing content that is consistent with brand style guidelines? Are there universal standards for tagging, categorizing and describing content for search engine optimization? Is there a need to stipulate ownership of content created by employees, volunteers or vendors?

5. Security Issues and Related IT Policies: There are several questions that you will need to answer that relate to IT participation in your social media policy development. How will IT continually work to mitigate network system risk and how will they institute any necessary controls? Will IT monitor the transmittal of any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail or spam? What about the possibility of the transmission of any material that contains software viruses, worms or any disabling code that can interrupt and quite possibly damage the functionality of computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment? 6. Legal and Industry Compliance. Although social media is all about open conversations and transparency, its critical to impress upon employees what they are allowed to discuss and what is considered proprietary to the organization and/or its stakeholders. Employees also have to understand that there are Public Record Laws that may apply and/or policies relating to privacy laws (i.e., HIPAA and FERPA). Should your policy cover how you have the irrevocable right to use, reproduce, republish and edit any information that is posted on your social networking sites? When do you have the right to remove content or information that is posted? What is your policy on trademarked or copyright information? *Excerpts in this section are from the blog post, Social Media Policy Questions, PR 2.0 Strategies. B. Resources on Social Media Development This toolkit provides you with information, articles and resources to build best practice policies and guidelines. There are many resources being shared on the Internet and in social networks to help you with your Social Media Policy development. Here are several resources to help you get started in building your organizations social media policy: 1. Best Practice Policies Social Media Governance: An Online Directory of Social Media Policies IBM Social Computing Guidelines Intel Social Media Guidelines Social Media Policies from 80 Organizations Mashables 3 Great Social Media Policies to Steal From 16 Social Media Guidelines Used by Real Companies 2. How to Develop Your Organizations Social Media Policy Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy 10 Must Haves for Your Social Media Policy Telstras 3 Rs Social Media Policies The Altimeter How a 40,000 + Employee Company Trains on Social Media Corporate Social Media Policy: Top 10 Guidelines

ESPN Responds to Criticism and Builds a Social Media Policy How to Write a Social Media Policy

3. Social Media Policy Tools and Toolkits Policy Tool For Social Media (For Starters) Social Media Disclosure Toolkit What Every Company Should Know About a Social Media Policy Ethical Guidelines for Talking With Your Customers (Includes Disclosure Best Practices Toolkit)