Social Media Policies and Why They are Important

You buy a car. You love your new car, but suddenly something breaks on it. What do you do? Well depending on the damage, you could grab the manual manufacturers put in your glove compartment. That manual gives pages and pages of how your car works and why. You put your tire back on, fix your headlight, change the oil or fix whatever else was broken on the car. Afterward you reflect back on the handy-dandy manual and how you don't know what you would've done without it. 

Like cars, social media has manuals too. They are called social media policies. Social media policies are becoming increasingly important because every business now has a social media platform (or should). When these platforms are ineffective or causing trouble, the organization should look back to its social media policy. 

A social media policy consists of an introduction summarizing what the policy contains. The introduction usually explains the organization's culture, mission and values, as well as how the social channels tie into them. Next, a social media policy should address the responsibility of the online spokesperson(s). Online spokespeople should be appointed in an organization as the voice of the social channels. These people should be trained as to what each channel does, as well as the purpose of the channel in the organization. Responsibilities of an online spokesperson could include the values the organization looks for in the spokesperson, and outlining any state or federal laws that the spokesperson needs to follow online. 

Then, a social media policy should address the rules and guidelines of all other social media users within the organization. The employees of an organization are always representing it and this holds true online especially. Many organizations have gone under scrutiny because of the sensitive information employees post online, or the calloused or inappropriate opinions employees comment or share. These comments and posts are not always about the organization, but the character of an organization's work force is always under scrutiny online where consumers can see. Finally, most policies have a conclusion that sum up the points of the policy and why its important again. 

The content an organization puts into a social media policy should act as a manual when confronted with online etiquette issues or questionable posts on the organizations social media platforms. As an organization, you will find the upkeep of your social media policy will help you make decisions, as well as defend your social media decisions, if the policy is done well. 

To find example social media policies, you can simply Google "social media policy templates."