Social Media Policy: Protecting Companies from Pitfalls of Social Media

Social Media is here to stay and because of that companies today can either embrace it or get left behind.

People spend 700 billion minutes on Facebook alone every single month. Everybody is increasingly becoming more connected with each other than ever before. We live in a world where limitless information is at our fingertips and breaking news can happen in real time over a person's Twitter account.

Companies can no longer afford to put Social Media on the back burner or bury their heads in the sand with this issue. The hard part is a simple one size fits all does not even come close to fitting all when Social Media is involved. Every company must answer a few critical questions in order to get on the road to avoid common pitfalls.

First, is your company going to proactively address Social Media or are you going to wait until a controversy arises and then try your hand at Social Media?

How are you going to use Social Media? For brand recognition? To drive sales? Connect with clients, employees and/or prospects?

Who is responsible for maintaining the company's public image on Social Media?

Once these basic questions have been answered a company can then turn their attention towards creating a detailed Social Media Policy. As an addition to an effective Employee Handbook, a company's Social Media Policy should cover everything from the above questions to what is going to count as Social Media for you company (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Photo Sharing sites, Wikis, etc.) to confidential information to monitoring systems to harassment and much more.

An effective Social Media Policy can help reduce the risk of Social Media, giving a company a solid footing to avoid common pitfalls that can have a devastating and costly effect. If you have any questions or for help writing your Social Media Policy today, contact Todd Weyandt at 770.248.0401 or todd@laihr.com.