Social Media Policies: Enabling Safe And Productive Use Of Social Media

With the explosive growth of the internet in general and social media platforms in particular, we are well and truly in the digital age, where everything we do online has an impact on our offline lives. This applies not just to individuals, but also to organisations. Every organisation today needs to maintain a positive online reputation about its brand, vision, services and products. While marketing efforts may create this reputation, any misstep by an employee almost automatically leads to disrepute for the employer as employees are the biggest representative of an organisation. To avoid this, all organisations need to have a sensible social media policy laying out the dos and don'ts for online conduct.

A social media policy is a set of guidelines mandated by organisations to regulate employees' use of social media while representing the company. These policies are framed to ensure that employees maintain professional conduct, protect the organisation's reputation, and safeguard sensitive information while using social media platforms/tools. Apart from protecting their reputation, these policies also help organisations implement data security online. Depending on applicable regulations and cultural vision, these media policies can differ for various organisations, though most will have some overlap and common rule-of-thumb guidelines.

Social media policies serve the following purposes for an organisation and its employees:

Protect the company’s reputation: In competitive markets, even minor errors from employees can snowball into controversies and ruin the company’s reputation, sometimes even affecting its survival. Guidelines on appropriate behaviour prevent employees from engaging in activities that could harm the organisation's image or credibility.

Protect intellectual property: Companies invest significant resources in developing intellectual property like trademarks, logos, copyrights etc. Social media policies dictate guidelines on the proper use of these assets, so that any miscommunication and misuse can be prevented.

Clear communication of expectations: Social media policies clarify what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviour when representing the organisation on social media platforms. It helps the employees understand any potential consequences of their actions. They also help the employees align their online behaviour with the company's stated values and standards.

Maintain data security: Social media policies establish protocols about sharing sensitive company’s information and customer data online. This helps protect from data breaches and unauthorised/unintentional disclosures resulting from employee negligence or malicious intent. This in turn protects companies from any resulting legal and/or financial liabilities.

Summing things up, creating strict social media policies is essential for organisations to maintain their image, protect their data, ensure compliance with regulations, and promote a productive and respectful work environment. This allows employees and organisations to use social media platforms to their fullest potential while protecting themselves from any associated risks and liabilities. With our expertise and experience, we can create customised social media policies along with 60+ other HR policies. Contact us today to know more.?