To prevent these situations and help employees always feel confident on social media, provide a list of specific “dos” and “don’ts.” Planable’s collaboration-centric design is the right fit for teams that want to streamline communication and collaboration. Sign up to Planable, connect your social page, create your posts, and invite your team to leave feedback. Everybody can leave their thoughts in the comments right next to the post.

 

With a social media employee handbook, your employees will know how to handle customer information and prevent data leaks. By setting clear policies, you can avoid facing legal penalties and losing consumer trust. Fairness and consistency are critical components of a successful social media policy.

 

Most employees don’t act inappropriately intentionally on social media, but there may be challenging situations that they simply don’t know how to manage. Depending on your industry, there may be some topics that employees can’t legally provide advice on. There’s a fine line between a constructive debate and argumentative content. Clearly define the differences between the two so that employees feel confident engaging in discussions online. Many employees love friendly shout-outs from their co-workers, but there are also situations where a co-worker’s well-intended post makes team members feel uncomfortable. It’s also a good idea to have cybersecurity training for employees when you onboard them.

 

Defining Appropriate And Inappropriate Online Behavior

 

Employees should clarify that their personal opinions, particularly those that might be controversial, do not represent the opinions of their company. This is particularly important for employees who regularly post about their company online. Companies typically adopt a broad definition of social media in these policies. In addition to major platforms like Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, they might also include blogs, forums or anything else that could be seen by the public. If an employee posts something inflammatory on social media, it could cause a public relations nightmare for the company. Consider having a social media request form that allows employees to suggest new accounts or content.

 

Social media guidelines are instructions and recommendations for how people connected to a company should represent themselves – and the company – on social media. If violations are decreasing over time, it means the policy is being understood and followed. On the other hand, a spike in issues could signal the need for a refresher training or clearer guidelines. Leadership and managers should model the behavior outlined in the Social Media Policy. When employees see top executives using social media responsibly and positively, it reinforces the importance of the policy and encourages everyone to follow suit.

 

The policy should include details such as the responsibilities of employees when posting on social media, the values the brand seeks to promote, and the types of conflicts that should be avoided. This clarity helps employees identify potential conflicts and navigate their social media use in a way that aligns with the company’s goals and values. Building a strong brand can take years, but it only takes a few careless social media posts to mess it up.

 

This isn’t just about rules; it’s a strategic framework that empowers your team to present your brand perfectly every time. 8.4 All Facebook pages must be created or moved under the ownership of the Lamar University Facebook account and Business Manager. The university account will maintain the “administrator” role and additional account managers will be added as “editors” on the page. 1.2 Social media is a general term used to reference sites and activity on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any other virtual hub where users interact. Other popular social media sites include, but are not limited to, Instagram, TikTok, Tumblr, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Flickr, WordPress and FourSquare.

 

This helps protect your brand reputation, widens your audience reach, and aligns your online presence with organizational values. A social media policy is an official company document that provides guidelines and requirements for your organization’s social media use. In addition to providing a set of guidelines on behaviors to avoid, you should also help employees understand what they should post to help them build a personal brand. Instead, PR crises and lawsuits usually arise from well-intended yet poorly handled situations, and you might not foresee these scenarios to include them in your social media policy examples. While social media guidelines act as a reference point, social media policies contain rules for posting on social media, the conduct, as well as the consequences for breaking them.

 

If employees talk about work stuff, they should say their views are their own, not the company’s. That means respectful communication, sharing information that’s true, and sticking to professional language on every platform. Companies in all sorts of industries are tightening up social media rules as geopolitical tensions prompt firms to urge staff to stay social media safe. Each employee then receives a notification that they have an engagement request, and they can click the link to view all requests in their personalized Gaggle.

 

Employers must clearly communicate the types of social media behavior that are acceptable and the consequences of violating privacy guidelines. Employers should ensure that they comply with legal standards, such as data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA), when monitoring employees’ online activities. Social media has become an integral part of modern workplaces, offering both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook provide excellent tools for networking, marketing, brand-building, and even customer support.

 

Legal Templates cannot and does not provide legal advice or legal representation. All information, software and services provided on the site are for informational purposes and self-help only and are not intended to be a substitute for a lawyer or professional legal advice. Legaltemplates.net is owned and operated by Resume Technologies Limited, London with offices in London United Kingdom. All accounts created and managed using federal government resources (including time, manpower and funds) to communicate the work of the Army must be registered. Commanders may designate personnel as social media managers who do not require release authority. However, a PAO must provide oversight and approve information prior to release.

 

Clear communication about monitoring practices fosters a culture of trust and accountability, where employees feel respected while also understanding the importance of maintaining professionalism online. An employee might use company-issued devices or internet access to browse social media during work hours. This is often a gray area for many businesses, but a solid social media policy would specify how company resources should be used. For example, if you’re discussing a product or service offered by your company, be sure to provide accurate information and avoid exaggeration. Always double-check facts before posting, and when in doubt, refer to your company’s marketing materials, press releases, or your manager for confirmation. Remember, anything you post online that could be perceived as an official company statement should be reviewed for accuracy.

 

Benefits Of A Corporate Social Media Policy

 

It is not advised to delete an account because you may want to remain in ownership of the handle. Instead, remove all art and make a final post that directs your followers to other social media platforms where you are active and/or a relevant web link and pin the post to the top. In the bio section, a note should be left that indicates that the account is no longer active.

 

Whatever they post on their personal accounts can be a potential risk for your company (e.g. if they share sensitive information). And, more importantly, using social media at work can affect productivity and focus. This is one of the reasons you need a company social media policy – to address limitations on what employees can post and to potentially place restrictions on social media use inside the workplace. In enterprise organizations — especially those in regulated industries — a social media policy is more than a set of rules for posting online. It’s a governance document that defines roles, mitigates legal and compliance risk, and protects brand reputation across multiple markets.

 

To make monitoring easier, many orgs now use AI-powered tools to automatically flag high-risk language, misinformation, complaints, or unapproved claims in real time. The result was a lot of extra work that could have been avoided if the company caught the claims before the DRSCC got involved. For example, as the campaign hashtag “#ShareaCoke” for Coca Cola was created to encourage the sharing of Coca Cola bottles.

 

Examples Of Social Media Policies To Learn From

 

The policy should also specify who is allowed to post as representatives of the company and evolve as the company grows. It’s important to have this document in place to prevent incidents that can’t be undone. Ensure your security settings are maximized and include two-step verification if available by the platform. In order for a Facebook account to operate in an official capacity, the account must be registered and labeled as a “government organization” account. The use of a Facebook profile, community or group page for official purposes would violate the government’s terms of service agreement with Facebook. Private groups, accounts or feeds will NOT be registered on the Army Social Media Directory, the Defense.gov registry and U.S.