One of my favorite social media news sites, Mashable, had a great post a couple of weeks ago worthy of sharing with our readers.   Sharlyn Lauby, the post author and president of Internal Talent Management (ITM) put together a list of 10 things to consider when creating a social media policy.

Leigh Anne and I try to stay pretty active out in the new social world and we often get asked if we have a social media policy here at ReachForce.  We don’t have one, but as we continue to grow our team we might consider it in the future.

Sharlyn says, “Whether you’re writing your social media policy from the get-go, or letting it develop organically in reaction to situations as they arise, here are 10 things you should definitely consider. These 10 tips will help you steer clear of pitfalls and allow you to focus on what’s important: engaging the customer.”

1. Introduce the purpose of social media for your organization- focus on the things that employees CAN DO rather than what they can’t do.  it’s all about leveraging the positive to get people to engage and bring value to your social media efforts.
2. Be responsible for what you write – Your team needs to take responsibility for what they write, and exercise good judgment and common sense. You’d think this is obvious, but better safe than sorry, right?
3. Be authentic – Include your name and, when appropriate, your company name and your title. People want to interact with other people in the social world, not business (aka sales people).  Here at ReachForce, when we’re participating in the social world, instead of including our ReachForce URL, we include a link back here, to the The B2B Lead.  We figure it’s more comfortable and gives our audience and followers a better snapshot of who we are personally.
4. Consider your audience -When you’re out and about remember that your readers could include current customers, potential customers, as well as current/past/future employees, your boss, your board members, and of course your mom. Consider that before you publish and make sure you aren’t alienating any of those groups.
5. Exercise good judgment – Refrain from comments that can be interpreted as slurs, demeaning, inflammatory, etc.  You’d think this was obvious too but remember if it ends up on the internet someone will find it.
6. Understand the concept of community – The essence of community is the idea that it exists so that you can support others and they, in turn, can support you. You need to learn how to balance personal and professional information, and the important role that transparency plays in building a community.
7. Respect copyrights and fair use – This should be a no-brainer, but just in case: always give people proper credit for their work, and make sure you have the right to use something with attribution before you publish.  i.e. These tips come from Sharlyn Lauby via Mashable.
8. Remember to protect confidential & proprietary info - Transparency doesn’t give employees free rein to share just anything. Common sense here please, it could cost you your job.
   
9. Bring value – share relevant activities or news with your community, fellow bloggers and other social media followers.  Do your customers really care what you had for lunch?  I doubt it.
   
10. Productivity matters – But, your social media usage won’t get you very far if you don’t execute on the core competencies of your business. Remember that in order for your social media endeavors to be successful, you need to find the right balance between social media and other work.

Looking for a sample policy?  IBM has published their social media guidelines publicly for anyone to read. It’s a great policy, though rather long.