By Terrance Barkan
For associations, there are at least three different "classes" of users for which specific social media policies should be developed.
1. Staff
· Senior staff and managers that have a hire/fire authority.
· Staff that might use social media but it is not part of their normal or required activities.
· Staff that are required to use social media as a function of their job responsibilities.
2. Volunteer leaders
· Board and other volunteer leaders on how they are allowed/encouraged/prohibited to use social media in the name of the organization.
3. Members/Users
· Terms of use for ordinary users of your social media platforms, which may include members and non-members, vendors, key stakeholders, etc.
The policies employed will differ depending on the level of risk tolerance, the sensitivity of the underlying content or purpose of the association, and many other factors. For example, staff that have hire/fire authority have to be very careful how social media is used to recruit, manage, or even terminate an employee. This is different for staff members who do not have this level of responsibility; therefore, different policies are required.
I see organizations getting into trouble, especially when they do not have a clearly defined strategy regarding why and how they are using social media. Then, when they realize they need to have at least some form of policies regarding social media use, there is no plan against which to design the policies, or policies are crafted ad hoc to cover everyone.
As social media becomes a true mainstream part of doing business for all organizations, I believe this area will mature to the point that all organizations have developed professional social media and communications plans that are supported by well thought-out policies that apply to the different types of users outlined above.
Terrance Barkan, CAE is chief strategist for SOCIALSTRAT, a social media strategy consultancy. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
