How to develop a sensible social media policy

What she didn’t have was a social media policy.

“Thirty-five thousand employees and our policy was, ‘Call Christie,'” she told an audience at Ragan Communications’ 2012 Social Media for PR and Communications Conference in Las Vegas.

That may have been OK a few years ago, but things don’t work that way anymore, Berg said. Your company needs a policy that can appease all the parties that impede its becoming a vital part of the organization.

Often those parties—HR, IT, Legal—are represented on the company’s social media task force, which wouldn’t exist, if Berg had her way.

“It’s well intentioned, but it’s usually about 30 people from the company who know nothing about social media,” she said. “They’re slow. They’re redundant.”

Members of task forces generally aren’t open to new ideas, and they hold meetings that accomplish nothing. In their stead, Berg said, there should be social media dictators who set out the rules and policies. That’s unlikely to happen, so you’ve got to figure out ways to help members of the team relax.

HR