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In the world of social media, ‘policy’ is the word on everyone’s lips. No sooner have companies figured out that they need to be using social media, that they realise they need to develop a social media policy both to support and maximise the value of their social media activity and to help protect them from online reputation mishaps.
In the last few months, BlueChip has attended conferences, read articles and researched best practice examples of social media dos and don’ts so we can report back to you:
Who got it wrong?
Linfox is an example of a business that, in the absence of a social media policy, landed itself in trouble with Fair Work Australia (FWA). Following some ‘abusive’ comments made on personal social media channels about bosses, Linfox abruptly dismissed the employee responsible. However, when the employee brought the dismissal to FWA, it deemed that ‘In the current electronic age, this [lack of policy] is not sufficient and many large companies have published detailed social media policies and taken pains to acquaint their employees with those policies”. The employee was subsequently reinstated.
Most businesses want to be thorough and address any potential issues, however, there is also the other extreme of those who go too far, as the Commonwealth Bank found out. In its two-page social media policy document, the bank threatened employees with disciplinary action, including dismissal, if they did not report criticism of the bank made by others on social media channels, including Facebook.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) demanded the suspension of the policy, accusing the bank of ‘trying to restrict freedom of expression’. The social media policy achieved coverage in theAustralian, the AFR and other media outlets, but for all the wrong reasons.
According to media reports, the bank has since retreated from this aspect of the policy.
Who got it right?
As BlueChip has said before, there are no ‘experts’ in social media, just those who have more experience than others. On this point, we have not come across the perfect social media policy. However, the ABC and Best Buy policies have both been cited by commentators as best practice.
While a lot of good policy is about common sense and there are certainly ‘musts to include’ in your social media policy, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. It is important for a social media policy to reflect other policies and procedures within your business as well as the guidelines governing how you use various social media channels. Check out the Front Row article for some tips we’ve picked up. To find out more about social media policy, or to create one for your business, contact social@bluechipcommunciation.com.au.
