Establishing a Social Media Policy

Establishing a Social Media Policy   

After starting a website, getting on to Twitter and then starting a blog, it occurred to me that it was time to develop a social media policy.

Before your eyes glaze over, let’s talk about what a social media policy is.  For some, it can be a series of rules of engagement.  That is a cumbersome approach and does not really provide a good framework to anticipate changes in technology.  For others, it can be a broad general philosophy, but it needs to be focused on being a policy for the use of social media.

It may seem ridiculous to have a social media policy, but now that you are using the written word to express your ideas, you need to be cognizant that all of these media outlets are permanent.  Once you have sent out a tweet or written a blog, it can be re-tweeted, copied and sent out everywhere and will live in perpetuity.  Too avoid bloggers remorse, it is important to spend a little off-line time thinking about what your personal policy will be so that you have a benchmark to measure your behavior.

My personal social media policy is to make sure that what I am writing about is contributing to the dialogue, is engaging, is affirming of others, and that I make no personal attacks.  Remember, that opposing counsel who is making you crazy might just be reading this as well.  Even if you think you have protected your tweets and posts.  Even if you have locked down everything, somehow, somewhere it could still get out.  If you don’t want someone to read what you have written, DON’T PUT IT IN THE INTERNET.  You wouldn’t publish it in the paper and hope that on that particular day certain people will not have time to read that particular edition of the paper.  With RSS feeds and other devices to keep people on top of what they are following, including Google Alerts, it is just ridiculous to think otherwise.

By the way, if I am in a stressful situation, such as a trial or a personal matter, I opt out of social media for a while.  I don’t want to make a mistake.  I write my blog posts off-line in the evening, review them in the morning and then post.  As for tweeting or other social media that is more immediate, I just make sure that I am in the right frame of mind.  Does this mean I never disagree with others? Not at all.  It just means that I focus on the issues at hand, and I do not attack others personally.  I save that for my private conversations with my husband! 

If you think about it, a social media policy is simply a social policy.  My parents taught me to leave the world a better place.  This means that I clean up after others in public places, I pick up trash off the street, I offer to help others who appear to be struggling and I make sure that I say nice things.  Why not find something complimentary to say about someone?  What is wrong with commenting on a tie, haircut, nice handwriting?  Say something nice, get started on the right track, begin your conversation with a compliment. 

Of course, I also encourage you to look at other social media policies.  The classic example is the Coca-Cola policy.  And Nate Riggs has posted in his blog on a really great and yet simple social media policy from Mike Brown.  

Finally, make sure your write the social media policy down, even if it is only a few words.  My written policy is “Play Nice.”  Simple.  Complete.  Applies to all settings.  It encompasses playing fairly, taking turns, acknowledging others and avoiding inappropriate comments.  Even a kindergartener can appreciate this social media policy.

So, the next step in my on-line journey was to go off-line and decide how I wanted to best present myself to the world.  In the process, I gained personal insight into my own approach to work and, more importantly, to life, and I know that I am a better person because of this.

How have you defined your own personal social media policy?

Pam is always happy to talk one on one about these ideas, and welcomes your comments here as well.  She is writing a manual to help lawyers pick up and engage in social media, and can also offer consultation services to help your small family law firm improve its on-line marketing.  For more information, feel free to contact her at connectingwithclients@gmail.com, or by calling 614-245-0488.