The purpose of a Social Media Policy is to provide direction to company employees on the use of social media at work and in personal time. The policy aims to provide a differentiation between an employee representing their company on social media platforms and the personal use of social media.
A Social Media Policy is particularly important to implement if your company uses social media platforms for public relations and marketing. The main objectives of this policy are as follows:
- Communicating appropriate behavior on work or personal social media accounts
- Authorized users on company social media platforms
- Expectations regarding the use of social media in work time
- Preventing and responding to security breaches
- Clear consequences of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour on social media (professional or private) that may negatively impact on the company’s reputation
Lastly, a social media policy should also include direction and clear consequences regarding an employee who uses their private social media to breach a company’s private and confidential information and data.
Use this template to formulate your own Social Media Policy at your workplace: