Federal Government Releases Guidelines for Secure use of Social Media by Federal Departments.

The Federal Government has released a document outlining guidelines for all Federal Departments addressing the management of Social media. This is a good outline for many companies in industry to follow as well.

Commentary on Social Media and Social Networking

The effect on business and personal communications of Social Networking has been rapid and dramatic with the use of e-mail falling as much as 50% in favor of real-time communications via Social Media tools.

Social Media are the tools used to communicate; At the moment these include Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Plaxo, LinkedIn and many more.

Networking etiquette is emerging as a real issue. Don't assume anything, as many of us today do not seem to exercise simple face-to-face etiquette, but none the less is time for think before you post. This is a very nice article from MSNBC.

Social Networking Policies Vary by Company, Job & Objective

There is so much going on regarding the business aspects of social media that this is a great example of technology moving faster than business. With business in a hurry to catch up, you can only imagine the problems that are arising!

I have recently been engaged in a number of conversations by business leaders, managers, and Human Resources professionals, all trying to formulate policy as well as determine the appropriate steps to take. Social networking is taking the lead position vacated by e-Mail over the past 12 months. That also means that there is a lot of junk on Twitter and Facebook. Those of us who are in the social networking realm are also getting very tired of it and ready to move on. At the end of the day I do not really care what you had for breakfast, or that you are headed to the gym. Yet, why did I join Facebook to begin with? Why did I ask to be your friend? Social media is a place to converse with those you love, those you like and avoid those you are less excited to communicate with (how was that for politically correct?) There must be personal Facebook friends and professional friends. I, like many others, have considered maintaining two sites, one for friends and family, one for business associates. But, then I would have to do the same for Twitter as I have followers there who fall into the same categories. At the end of the day, that is just too much work!!!

New York-based freelance journalist Katti Gray reported in a recent article that Alabama Power, a public utility, is a good example of a company that has found that business contacts were regularly contacting them and communicating via Social Network sites such as Facebook. Like what happened with e-Mail a few years ago, management quickly lost control of the communication processes and had to move quickly to build good workflow processes to include Social Media.

Alabama Power's executives’ view social networking sites as potentially beneficial, that social media could not be ignored, and that some type of proactive policy was needed. Alabama Power informed its entire workforce that frequenting Facebook and Twitter during work hours would be allowed, but only as a work-related activity. The company however elected to blocked access to some more socially controversial sites such as MySpace.

Alabama Power managers have so far elected to avoid more stringent policies and to monitor activity for a period of time to see how it evolves. Hopefully common sense will rule the day - I am not betting on that in all cases, but agree that in most cases people are responsible enough to not to communicate information that they should not. Perhaps the mantra should be "Do nothing to harm the company."

According to Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute of Columbus, Ohio, "In an era when that basic code of conduct can be subsumed by a swell of enticements to surf the web, posting words and pictures and, sometimes, information that is best kept offline, it becomes increasingly important that companies establish and make unequivocally clear their rules on social networking." I would whole heartedly agree!

“Companies need to really be proactive,” said Flynn, whose organization, with the American Management Association, will release results of their 2009 survey of corporate electronic policies and procedures this month. Some businesses have social networking pages and encourage use of Twitter for business reasons, she told SHRM Online, while others do not. “But even if you are not formally engaged in those forms of communications, you still need employees to know what are the rules governing that activity.” You might consider the following steps to establish policies on social networking published by SHRM Online:

Get fully informed about the various social networking venues, their thrust and theme, successes and foibles.
Identify the kinds of social networking conduct by employees that your company wants to regulate.
Decide the level at which some sites will be filtered or blocked by your company’s computer network.
Determine the job categories that have inherent, appropriate workplace uses for social networking and grant access to social networks to workers in those groups only.
Craft a clear, concise policy that can withstand legal scrutiny.
Ensure that employees read and sign the policy.
Update the policy annually, based upon policy reviews conducted jointly by HR and other corporate managers, employment lawyers and other experts.
Make sure managers buy into the policy, and communicate it through multiple channels.

As I continue my research, talk with Human Research leaders across the country, and begin formulating guidance for my clients as well as seminar attendees, I will post more policy and procedure examples. In the mean time, IBM’s social computing guidelines offer another example of how to treat social networking in your organization and is a very good place to begin formulating your company's policy.

Sample Social Networking Policy submitted by one of my seminar attendees as what his company is using.

Social Networking Policy

Social Networking in this context is participation in social networking sites, including, but not limited to, Twitter, Friend Feed, Plaxo, Linkedin, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Web forums, Blogs, etc. Unless you are engaging in social networking for the specific purpose of promoting the company, as approved by your supervisor, social networking is deemed a personal activity and you are prohibited from participation in social networking during working time and from listing the company name on such sites. If you have approval to participate in such sites and thus allowed to advertise your association with the company, you take on the responsibility for representing the company in a professional manner. The absence of, or lack of explicit reference to a specific site does not limit the extent of the application of this policy. Where no policy or guideline exist, you should use your professional judgment and take the most prudent action possible. Consult with your manager or supervisor if you are uncertain. For those authorized to participate in social networking, be aware that most social networking sites have fields in the user profile for work experience, job title, etc. By identifying oneself as an employee of Grabber Construction Products, Inc., you become, to some extent, a representative of our company, and everything you post has the potential to reflect on the company and its image.

Personal blogs should have clear disclaimers that the views expressed by the author in the blog is the author’s alone and do not represent the views of the company. Be clear and write in first person. Make your writing clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of the company.
Information published on your blog(s) should comply with the company’s confidentiality and disclosure of proprietary data policies. This also applies to comments posted on other blogs, forums, and social networking sites.
Be respectful to the company, other employees, customers, vendors, and competitors.
Social media activities should not interfere with work commitments.
Your online presence reflects the company. Be aware that your actions captured via images, posts, or comments can reflect that of our company.
Do not reference or site company customers, partners, or vendors without their express consent.
Respect copyright laws, and reference or cite sources appropriately. Plagiarism applies online as well.
Company logos and trademarks may not be used without written consent.
The overriding rule with participation in social networking is “Do nothing to harm the company.”

Non-compliance with these policies can lead to discipline, up to or including employment termination.

Free Playbook Gives Advice on Using Social Networking for Business

The Guru's in Social Media like my son Justin Spencer, www.spencersem.com, are carefully watching the evolving implementation of Social Media in business and are looking for more creative ways to incorporate Social Networking in business practices. Justin sent me a great link to iblog360i's Playbook. The Playbook is free and may give you some good guidence.

The goals of the Playbook are to:

Provide a framework for establishing a set of clear objectives and strategy when approaching social marketing
Move beyond the checklist approach and offer a filter for evaluating the myriad opportunities and platforms
Encourage thinking of social marketing as an opportunity to have a continuous, valuable exchange with customers
Advance discussions on amplifying marketing results through the integration of social marketing and offline campaigns