Social Media’s Possible Pitfalls

SETTING CLEAR COMPANY POLICY
Creating and adhering to a clear, concise company policy for social media can also help avoid the wrong kind of blurring between personal and professional lines, overexposure, embarrassing gaffes, and vicarious liability.

Long says it’s important to ask questions to determine if social media is right for your company and employees. “We recommend first asking the five Ws: Who is your audience? Why would social media be a successful channel to reach this audience? Where would you target them? What type of quality content can you offer? When would your team interact with followers in order to maintain activity?” Long believes answering these questions should help in not only developing an effective social media marketing plan, but also in specifying how it should be used and by whom.

“An additional piece of advice is to have a comprehensive social media plan prior to creating accounts,” advises Stevens. “It should be a part of the overall marketing- communications-public relations-digital plan for the organization.”

Both Intel and IBM have been widely praised for their social media plans, designed ­to protect the companies from public embarrassment and litigation while providing a fun forum for employees. Examples from IBM’s “Social Computing Guidelines” offer clear guidelines on what should and should not be part of posting, while encouraging employees to express themselves and interact creatively on the web—under the aegis of adding value to the company. Moreover, IBM believes it is in everyone’s interest “to be aware of and participate in this sphere of information, interaction, and idea exchange.”

There are multiple references to IBM’s “Business Conduct Guidelines” (a separate document), along with simple caveats such as using good judgment and speaking in the first person; respecting copyright, fair use, and financial disclosure laws as well as confidential and proprietary information; to not ‘pick fights’ and always admit mistakes; and ‘Don’t forget your day job’—to make sure online activities don’t interfere with job responsibilities.

Intel has “3 Rules of Engagement”—Disclose (be transparent, honest, etc.), Protect (don’t reveal secrets or denigrate competition), and Use Common Sense (add value, admit mistakes, don’t make claims). There are also ‘house rules’ for content, following its “The Good, the Bad, but not the Ugly” policy—to allow both positive and negative comments, but never ‘ugly’ or offensive posts against the company, its competitors, products, or employees.

DEALING WITH NEGATIVITY
The pros of social media are pretty simple: inexpensive, far-reaching marketing in seconds. Yet corporate users must also keep in mind that this very same vastness—the world at your fingertips—means there are millions of potential viewers who can comment or respond to posts, and not always in a positive fashion.

“There are individuals on social media who classify themselves as extremists,” cautions Stevens. “Extremists are active on social media and companies need to be aware and have a plan on how to handle posts by them. In our case, very few extremists make posts on our platforms, but we knew going into the social media world that we would first delete the posts, and if they continued, we would then block the person from posting.”