Social Networking Policies for Employees

Social networking is a great way to reach customers, but when a company asks their employees to engage in online communities without clear policy direction, trouble can abound. For eSecurity Planet this month, I take a look at some of the regulations and considerations organizations need to take into account when asking employees to take to Twitter, Facebook, et al.

These days it seems that just about everyone and everything has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and/or blog. Employees that have responsibility for updating or managing the official Starbucks or Walmart Facebook sites or Twitter feeds have probably been carefully instructed on what can and can’t be posted, and readers of the content from these sources are fully aware (or should be!) that they’re consuming information that is controlled, or at least monitored and approved, by Corporate HQ policy.

But what about the policies related to grey areas, like employees that are required to blog or socially network as part of their job? Or independent bloggers and Tweeters that have been given products to review? And how far should corporate policies extend to cover personal blogging and social networking? These are fairly complicated questions, but companies that consider the issues in advance and create clear policies for their employees can save themselves and their employees a lot of headaches.