I recently read the following policy verbiage. It was broken into two categories. Do's and Don'ts.
DO:
1. Follow Appropriate Industry Laws and
Guidelines
2. Be Informed and Interesting – and Listen
3. Always Be Respectful, and Be Polite When
Disagreeing
4. Make Sure You Properly Attribute All Content
5. Be Responsive
6. Use Discretion At All Times
7. Transparency, Honesty, and Integrity Are
Paramount
8. Don't Mix Worlds – Know the Line Between
Professional and Personal
9. Be Authorized and Official
10. Respond to Violations of Standards
DON'T
1. Post material that the Company determines is threatening,
harassing, illegal, obscene, defamatory, libelous,
or hostile towards any individual or entity.
2. Post phone numbers or email addresses of
yourself or any other individual or entity in the
body of your comments.
3. Post material that infringes on the rights of the
Company or any individual or entity,
including privacy, intellectual property or
publication rights. This includes the improper
use of (but is not limited to) images, logos,
videos, content, documents, white papers, etc.
4. Post material that promotes or advertises a
commercial product or solicits business or
membership or financial or other support in any
business, group or organization.
5. Post chain letters, post the same comment
multiple times, or otherwise distribute SPAM.
6. Allow any other individual or entity to use your
identification for posting or viewing comments.
7. Post comments under multiple names or using
another person’s name.
The authors are well-meaning and sincere people. They write well. They tried to keep it simple.
Did you notice the one-side nature of this conversation?
I talk; you listen.Not very social.
And did you notice the tone of the points? To me, it read:
Me: boss; you: employee. Me: adult; you:... not adult.
What if, instead, a social media policy was created by adults and for adults and among ...adults?
It might read like this:
This is our journey.
We will listen with each other.
We will learn together.
We will discover and recognize our strengths together.
We will celebrate our accomplishments as individuals and as an organization.
We will fail. We will stumble. We will make mistakes. Also, individually and collectively.
We will correct our failures and learn from them.
We will inspire each other.
We will create stories we are proud to share in our names.
We will be free to share our journey, our discoveries, our strengths and accomplishments, our failures and our lessons.
Where we share them is our choice. Publicly, privately.Around a water-cooler, in a cab, on a cellphone, with our families over dinner or on any social media site, public and private.
Surely some of you will say This is too idealistic. You have drawn the pendulum too far. You have assumed too much.
Ok.
But what has been gained by...
- creating an adult - child dynamic in our workplaces?
- dumbing down our expectations of each other, of those we lead, of those who lead us?
- by not recognizing our ideals and how we can help each other realize them?
- A jobless recovery?
- A workplace where as little as 15 - 20% of us are emotionally and intellectually engaged in our work?
- a decline in ROA of over 75% for public companies since 1965?
- 17% real unemployment?
- Declining standards of living?
- Jobs with skills required which no one has?
- Cynicism and distrust?
Doing the same and expecting different results is insanity. Yes?
Why not try something different?
Why not try sanity?
Why not try a social media policy for adults only?
Can't hurt.
No, it is not a cure-all. But what would it do for an organization? What could it do?
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