I got inspired to write my own personal social media policy after reading various brands policies via this link on the Social Media Governance site (thanks to @jasonryan for sharing it on Twitter). Companies and brands feel the need to publicise the rules they expect their employees to follow when they use social media, or in reality if they choose to publish anything online. I see the benefits of having a policy and trying to keep some level of coherence in the conversations your brands ambassadors (yes, your employees are brand ambassadors), although most seem to be rules rather than guidelines and don’t actually encourage conversation at all. Social media policies or guidelines should encourage participation and conversation and be there to ensure brand values are upheld and continuity is upheld.
Anyway, this is a work in progress so liable to change and will end up on my ‘about’ page soon.
- I will engage
On Twitter, my blogs, by commenting on other blogs, on Facebook (although not that often anymore), on forums and anywhere else I feel the need, I will engage and converse with those I find interesting, I choose to engage with, who want to listen and want to converse with me. - I will share
On Delicious, Flickr, Digg, Reddit, Twitter, Dopplr (where I am at least as fast as a duck) and many more places. I like to share stuff I find interesting and would love it if you share your interesting stuff with me too. Discovering other peoples interesting content is really important and a great way to find new information. - I will tell the truth
Everything you read/hear from me will be the truth, at least it will be the truth to me at the time I say it, should it become less true as facts emerge please don’t blame me I was only acting on the information at hand. At times I may say something that isn’t strictly true; usually, and if you are so skilled, you will be able to spot this as sarcasm or an attempt at humour. - I will not feed the trolls
Spam, troll comments, purveyors of hate and negativity; I will ignore and most likely delete you where possible. - It’s my opinion
No one elses. Not my clients, my employers, nor my friends, nor my families. This is me, and you get the option to take me or leave me. If at any time I do broadcast someone else’s opinion I will be sure to let you know. - I will debate
At times I may disagree with you. That’s healthy, don’t be upset, I expect you’ll agree or disagree with something I write at some point too. Discussion and debate is good! - I might follow you
If I find you particularly interesting I might elect to follow you around, subscribe to your feeds, check out the stuff you share or connect with you on professional networks. Don’t panic, I’m not a stalker it’s a compliment! - If you follow me
Please play nicely. I welcome all to follow me but please try to ensure we have at least something in common, it could be pretty futile trying to converse with me otherwise. This point goes mainly to brands and sales people; don’t spam me its a conversation I’m looking for not a barrage of brand heavy waffle or a sales pitch. - I might unfollow you
Don’t get offended. Chances are that you either haven’t got enough in common with my interests or that I can’t take the volume of content you produce. If you think neither of these is the case and you don’t spot something in number 8 that sets alarm bells ringing then try talking to me, perhaps I missed something or you never tried to really connect… - I may bore you
I reserve the right to be boring and mundane at times and there’s a good possibility that sometimes you might not like the content I produce or share. That’s fine, just move along, I won’t take offence.