A social media policy is vital to any company, regardless of whether they use social media or not. It provides guidelines and requirements on how your company uses social media, covering your brand’s official channels and helping to prevent any potentially harmful content from being posted. It also covers how your employees use social media, both professionally and personally.
Use our social media policy template below to ensure you don’t miss any important information and outline crucial points for using social media in the workplace.
What Is a Social Media Policy?
A Social Media Policy dictates the types of content employees can post online. The policy should set out the expectations for employees and eliminate any potential confusion. It should include rules regarding posting about the company on personal accounts and which employees are even allowed to access social media at work.
A comprehensive Social Media Policy sets forth who is allowed to post as representatives of the company and whether their writings are restricted to social media posts only or the use of messaging apps built into social media platforms.
Social media policies should evolve as a company grows, objectives change, or as advances in technology dictate. If you don’t have this document in place yet, you should develop one immediately rather than doing it in response to an incident that can’t be undone.
When Should You Use a Social Media Policy?
It would be best to have a Social Media Policy in place when you task employees to advance your brand. It should explain how to write about your company and its products or services and define clearly who is responsible for posting.
You should also have an employee policy in place if your company needs legal protection or is in a position to suffer from bad online reviews or postings. Having one created is about advancing your business and protecting it from harm.
How To Write an Employee Social Media Policy
When crafting your Social Media Policy, use a numbered system that makes the policy easy to follow and easy to refer to during employee training or when they need to refer to its various sections
An effective Social Media Policy contains several different sections explaining goals and expectations, and it can be several pages long. Legal Templates is here to help. Our template covers everything you need, with sections including:
Step 1 – Purpose
This section of our template lays out when employees must follow the policy. This includes when they are managing company accounts and their personal use that affects employees or the company.
Step 2 – Guidelines for Using Social Media on behalf of the Company
These guidelines identify who is responsible for running your company’s social media account. It includes several specific rules about activities such as using proper branding, keeping personal and company social media accounts separate, and only posting verifiable information.
Step 3 – Guidelines for Personal Social Media
This section aims to protect your company from harm if people post about it on social media. It covers items such as proprietary information, negative sentiments about the company, and the company’s right to take disciplinary action.
Step 4 – Ownership of Social Media Contacts
This step makes it clear that your company owns all contacts and their information acquired from social media accounts created on behalf of the company.
Step 5 – Respect and Privacy Rights
Employees are directed to follow the employee handbook in Step 5. It also specifies that employees must follow the social media platforms’ rules and be respectful when posting about the company or anyone related to it, such as clients or other employees.
This section also makes employees aware that they must follow state and federal laws about subjects such as pornography, discrimination, and creating a hostile work environment.
Step 6 – Transparency and Disclosures
Employees are notified in Step 6 about passing on others’ work as their own, honesty, and providing proper credit in the event of being paid or receiving free products or services for posting on social media.
Step 7 – Comment Moderation
This step notifies employees that they are responsible for keeping track of comments on their posts, including deleting forbidden ones, such as sexual or political comments.
Step 8 – Record Keeping
The record-keeping step of your policy directs employees to maintain web records regarding social media platforms in print or electronic format.
Step 9 – Additional Policy
The Additional Policy section of the template is open-ended, allowing you to add any specific information about your company or its services.
Company Social Media Policy Sample
Download our free Social Media Policy template in PDF or Word format below:
Social Media Policy
Social Media Policy FAQs
What Should You Include In a Social Media Policy?
In a Social Media Policy, you should include:
- Information regarding which employees are allowed to use social media and which sites they are allowed to access
- A clear description of which staff members are authorized to speak on behalf of the company
- A thorough review of acceptable conduct, who will oversee employee social media use, and how company rules are enforced
- Security measures that include rules regarding the use of functions such as instant messaging or password strength
- Disclaimers that lay out the difference between employee opinions and company stances
- Guidelines for engagement with others when using an official company account
Is it legal to have a Social Media Policy?
It is legal to have a Social Media Policy for your company, but you must ensure it does not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA includes provisions regarding communication among employees, and its provisions apply to your document.
Maintaining good relationships with your employees and complying with federal regulations are two more important reasons you should use a professionally made template.
What is the purpose of a Social Media Policy?
A Social Media Policy aims to set forth expectations for employees when they use social media, whether they are writing as themselves or as a representative of your company. It sets forth rules and enforcement, and it clarifies who is responsible for the oversight of employees.
A comprehensive policy for employees helps protect your company and the reputations of your employees. It also lays the framework for advancing your company’s goals through positive social media interaction.