introduction to social media policies creation
DESCRIPTION
Lecture notes and presentation slides on social media policies creation. This presentation covers items from objective-setting to samples of well-made social media policies.TRANSCRIPT
J A S O N C R U Z / M A Y 2 0 1 4
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
@jsncruz
OBJECTIVES & GOALS
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KEY OBJECTIVE
The #1 Objective of
Organizations on Social Media:
Creation (or growth) of positive
engagement.
Importance:
1. Engagement must be positive to contribute to good public perception.
2. Engagement must lead to the
creation (or growth) of conversations with positive sentiments.
3. A healthy community is talkative, opinionated, and provides value.
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KEY GOALS
The goals of social media
policies have two dimensions:
Growing the community
Growing the conversations
Community Growth Absolute or relative number of community
members of value for an organization.
Conversation Growth Absolute or relative number of social chatter happening within the social
asset(s) of an organization.
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STYLE GUIDE
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POLICY TONALITY
An organization’s social media policy, in general, need to
communicate to the majority members of the community, reflect the
personality of the organization’s social media or online, and present
information in a manner that is both transparent and with clarity.
Inclusive of the General Public
Consistent with Brand
Honest and Factual
The large majority of an organization’s audience (internal and external) must be able to understand the policies easily and in
the right context.
A consistent tone of voice across all media touch-points,
especially on social, helps with an organization’s reputation and its branding.
The organization must define its Terms of Use “on paper” – easily visible, factual, and based on current existing laws and
regulations (if necessary).
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LANGUAGE AND FORMAT
Language
• Layman terms usually work the
best.
• Generally, English is used as the
language for social media
policies, but the community’s
language abilities must have
priority.
• Legal terms may be helpful, but
are best minimized.
Format
• Long-format • Social media policies in their entirety
may be hosted or published within an organization’s website or social media platform (often Facebook, as
a Facebook Note).
• Social media policies are often easier to consumer when only 1-2 standard pages long.
• Social-format • Specific items within a policy may be
often be used as reminders or
notices to the community members. They must be accompanied by a link to the full document.
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ACCESSIBILITY
Access Point
• Published policies should
ideally be accessible to as
many audience members of
the organization’s social media
assets as possible.
• Text-based policies are best,
rather than text on images
(digital image format), as these
can be referenced easier and
has the added benefit of
loading faster than image-
based content.
Differently-abled Access
• It might be a good idea to
create different versions of an
organization’s social media
policy. • Policies in an audio-format could
prove useful for visually-impaired community members.
• Video-format policies may also be useful for community members with reading difficulties.
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CALL-TO-ACTION & HELPFUL LINKS
CTA
• Sometimes, an organization
may ask or request the
community members of its
social media channels to do an
action.
• Actions include, but are not
limited to: • Save a copy of the social media
policy.
• Suggestion to email an official
account for specific queries.
• Visit the organization’s website.
Helpful Links
• For social media policies where
references are important,
publicly-available laws,
documents, and rules and
regulations (digital versions,
ideally) should always be
included as a list of accessible
links.
• Periodic checking of links are
helpful in case links become
inaccessible or are otherwise
broken.
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RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
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USER GUIDELINES THE TERMS OF USE
A legitimate Terms of Use document is legally binding, and may be subject to
change without prior notice.
Common features: 1. Definition of terms. 2. User responsibilities. 3. User rights. 4. Disclaimers.
The User Guidelines, also known as “Terms of Use” are used by
organizations to inform community members or users on the terms they
must agree to when using or accessing the social media asset.
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PLATFORM GUIDELINES MONITORING AND RESPONDING
Each social media platform of an organization may need its own
unique social media policy. As platforms differ in systems, usage, and
content, each platform’s policy must be tailored to its capabilities.
Facebook, Twitter
Instagram, YouTube
Social media policy must be aligned with the comprehensive Facebook- and Twitter User Guidelines, respectively.
Social media policy must take into account both the
Facebook/Google Terms of Service as well as regulations regarding media content.
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RESPONSE GUIDELINES SHOULD THE ORGANIZATION ENGAGE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Yes, Engage
• Yes • Question, inquiry, or comment seem
legitimate and borne out genuine curiosity.
• Question, inquiry, or comment is “on-
topic” as far as the organization’s business or responsibility is concerned.
• If the contact event is an opportunity to create more valuable conversations.
• If the contact event is an opportunity
to educate or inform the community member(s).
• No • Question, inquiry, or comment is
“trolling” or baiting for a hostile confrontation.
• Question, inquiry, or comment is
promotional in nature, or is clearly spam.
• Question, inquiry, or comment may mislead other audience members into an illegal or dishonest activity.
No, and Report/Ban
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ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSES
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SAMPLE GUIDELINES CONVERSATIONS AND RESPONSES
Comment Example Sample Response
General Comment “Wow masarap yan.” Like the comment. “” and/or “Thank you so much!”
Branded Question “Hi, how many persons can share the X-
Size Cake? Yung P499 po.”
“Hi thanks for the inquiry! Up to 10-12 persons
po ang pwede mag-share ng X-Size Cake ng
Brand XYZ. How many attendees will you
have?”
General Question “Is the chocolate cake ok kung teens
ang pupunta sa party na gagawin ko?”
“From our experience, teens LOVE chocolate cake! Get two! Sure ubos yan ”
Promo Question
“2 weeks na po at hindi ko pa ma-
claim yung gift pack ko. Ano pong
gagawin ko?”
“Hi, please PM me your full name, contact
details, and address and I’ll help you follow
this up!”
Testimonial “We love Brand XYZ so much!” “Thank you! ”
Detractor
“Ang panget ng lasa ng Brand XYZ!
Mas masarap ang Goldilocks, mas
mura pa!”
“Hi [name], could you tell me which Brand
XYZ product you tried? Maybe you can PM me some details too I’d love to help you
any way I can!”
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MANAGEMENT SENTIMENT FLAGGING AND FEEDBACK GUIDES
Positive
Positive, beneficial, or informative for the community.
Alert
Negative, often stemming from single individual, or a very small group of people.
Warning
Negative, coming from a group, and often already ‘viral’. Sometimes already crossed-over to mainstream media.
Positive
Acknowledge
Amplify (if necessary)
Observe
Negative
Acknowledge
Communicate
Observe*
Resolve
*If needs more guidance,
escalate immediately.
Damaging
Acknowledge
Hold Communication
Escalate
Observe
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COMMUNITY CONDUCT MANAGEMENT
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USER GUIDELINES DO’S AND DON’TS
Application of Persona on Social Media Policies
Do’s Don’ts
Do remain on-brand (character, personality, tonality)
Don’t slip into a heavily-corporate persona
Do encourage a friendly
environment Don’t alienate through use of
jargon
Do create relevant and relatable content
Don’t be overly serious and unemotional (robotic)
Do respond and engage with community members
Don’t ignore community members
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USER GUIDELINES LAW ENFORCEMENT
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Importance of Social Media Policies
Protection of the Organization Enforcing of the TOU
Ensure only “on-topic” conversations occur.
Ensure a healthy space for conversations.
Allow comment and content moderation (when needed).
Allow removal of disruptive individuals (“trolls”).
Allow documented contact events.
Allow the organization to filter certain off-topic terms/phrases.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES IN ACTION
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SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES INTEL WEBSITE (WEBSITE-BASED)
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What I Like This social media policy has a long-format one, but for the community member,
there is an easy-to-consume visual version accompanying it.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT (PUBLIC AGENCY)
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What I Like This social media policy is concise, direct, and tells the community member virtually all s/he needs to know about how to use the Facebook community.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES ALLERGY PREVENTION PAGE (FOR MOTHERS)
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What I Like This social media policy is in long-format, but summarized. The disclaimer
highlighted also ensures expectations and limitations are set transparently.
DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
Thank you!
For questions and comments:
jsncruz.com/contact/
@jsncruz