Social Media Guidelines: The Good, the Bad, but not the Ugly

At the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, we struggle sometimes with the question "To Post or Not to Post." We each have different voices and individual passions; this is what makes blogging interesting and adds a personal touch to the organizational persona (which tends to be clean, dry and sometimes starched).

But we also have immediate reactions that should clearly be caught in our "professional arts manager" filter, whether they are a bit outrageous (reflecting too much rage?) or too accurately reveal our individual vernacular. Take for instance the following repost of an entry by Scarlett Swerdlow for the Americans for the Arts' blog:

All you have to do is google “FedEx Twitter” to understand why some organizations are freaked out about social media.

For those who don’t know, an ad agency rep was on his way to FedEx HQ to discuss social media with the corporation’s worldwide communications division. (FedEx was already a client of this ad agency.) Upon the rep’s arrival in Memphis, Tennessee, he tweeted:

True confession but I'm in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say "I would die if I had to live here!"

A viral poop-storm quickly erupted on the Web.

All this goes to show a lot of organizations are (rightfully) concerned that staff, volunteers, or other representatives will make the organization look like a fool by misrepresenting the brand or sharing too much information.

Recently, Intel released its guidelines for “Intel employees or contractors creating or contributing to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of social media both on and off intel.com.” I love them, and I encourage nonprofits considering social media, but afraid to take the plunge to read them.

My personal favorite:

If it gives you pause, pause. If you’re about to publish something that makes you even the slightest bit uncomfortable, don’t shrug it off and hit ’send.’ Take a minute to review these guidelines and try to figure out what’s bothering you, then fix it. If you’re still unsure, you might want to discuss it with your manager or legal representative. Ultimately, the decision about what you publish is yours—as is the responsibility. So be sure.

Swerdlow ends her post with the question: "Does your organization use social media? If so, do you have guidelines governing their use? What are they? Please let me know what you think."

We also want to know what you think. We all face the social-media-in-the-context-of-professional-communication conundrum. Whether it paralyzes us or inadvertantly encourages us to spill our metaphorical guts depends on how deliberately we enter the blurry new world of the permeable personal/professional membrane.

s. blackman