Chapter five of Share This talks about social media guidelines. They are generally described as a set of rules created by a company that lets employees know what to do and what not to do when utilizing social media to engage fans. Since no two companies are the same, every company has their own set of guidelines.
A company may wonder how to create social media guidelines. The book shares two ways to create guidelines. The first way is to change the guidelines as social media opportunities, as well as risks, are presented. The second way is to establish a clear set of rules from the beginning. Both ways have their benefits. With the first way, social media is constantly changing. It may benefit companies to alter their social media guidelines to reflect these changes. With a clear set of guidelines, employees know from the start what they can and cannot do with social media. This will provide less confusion to the employees.
However, positives comes with negatives. If the guidelines are changed with every change in social media, then the employees are likely to be confused with the guidelines. They will be more likely to be unaware of the guidelines with constant changes. The downside of one clear set of guidelines is the possibility of change. If a huge social media change comes around, it will not allow changes to be made in the guidelines.
A tip that is mentioned in Share This is to revise and update guidelines on a regular basis. I feel that social media guidelines have to reflect any major changes that occur within a company. A set of guidelines from 2005 would be considered outdated in 2013. Companies could determine a period of time, such as two or three years, where they can review the guidelines and revise them if necessary. Whenever the guidelines are changed, the employees should be informed as quickly as possible. Also, they should receive a revised copy of the guidelines, so they know the new rules.
I believe it is a good thing for companies to have a set of social media guidelines. Employees know what they can and cannot post. Everyone is on the same page in regards to social media. Companies can benefit from having clear guidelines that their employees understand.
Over my internship this summer, one of my jobs was to help them figure out some social media guidelines! Which is a lot harder than I thought. They jumped in social media with no plan and no guidelines so quickly that it was hard to work out the big steps to getting it organized. Probably the best thing they could have done was wait to get into social media until they had all that worked out. Would have made my job easier!
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