By Alexandra Reid

There has been a lot of discussion about the blurring lines between personal and professional use of social media. Many questions have been asked and proposed solutions have been fiercely debated: Should employees be restricted on how they use social media both personally and professionally? Should there be restrictions on how they speak about their employers or places of employment? Should corporate social media accounts be used for personal interaction, and what determines if a conversation has become too personal? Should employees even be allowed to use social media during work hours? What should the ramifications, if any, be if an employee speaks ill of his or her employers or place of employment?

Some of us inmedianauts touched on the subject last week as we discussed how we use our personal Twitter accounts professionally and how our new company Twitter handle – @inmedia – should be managed. Because social media often blurs personal and professional lines and, subsequently, private and public lines, we think it is best to always uphold a professional etiquette in all circumstances where inmedia, and its clients, could be represented.

Whether they lay out specific orders or general guidelines, corporate social media policies are becoming conventional. And it’s not just conventional businesses that are setting standards for their employees’ online behaviour.

Just yesterday, the City of Calgary released a set of guidelines to govern its employees’ social media conduct. According to the Vancouver Sun, Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner warns, “employees writing dodgy comments about their workspace can’t necessarily expect privacy legislation to prevent their employer from using those remarks against them.” The guidelines are meant to instruct employees on how they should behave themselves on city-sponsored social media sites, but they also warn against personal online use. Although the city does not track personal social networking of employees (yet), the move illustrates the lack of any clear boundaries between personal and professional online use and a clear change in the way businesses, and government bodies, approach online behaviour.

As a frequent user and advisor of social media, I can see the tremendous benefits companies can receive by allowing their employees to socialize online, whether that’s through personal accounts on their own time or company accounts during work hours.

To try and bring some clarity to this muddy area, here is a summary of some excellent guidelines from Shift Communications that you can use to find a safe balance between personal and professional social media use:

• Be transparent and state that you work at a company
• Never represent yourself or your company in a false or misleading way
• Post meaningful and respectful comments
• Use common sense and common courtesy
• Stick to your area of expertise and feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on non-confrontational activities at your company
• When disagreeing with others opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a situation online that looks like it is becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do not disengage from the conversation abruptly
• If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the facts straight and have the appropriate permissions
• Never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties your company might be in litigation with
• Never participate in social media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your company or your company’s IP address. Refer all social media activities around crisis topics to PR and/or Legal Affairs Director.
• Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and your company’s confidential information.

Do you agree or disagree with this list? Do you have any additions, or would you remove points from this list? Can you offer answers to the opening questions of this post? Lets discuss.

Photo from: Clipart Of

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