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Social Media Policy Proposal

Stephanie Pickering

AET/562

March 27, 2017

Dr. Sean Spear

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University of Delaware

Social Media Policy Proposal

Prepared for

Joe Kempista

Senior Director of IT and Client Support and Services

Prepared by

Stephanie Pickering

IT Social Media Support Specialist

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University of Delaware

Social Media Policy Proposal

Objective
Today social media is accessible from anywhere, work, school, and in the office. Today it is
very important for companies to use social media. Many employees use social media
throughout the day to keep in touch with family, friends and the outside world. Social Media is
an important part of the university and keeping everyone safe while using social media is vital to
the success of the organization and its employees. This proposal will help the university
implement policies for faculty, staff and students to stay safe within the guidelines when using
social media while protecting the university.

Overview
Without hampering employees connections outside the university is a must, there is also a way
to keep everyone within the guidelines of communicating through social media while
representing the university. We are offering a proposal that will help employees stay safe while
interacting on social media. Our policies will introduce and state the proper way for employees
to discuss sensitive subjects and make sure they are within the guideline rules implemented by
the university. Our proposal will teach employees how to communicate while staying within the
guidelines written by the university clearing stating what is expected while using social media
while at work. The proposal will introduce the importance of setting guidelines for employee use
before social media tools are launched with the University. The proposal will also focus on how
employees need to carefully consider the content they share when using social media concerning
the university. The employees will learn how social media can affect their online and in-person
reputation. Following the policies in the proposal employees will take away valuable information
showing them how to use social media responsibly both personally and professionally. Lastly,
our team will show the University the importance of a social media policy and how this will
enhance the professional environment.

Problem
Socialmediaisagreattoolforcollaborationandcommunicationintheworkplace.Socialmedia
canbeusefulwhenpromotingtheuniversity,suchassocialeventsorsharingthenewsandlocal
happenings.Unlesstherearerulesputinplacewhenemployeesareusingsocialmediathings
cangetoutofhandpossiblydamagingtheemployer'sreputation.Allowingsocialmediacanbea
usefulcommunicationtoolwithintheuniversityenvironment,buttheremustbeguidelinesto
helpemployeesunderstandtherearelimitationsastherecanbelegalorethicalissues.

M.Schroeder,H.(2014).Socialmediainbusinessstrategy:thelearninganddevelopmentimplications.
DevelopmentandLearninginOrganizations:AnInternationalJournal,28(6),1215.Doi:10.1108/dlo082014
0060
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Guidelines
Thepolicyguidelineswillshoweachemployeetherepercussionsofthecontentthatthe
individualsharesareaboutsensitiveinformationthatisnotallowedtobespokenoutsidethe
universityorisoflegalorinternaloperationsdesign.Theuniversitymandatesemployeesto
speakfreelywithintheguidelinesandthatiswhatthepolicieswillentail.Thepolicyguidelines
willteacheachemployeehowtousesocialmediawithoutworryingiftheyoverstepthe
boundariestheuniversityhasinplacetofollow.Theguidelineswillempoweremployeeswithout
impactingcareersinanegativemanner.Employeeswilllearnthroughthisproposalwhat
behaviorisacceptableandunacceptablewithintheUniversityenvironment.Oneofthemost
importantguidelineswillbewhatanemployeecansharethesocialmediaspaceandhowthiscan
affectthemanduniversity.

SharingContentwithinthesocialmediaspace
Everyonewantstosharethelatestnewswiththeirfriendsbutdoingsowhileatworkcanharm
thecompanydependingonthecontentthattheemployeeissharing.Employeesmustbeawareof
howtheircontentcomesacrosstoothersandhowthiscanaffecttheuniversity.Onemustnotbe
negative,exchangeconfidentialinformation,suchassharinginformationthatisonlyforthe
employeesoftheuniversity.Employeesneedtoremembertheiraudienceandwhattheyshare.
Knowingwhatshareisimportant,suchasanemployeeneednotsharesensitiveinformation
outsidetheuniversitycommunityisimportant.Whensharingcontent,theemployeemustbe
awarenottocomeacrossasracial,unethical,andreligiousthatcanoffendothers.

Employee'sonlineandinpersonreputation
Onlinereputationiscrucialandsocialmediacanhaveahugeeffectwhenusedincorrectly
possiblyhurtingtheuniversityortheemployees.Puttingpoliciesinplacecanpreventpotential
problemsinthefuture.Theuniversitydoesnotwantanangryemployeeventingtheirfrustrations
onsocialmediasharingnegativeinformationthatcanaffecttheuniversity'sreputation.Behavior
playsanimportantpartofone'sreputation.Ifanemployeesharessomethingonsocialmedia
againstcompanypolicy,thiscanbecausefortermination.2Employeesunderstandthattheir
actionsonsocialmediamayimpactthereputationoftheuniversity.Withsomanycompanies
usingsocialmediatodaythiscanaffecttheemployeefrombeinghiredanywhereelse.
Employersusesocialmediatodaytofindoutabouttheprospectofemployment.Topreventthis
fromhappeningtheremustbewrittenrulesfortheemployeestofollowthroughaworkplace
policy.Thepolicywillsafeguardtheemployeeandtheuniversitiesreputationsinthelongrun.

Accountabilityandresponsibilityuseofsocialmediaintheworkplace
Everyoneisaccountableandresponsiblewhenitcomestosocialmediaintheworkplace.The
universityneedspoliciesinplacetomakesuretheemployeesknowthattheywillbeheld
accountablefortheiractions.Withoutrulesofaccountability,intheend,noonewillbe
responsibleandheldaccountable.Theremustbeobjectiveandgoalssetintoplacetoholdpeople
accountable.Tomakesuresomeoneisresponsiblethepoliciesandproceduresshouldbeaguide
tohelpemployeesunderstandtheirresponsibilities.
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2Eifling,S.(2010).Whenusingsocialmedia,checktheregs.ArkansasBusiness,27(10),1.Retrievedfrom
https://search.proquest.com/docview/220385784?accountid=458

Organizationssocialmediaenvironment
Anindividualemployeeisaffectedbyresponsibleusewithinanorganization'ssociallearning
environmentbyfollowingtheguidelinessetforthbytheuniversity.Thebenefitsusingsocial
mediawithintheuniversityfaroutweighthenegativeaspectswhenutilizedinapositivelight.
Socialmediaintheworkplaceenvironmentcanhelpemployeeslearn.Employeescanusesocial
mediatoshareinformation,collaboratewithothers,nottomentionthesocialbenefitsandthe
useoftechnologyforcommunication.Theuniversitycanharnessitspowertodriveemployees
tobetterperformancewhenusingsocialmedia.

EnhancingOrganizationaldevelopmentenvironment
Thesocialmediapolicywillensuretherearerulessetinplaceforemployeestofollowand
adheretowhenusingsocialmediaintheworkplaceenvironment.Havingasocialmediapolicy
inplacewillprotecttheemployeeandtheuniversity.Intoday'sworkingenvironmentssocial
mediaismoreimportantthanever.Theguidelinescanenhancetheuniversitiesprofessional
developmentforemployees.3Withoutguidelinesitcanbeverydifficultfortheuniversityto
takeappropriateactionsforunrulybehavioronsocialmedia.Thepotentialtonetwork
professionallyisunlimitedreachingotherorganizationsthatwouldnothavebeenpossiblebefore
socialmedia.Reachingaudiencesthatwereimpossiblebeforecanenhanceemployees
communicationwithothersgivingopportunitiesandmeetingnewpeopleoutsidetheuniversity
community.Socialmediacanallowemployeestocommunicatewithotherspromotingand
sharingapositiveenvironmentfortheuniversity.Socialmediacanenableemployeestoengage
withothersintheacademicworldexchangeinformationaboutupcomingeventssuchasalumni
weekend,socialgatherings,andsportingevents.Therearesomanysocialmediasitestodaythat
allowingemployeesasafewaytopromotetheuniversitycanonlybepositive.Withsocialmedia
intheworkplace,thiscanonlyenhancethedaytodaycommunicationandallowemployeesto
reachanarrayofdifferentaudiencestopromoteandgetoutthemessagethatwithoutsocial
mediatheywouldnothavebeenabletoshare.

Conclusion
Finally,byimplementingasocialmediapolicyforemployees,thiscanonlyenhancethedayto
dayworkenvironmentallowingemployeestobecreativeandcollaboratewithothers.Knowing
howtousesocialmediaresponsiblywillempowertheuniversityandtheemployeestoengagein
andoutsidetheuniversitycommunicatingeffectivelywithothers.Allowingemployeestouse
socialmediacanhelpindividualsdevelopprofessionallyandbetterservetheuniversityina
positiveway.Havingsocialmediapolicyinplacewillprotecttheemployeesandtheuniversity
fromanynegativeissuesthatmightariseinthefuture.
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Thankyouforallowingmetopresentmyproposalonwhyimplementingasocialmediapolicyis
extremelyvitalintheuniversitiesworkplaceenvironment.Educatingemployeesonsocialmedia
policywillhelptoprotectagainstanyunforeseenproblemsandavoidinganypotentialrisksthat
canhappenwhenusingsocialmedia.

3PomerantzJ,HankC,SugimotoCR(2015).TheStateofSocialMediaPoliciesinHigherEducation.PLoSONE
10(5):e0127485.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127485