Week 3 Posting - Managing Social Media

In response to a response to my blog post that I received from Jennifer Hunt on Blackboard, I decided to do a little research into what would be acceptable to post as an employee of a company.  I wanted to go directly to the source from which I based my Week 2 post from.  I emailed him to find out what his thoughts were on social media in management.  His comments were as follows:

1)      Be smart.  Don’t post any content about current, sensitive, or confidential issues.   Don’t post anything that makes your boss or your senior leadership look like dummies.  And don’t post anything that is going to sound like you aren’t in support of your own company.  The blog is not a place to gripe about your employer!  

2)      Most companies have a social media policy, with a standard statement you have to put somewhere on your blog.   Even if they don’t, you should make one up & put a disclaimer out there.  For example my company requires this line: “the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent ACI’s position, strategy or opinions.”  And you will see that in the ‘about me’ page.

I completely concurred with his feedback.  Just because you may have a differing opinion than those in leadership in your company, I do not believe that it is a bad thing to post, as long as you are respectful of the person/idea/company/etc.  I believe that if professionally written, it can just come across as your own ideas - and not necessarily bashing the person/idea/company/etc.  

Also, I think that is a great idea about having a standard disclaimer that you should put on your social media page.  It doesn't link the company with your thoughts/ideas.

Overall, the key is being smart about what you are writing.  There is no need to bash people or talk down about people.  I believe one can disagree with another person without making it personal.  And, you can also be more general when writing posts (i.e. - not using actual names, etc.).