Why most social media policies have little value

Social media policies are largely wishful thinking. They are there to make the lawyers happy, they exist to take cover behind should the proverbial ever hit the fan.

“Well, it wasn’t my fault, X is clearly in violation of our policy.”

They have as much real use as the disclaimers some companies make their employees stick at the end of email, meaning absolutely none.

Let me say this again: Nada, zilch, nothing, zero.

In this day and age people say what they feel like saying, and no policy on earth can stop them. If the Iranian government can’t stop students from twittering, do you really think that corporate guidelines can stop a disgruntled employee – or even worse, ex-employee – posting what he or she really thinks of you?

That particular horse has bolted a long time ago, all that policies do is trying to close the doors on an empty stable.

There’s only one rule that we insist on at our company: Don’t say anything in writing that you would not say to my face. And that’s all that’s needed, in my opinion.

The following was written as a response to this article over on the Sysomos blog. Posting comments there seems to make them disappear into thin air – nothing got posted – so I am publishing it here. Entertainingly enough, my inability to comment on the original article only strengthens the point I am making.

Sysomos suggests that every company needs a social media policy, a policy that they suggest can be anything from in-depth to succinct.

Allow me to respectfully disagree. Most, if not all, social media policies are little more than wishful thinking. They are there to make the lawyers happy and to deflect criticism, they exist to take cover behind should the proverbial ever hit the fan.

“Whatever happened wasn’t my fault, X is clearly in violation of our policy.”

Used like this they have as much real purpose as the disclaimers some company lawyers insist employees stick to the end of their emails; meaning absolutely none.

Let me say this again: Nada, zilch, nothing, zero.

In this day and age people say what they feel like saying, and no policy on earth can stop them. If the Iranian government can’t stop students from twittering, do you really think that corporate social media guidelines can stop a disgruntled employee – or even worse, ex-employee – posting what he or she really thinks of you?

That particular horse has bolted a long time ago, all that policies do is try to close the doors on an already empty stable.

Far more important than having a social media policy in place is having an empowering employees policy. Make your employees your biggest fans and you’ll never have to worry about negative or inappropriate publishing. As is so often the case, get to the heart of the matter, don’t just mask the symptoms.