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www.notationsonnonprofits.com

ASocialMediaPolicy:BetterToHaveOneNowThanLaterIamdefinitelyafanofemployeesandvolunteersusingsocialmediatofurtheranon-profit’smission.Particularlysincethesuccessofmanyorganization'shasdependedon

the

ability

to

create

an

internet

presence.

However,

while

the

impact

of

websites

suchasFacebookandMySpacehasbeenmostlypositive,withincreasedusecomesincreasedlegalexposure.InordertomitigatethisexposureI'vesuggested,likemanyothers,thatnon-profit'shaveasocialmediapolicyinplace.Bydoingso,notonlyaretheyabletostructurethesocialmediaculturewithintheorganization,buttheyarealsoabletoestablishtheorganization'sstanceincaselitigationensues.Iknow,Iknow.Justlikeanattorneytobeworriedaboutlitigation.Butthereasonweworryaboutitallthetimeisbecauseithappens.Allthetime.

So,ifyouhaven'talreadythoughtaboutasocialmediapolicy,considersomethingsIthinknon-profitorganization'sshouldbeconcernedabout.1.Employeespostingdisparagingremarks.Ithinkwe’veallseenthe“Ihatemyboss”orthe,“TheExecutiveDirectorisaturkey”statusupdates.Andthoughpeopleareentitledtoexercisetheirrighttospeakfreely,thisshouldnotprecludeorganizationsfrommakingitclearthatsuchharassingordisparagingremarkswillnotbetolerated.Remarkslikethiscaneasilygotofar,resultingininaccurateclaims,accusationsandpossiblyadefamationsuit. Especiallyiftheremarkismadeaboutacompetitororaclient.

2.Thedisclosureofconfidentialinformation.Whetherbyaccident,orpurposeful,itiseasierthaneverforsecretstobespilledtothousandsofpeople.Inthelegalworldtherehasbeenahugeincreaseincaseswhereattorneyshaveviolatedattorney-clientprivilege,andjeopardizedcases,behindthingssaidonFacebook.Disclosuredoesn'thavetobeasbluntaspostingthatXnon-profithasXcontractforXamount.Itcouldbeasharmlessassomeonesaying,"Gee,I'mgladwegotthat

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productagreementsewedup."Ifsomeoneknowswhatitistheorganizationdoes,orwhotheydealwith,thatjustmightbeenough.3.Theorganizationsonlinereputation.Thelinebetweenanon-profit anditspeopleisverythin.Moreoftenthannot,whenvolunteersoremployeespostthingstheyareperceivedasrepresentativeseitherspeakingonbehalfofanorganizationorrepresenting anorganizationsmentality.Consequently,sayanemployee'sFacebookorTwitterprofilepicturehasthemwearingXnon-profit'sshirt,andthatemployeemakesaracyordiscriminatoryremark.Thecommunitywilllikelyperceivesuchremarksasanindicationofhowthatnon-profitoperates,whattheycondone,orthewaytheythink.Evenifthepostissomethingthattheorganizationdoesn'tevenadhereto.4.Socialmediapostscanserveasevidenceincourt.ManycourtshavebeguntofindthatFaceBook,MyspaceandTwitterpagescanbeusedasevidenceattrial.Beforeacaseistriedincourt,thereisaphasecalled"Discovery"wherebothsidescompileevidencenecessaryforthemtowinincourt.Inrecentcases,courtshavefoundthatFacebookpagesmaybeusedasevidence,despitesecurityprotectionsthatmaybeinplace.Solet’ssayanemployeeclaimstheywerefiredfordiscriminatoryreasons.Ifasupervisorweretothenpostadiscriminatoryremarkasastatus,thatremarkcouldbeusedinacaseagainsttheorganizationforwrongfultermination.Eveniftheorganizationhadnoknowledgeorthesupervisor’sprofileonlyallowedfriendstoseeit.Forpointersondraftingasocialmediapolicy,Inc.comhasagreatarticle.Ithelpstofirstdeterminewhattypeofsocialmediacultureyouwantyourorganizationtohave.TechSouphasagooddiscussiononhowtorevamporshapethesocialmediaculturewithinanon-profit.Forexamplesofwhatothershavedoneadatabaseofsocialmediapoliciescanbefoundhereandhere. Non-ProfitLawBlogalsolistsresourcesthatnon-profit'scanusewhentryingtodeterminewhatdirectiontheirownpoliciesshouldtakewhileSocialFishdiscussestherisksthatshouldbeconsidered.Forthosewhostillhaven’tjumpedonthesocialmediabandwagon,Beth'sbloghasareallygooddiscussiononthepositiveaspectsofsocialmediaandhownon-profitscanuseittotheiradvantage.Also,notethatthebuckdoesn'tjuststopwithcreatingthepolicy.Oncepoliciesarein

place,

non-profit's

should

designate

an

individual

to

answer

any

questions

employeesmighthaveaboutsomethingtheywanttopost.Someoneshouldalsoberesponsibleforeducatingemployeesonhowsocialmediashouldbeused.Bydoingsonotonlycanyouseetoitthatindividualsadheretothepolicies,butyoucanhelpenhancetheinterfacetimeemployeeshavewiththousandsofpeopletherebymaximizingtheorganizationsimpressions.

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Lastly,realizethatfailuretoadheretopoliciesdoesnotnecessarilymeananon-profitcanterminatesomeone.Peopledoallthetime,butthereisacasecurrentlypendingnowwhereTheNationalLaborRelationsBoardbackedanemployeeallegedlyfiredforcomplainingaboutherbossonFaceBook.Thiscouldpossiblygiveadefinitiveanswerbutonlytimewilltell.Fornow,itsatanorganizationsdiscretion.Also,ifanemployeeweretocomplainaboutnotbeingpaidovertime,theycouldfightterminationbecausethepostrevealsillegalactivity.Inc.comhasagreatarticleonthis here.

ErinMcClartyEsq.2010Allrightsreserved