Lecture notes and presentation slides on social media policies creation. This presentation covers items from objective-setting to samples of well-made social media policies.

1. J A S O N C R U Z / M A Y 2 0 1 4
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
@jsncruz

2. OBJECTIVES & GOALS
@jsncruz

3. KEY OBJECTIVE
The #1 Objective of
Organizations on Social Media:
Creation (or growth) of positive
engagement.
Importance:
1. Engagement must be positive to
contribute to good public perception.
2. Engagement must lead to the
creation (or growth) of conversations
with positive sentiments.
3. A healthy community is talkative,
opinionated, and provides value.
@jsncruz

4. KEY GOALS
The goals of social media
policies have two dimensions:
Growing the community
Growing the conversations
Community Growth
Absolute or relative number of community
members of value for an organization.
Conversation Growth
Absolute or relative number of social
chatter happening within the social
asset(s) of an organization.
@jsncruz

5. STYLE GUIDE
@jsncruz

6. POLICY TONALITY
An organization’s social media policy, in general, need to
communicate to the majority members of the community, reflect the
personality of the organization’s social media or online, and present
information in a manner that is both transparent and with clarity.
Inclusive of the General Public
Consistent with Brand
Honest and Factual
The large majority of an organization’s audience (internal and
external) must be able to understand the policies easily and in
the right context.
A consistent tone of voice across all media touch-points,
especially on social, helps with an organization’s reputation and
its branding.
The organization must define its Terms of Use “on paper” – easily
visible, factual, and based on current existing laws and
regulations (if necessary).
@jsncruz

7. LANGUAGE AND FORMAT
Language
• Layman terms usually work the
best.
• Generally, English is used as the
language for social media
policies, but the community’s
language abilities must have
priority.
• Legal terms may be helpful, but
are best minimized.
Format
• Long-format
• Social media policies in their entirety
may be hosted or published within
an organization’s website or social
media platform (often Facebook, as
a Facebook Note).
• Social media policies are often
easier to consumer when only 1-2
standard pages long.
• Social-format
• Specific items within a policy may be
often be used as reminders or
notices to the community members.
They must be accompanied by a link
to the full document.
@jsncruz

8. ACCESSIBILITY
Access Point
• Published policies should
ideally be accessible to as
many audience members of
the organization’s social media
assets as possible.
• Text-based policies are best,
rather than text on images
(digital image format), as these
can be referenced easier and
has the added benefit of
loading faster than image-
based content.
Differently-abled Access
• It might be a good idea to
create different versions of an
organization’s social media
policy.
• Policies in an audio-format could
prove useful for visually-impaired
community members.
• Video-format policies may also be
useful for community members with
reading difficulties.
@jsncruz

9. CALL-TO-ACTION & HELPFUL LINKS
CTA
• Sometimes, an organization
may ask or request the
community members of its
social media channels to do an
action.
• Actions include, but are not
limited to:
• Save a copy of the social media
policy.
• Suggestion to email an official
account for specific queries.
• Visit the organization’s website.
Helpful Links
• For social media policies where
references are important,
publicly-available laws,
documents, and rules and
regulations (digital versions,
ideally) should always be
included as a list of accessible
links.
• Periodic checking of links are
helpful in case links become
inaccessible or are otherwise
broken.
@jsncruz

10. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
@jsncruz

11. USER GUIDELINES
THE TERMS OF USE
A legitimate Terms of Use document is
legally binding, and may be subject to
change without prior notice.
Common features:
1. Definition of terms.
2. User responsibilities.
3. User rights.
4. Disclaimers.
The User Guidelines, also known as “Terms of Use” are used by
organizations to inform community members or users on the terms they
must agree to when using or accessing the social media asset.
@jsncruz

12. PLATFORM GUIDELINES
MONITORING AND RESPONDING
Each social media platform of an organization may need its own
unique social media policy. As platforms differ in systems, usage, and
content, each platform’s policy must be tailored to its capabilities.
Facebook, Twitter
Instagram, YouTube
Social media policy must be aligned with the comprehensive
Facebook- and Twitter User Guidelines, respectively.
Social media policy must take into account both the
Facebook/Google Terms of Service as well as regulations
regarding media content.
@jsncruz

13. RESPONSE GUIDELINES
SHOULD THE ORGANIZATION ENGAGE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Yes, Engage
• Yes
• Question, inquiry, or comment seem
legitimate and borne out genuine
curiosity.
• Question, inquiry, or comment is “on-
topic” as far as the organization’s
business or responsibility is
concerned.
• If the contact event is an opportunity
to create more valuable
conversations.
• If the contact event is an opportunity
to educate or inform the community
member(s).
• No
• Question, inquiry, or comment is
“trolling” or baiting for a hostile
confrontation.
• Question, inquiry, or comment is
promotional in nature, or is clearly
spam.
• Question, inquiry, or comment may
mislead other audience members
into an illegal or dishonest activity.
No, and Report/Ban
@jsncruz

14. ORGANIZATIONAL
RESPONSES
@jsncruz

15. SAMPLE GUIDELINES
CONVERSATIONS AND RESPONSES
Comment Example Sample Response
General Comment “Wow masarap yan.”
Like the comment.
“” and/or “Thank you so much!”
Branded Question
“Hi, how many persons can share the X-
Size Cake? Yung P499 po.”
“Hi thanks for the inquiry! Up to 10-12 persons
po ang pwede mag-share ng X-Size Cake ng
Brand XYZ. How many attendees will you
have?”
General Question
“Is the chocolate cake ok kung teens
ang pupunta sa party na gagawin ko?”
“From our experience, teens LOVE chocolate
cake! Get two! Sure ubos yan ”
Promo Question
“2 weeks na po at hindi ko pa ma-
claim yung gift pack ko. Ano pong
gagawin ko?”
“Hi, please PM me your full name, contact
details, and address and I’ll help you follow
this up!”
Testimonial “We love Brand XYZ so much!” “Thank you! ”
Detractor
“Ang panget ng lasa ng Brand XYZ!
Mas masarap ang Goldilocks, mas
mura pa!”
“Hi [name], could you tell me which Brand
XYZ product you tried? Maybe you can PM
me some details too  I’d love to help you
any way I can!”
@jsncruz

16. MANAGEMENT
SENTIMENT FLAGGING AND FEEDBACK GUIDES
Positive
Positive, beneficial,
or informative for
the community.
Alert
Negative, often
stemming from single
individual, or a very
small group of
people.
Warning
Negative, coming
from a group, and
often already ‘viral’.
Sometimes already
crossed-over to
mainstream media.
Positive
Acknowledge
Amplify (if necessary)
Observe
Negative
Acknowledge
Communicate
Observe*
Resolve
*If needs more guidance,
escalate immediately.
Damaging
Acknowledge
Hold Communication
Escalate
Observe
@jsncruz

17. COMMUNITY CONDUCT
MANAGEMENT
@jsncruz

18. USER GUIDELINES
DO’S AND DON’TS
Application of Persona on Social Media Policies
Do’s Don’ts
Do remain on-brand (character,
personality, tonality)
Don’t slip into a heavily-
corporate persona
Do encourage a friendly
environment
Don’t alienate through use of
jargon
Do create relevant and
relatable content
Don’t be overly serious and
unemotional (robotic)
Do respond and engage with
community members
Don’t ignore community
members
@jsncruz

19. USER GUIDELINES
LAW ENFORCEMENT
@jsncruz
Importance of Social Media Policies
Protection of the Organization Enforcing of the TOU
Ensure only “on-topic”
conversations occur.
Ensure a healthy space for
conversations.
Allow comment and content
moderation (when needed).
Allow removal of disruptive
individuals (“trolls”).
Allow documented contact
events.
Allow the organization to filter
certain off-topic terms/phrases.

20. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES IN
ACTION
@jsncruz

21. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
INTEL WEBSITE (WEBSITE-BASED)
@jsncruz
What I Like
This social media policy has a long-format one, but for the community member,
there is an easy-to-consume visual version accompanying it.

22. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT (PUBLIC AGENCY)
@jsncruz
What I Like
This social media policy is concise, direct, and tells the community member
virtually all s/he needs to know about how to use the Facebook community.

23. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
ALLERGY PREVENTION PAGE (FOR MOTHERS)
@jsncruz
What I Like
This social media policy is in long-format, but summarized. The disclaimer
highlighted also ensures expectations and limitations are set transparently.

24. DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
Thank you!
For questions and comments:
jsncruz.com/contact/
@jsncruz