This document discusses the need for a social media policy at a community health centre. It notes that social media has become an important way for people to interact and share information online. The document provides statistics on social media use in Canada, particularly on Facebook. It argues that a social media policy is needed to help the public better understand the health centre's services and brand through online engagement. The policy should provide guidelines for both employee and external online posts to present a clear message in an ethical manner.

1. Developing a Social Media
Policy for a Community Health
Centre… Preamble
November 5, 2010

2. What is Social Media?
• Social media are media for social interaction, using
highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.
Social media uses web-based technologies to turn
communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas
Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a
group of Internet-based applications that build on the
ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,
which allows the creation and exchange of user-
generated content."

3. Facebook, eh?
• 16 million Canadians spend no less than one hour
a day on Facebook
• In the 34 – 44 age group, 67% are parents, 58%
use it more than email and 56% use it more than
cell phones
• Of 18 – 24 year olds, 82% use it more than email
and 49% use it more than cell phones

4. November 3, 2010
London Free Press
• Canada has the heaviest Facebook profile penetration in the world
• Facebook users are making connections with public entities three
times faster than they are with traditional friends.
• Research group Nielsen found that Facebook users are 68% more
likely to remember seeing an advertisement if it’s shared by a friend.
They were 100% more likely to remember the message in the
advertisement and 300% more likely to purchase the product.
• “Facebook is effective word of mouth marketing. And for the very
first time you can do it to scale,”
• Starbucks for instance has roughly 2.7 million hits on its corporate
website per month whereas its corporate Facebook page gets 16.3
million hits per month.

5. A Short Video: Did You Know?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

6. Why?
“Banning access to social media
is not a policy,
it’s a pipe dream.”

7. Why?
• Many people still have difficulty
understanding the full depth and breadth
of London InterCommunity Health
Centre’s programs / services / mandate.

8. Why?
• More people will encounter us online than
in person and our websites and social
media presence will play an increasingly
strong role in influencing perceptions of
our “brand.”
• (We get about 1300+ unique visitors to our
website each month)

9. Why?
• Participation in online communities can promote
better communication with our colleagues, partners,
funders, the general public, traditional and non-
traditional media and other community stakeholders.
• If we are truly an adaptive organization that is
externally focused, we must adopt solutions that
help us communicate effectively and efficiently.

10. What Does our Policy
Need to Include?
• We need a social media policy that is informative
and provides pragmatic participation guidelines.
• Internal component: guidelines for employees
participating in online communities hosted by
our agencies or other agencies
• External component: guidelines for individuals
posting to our platform
• Basic do’s and don’ts… our code of ethics online

11. Sample Content
• Clear guidelines about what employees
may and may not say
• Branding information
• Rules of engagement
• Transparency

12. End Result
• A reference document that supports
employees in their use of social media
and which helps them to communicate our
key messages effectively.