https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Legal Briefs / Werksmans RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

6 Things your Social Media Policy should deal with

6 Things your Social Media Policy should deal with

4th December 2015

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

There are two very good reasons your company should have a social media policy:

  • To protect your company’s brand and reputation

Your employees are inevitably associated with your company (the more senior the employee the closer the link to the company), what they say may damage your company’s brand and/or reputation.

Advertisement
  •  To manage your company’s liability

You cannot always control what your employees say on social media, but you can be vicariously liable for what they said.  This risk can only be limited by having a social media policy.

What should be in a social media policy?

Advertisement
  1. Make it clear who is authorised to speak on behalf of your company in the media and on social media platforms.
  2. Protect the confidentiality of your company’s information, including trade secrets and client information.
  3. Regulate the use of your company’s trade marks.
  4. Clearly state what the company deems acceptable methods for business communications. Social media should not be used for business communications between employees, or employees and clients.  Using social media for business communications blurs the line between business and personal.
  5. Provide guidelines for participation in social media (what is your company’s values and how do you expect your employees’ to behave)
  6. Educate your employees about the risks of:
  • posting defamatory statements;
  • copyright infringements;
  • anti-competitive comments; and
  • discriminatory or offending posts.

Written by Wilmari Strachan, Director, Werksmans Attorneys

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now