Do you worry about what your staff posts on the social networks?
Over the weekend I became aware of a recent situation involving the firing of an employee over comments made on Facebook about her employer.
You Cannot Regulate Trust
As you know, there are many that are trying to cash in on social media, and attorneys are certainly no exception. Over the past year I've read a number of articles written by attorneys about why you need an iron-clad social media privacy policy.
Of course, many of these policies are written by some who may not even regularly use social media themselves. So, they take the approach of focusing on what could go wrong, as opposed to new opportunities that could develop by providing simple guidelines and trusting employees to use good judgment.
Naturally, this plays right to the fears of business owners who are already concerned with what the community at large may have to say about their business on the social Web. Guess what? You can put a social media muzzle on your employees, but they will still talk to their friends.
Thus, if you have to regulate what your employees say, then your business has much bigger problems beyond what may be said on social media.
The National Labor Relations Board
The company that fired the employee is now being sued by the National Labor Relations Board – NLRB. Now the Internet is full of commentary on this, to the point that if you Google NLRB and Facebook, virtually every suggested listing points to this particular case, which is finally scheduled to go to trial this week.
In this particular situation, everybody loses, which is often the case when you take actions to restrict negative behavior, as opposed to encouraging positivity. My post yesterday on how Zappos used core values to build a culture that trusted their associates to freely use social media to talk up the good things about the company is a textbook example of doing social media right.
Left to their own devices, human beings tend to do what you tell them to do – AND what you tell them not to do. We've been conditioned since childhood to break the rules. Heck, we even applaud that in the business environment. This is why giving your staff too many restrictive rules is a bad idea.
No News is Not Good
When it comes to social media, no news is not good news. This is why your social networking efforts should be actively creating as much positive conversation about your company as possible. The more descriptive, contextual, and personal data that is being circulated about your company, the more that digital map we know as its social graph will work to your advantage.
Think about it, if you are searching for a restaurant, hotel, or even a book on Amazon, you are looking for information. When there isn't any, you simply move on. Happy employees commenting about their place of business is engaging. You aren't going to get much of that if you handcuff them with too many do's and don'ts.
Furthermore, have you purchased a product on Amazon despite negative reviews? Of course you have. Sometimes you learn more from those edgier comments due to the perspective and context.
Want to learn more?
Here is a list of social media policies and resources. Note that some are referred to as guidelines or philosophies, and that many are just a couple of pages. One of my favorites is The Red Cross, which takes a very realistic and human approach, which is exactly what you would expect from The Red Cross.
Now, that's the kind of authenticity that doesn't need to be regulated.
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Until tomorrow, Jeff
"Many companies have core values, but they don't really commit to them. We believe it's important to come up with values that you can commit too – meaning you're willing to hire and fire based upon them." 
