My social media policy

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and blogs have become an integral part of everyday life for millions of people around the world. Social media is important when it comes to networking with individuals to promote news, services and events, and to look for and establish sources for stories.

There is a fine line between what will be acceptable for a journalist (or anyone else in the journalism/public communications industry) when using his or her own social media networking site. This fine line must be identified as a journalist who is representing an organization must adhere to these guidelines to ensure the reputation of an organization remains credible and unbiased.

First and foremost — you should do nothing that could undermine your credibility with the public, damage an organization's standing as an impartial source of news or otherwise jeopardize the organization's reputation.

• Recognize that everything you write or receive on a social media site is public. Anyone with access to the web can get access to your activity on social media sites. And regardless of how careful you are in trying to keep them separate, in your online activity, your professional life and your personal life overlap. You must remember that your professional life will take precedence in any given environment. You worked to establish a reputable name for yourself, now you must maintain that image.
  

• Use the highest level of privacy tools available to control access to your personal activity when appropriate, but don't let that make you complacent. It's just not that hard for someone to hack those tools and make public what you thought was private. A word of advice to anyone using social networking sites... if it's not okay to say it to your mom, it's probably not okay to say it online. More food for thought: don't say anything you know is inappropriate... ever.
  

• You should conduct yourself in social media forums with an eye to how your behavior or comments might appear if we were called upon to defend them as a news organization. In other words, don't behave any differently online than you would in any other public setting. It is our job to remained unbiased to our audience through our stories and this also applied to our commentaries. We need to remain a credible news source.
  

• While we strongly encourage linking to our organization's website, you may not repost the organization's copyrighted material to social networks without prior permission. For example, it is o.k. to link from your blog or Facebook profile to a story of yours on the organization's site, but you should not copy the full text or audio onto a personal site or Web page. This will only help us maintain the utmost professionalism through our organization and to keep it strictly business.
  

• Journalism should be conducted in the open, regardless of the platform. Just as you would do if you were working offline, you should identify yourself as an organization's journalist when you are working online. If you are acting as an organization's journalist, you must not use a pseudonym or misrepresent who you are. If you are acting in a personal capacity, you may use a screen name if that is allowed by the relevant forum.

• You should always explain to anyone who provides you information online how you intend to use the information you are gathering.

• When possible, clarify and confirm any information you collect online by later interviewing your online sources by phone or in person.

• While widely disseminated and reported, material gathered online can be just as inaccurate or untrustworthy as some material collected or received in more traditional ways. As always, consider and verify the source.

• You must not advocate for political or other polarizing issues online. This extends to joining online groups or using social media in any form (including your Facebook page or a personal blog) to express personal views on a political or other controversial issue that you could not write for the air or post on your organization's website.
  

• Your simple participation in some online groups could be seen to indicate that you endorse their views. Consider whether you can accomplish your purposes by just observing a group's activity, rather than becoming a member. If you do join, be clear that you've done so to seek information or story ideas. And if you "friend" or join a group representing one side of an issue, do so for a group representing the competing viewpoint, when reasonable to do so.

• Realize that social media communities have their own culture, etiquette and norms, and be respectful of them.

• If you are writing about meetings and gatherings at an organization— always ask first if the forum is on or off the record before distributing information or content about it.

And a final caution — when in doubt, consult with your editor.

Source information is copied from: NPR.org (I really liked their social media policy the best. I wanted to mimic a lot of what they stated in their own social media policy because it was very thorough and I felt it touched bases on many areas I would not have thought of on my own. I agreed with much of what they had to say and added my own rules on top of them for further clarification.)