Social Media Policy or Accepatble Use Policy (AUP)

The creation of a social media policy can enable a library to outline guidelines and standards for employees to deal with issues that can arise with the public sharing of information and opinions.  Many writers (Charlene, 2009, Krosky, 2009, & Laura, 2011) acknowledge that an issue for the management of organizations is the concern that patrons or employees may make critical comments online, when using social networking tools, that could have a negative impact on  the organization and its public image. The reality is that some employees and patrons are going to make complaints or critical comments either verbally or online and an organization cannot prevent this. 

In her podcast, Charlene Li (2009, The Impact of Social Media in Your Organization) contends that social media offers opportunities for organizations to change the way they interact with users.  Organizations can use social networking tools to monitor the responses of the community, iteratively develop and respond to these complaints, explain policies or take action to improve performance
(Krosky, 2009, and Lauby, 2010, Laura, 2011, p.22). Lauby and Krosky suggest that an organization can use a disclaimer to indicate that the views expressed online are not necessarily those of the library and the policy should encourage employees to state their real name and state that they are expressing a personal opinion in their posts. 

The SLAV website section on policy development provides a link to the National Library of Australia Social Media Policy (SMP). This SMP reads like an arbitrary set of rules that places the onus on employees to be aware of copyright and fair dealing guidelines, defamation and libel laws, when engaging in use of the NLA blog or the Trove forum. In my opinion, the negative tone of this document could discourage employees from participating in these social media forums.

In her blog, Sharyn Lauby (2010,” 10 must- haves for your social media policy”) makes the important point that the document can set a tone that encourages participation by the staff of an organization. Ellysa Krosky’s (2009) notes that a library policy does not need to be a lengthy document, however it should outline some guidelines on how to use the social networking tools wisely. Lauby and Krosky identify some other key points that should be included in a social media policy as: - a statement about the intended purpose and which social media tools are provided, identify the library as the provider and state the professional role of staff on posts. The policy should encourage employees to respect copyright and fair use laws, and not expose private or sensitive information about patrons or employees of the library.

In order to maximize my use of social networking tools, I chose to employ Delicious.com  to bookmark links to these articles, add annotations and then create my own ‘stack’ entitled  “Social Media Policy or AUP?” . The stack also contains links to some examples of social media policies and an "Acceptable Use Policy" which can be viewed from my own portal on this URL : http://delicious.com/stacks/view/OH6aiV

  

Krosky , Ellyssa. (2009) Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy? School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699104.html

Lauby, Sharyn. ( 2010) 10 Must- Haves for your Social Media Policy. In Mashable. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2009.06/02/social-media-policy-musts/

Li, Charlene. 2009). The Impact of Social Media in Your Organization. Retrieved form http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2009/11/charlene-li-the-impact-of-social-media-in-your-organisation.php

Solomon, Laura. (2011). Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide. American library Association. U.S.A.