Social Media - The Do's and Don'ts

Social Media. Every Company holds a policy detailing expected behaviours and codes of practice when it comes to social media. You would be a fool not to.  According to the SSSC social media guidance for social service workers video;

 ‘it is expected that eployees will not behave in a way that can bring their suitability to work in social services into question, whether it is in work or outside of work.’

The video states that using social media is not an issue, but you should maintain a high standard of behaviour when using it so as not damage your career.

Professional boundaries are also expected, just as they are when you are in the setting; employees should not befriend service users on their personal social media accounts, this is unprofessional and inappropriate. I would like to say that it is common sense that one would not discuss service users, or work-related topics on their social media, nor would they make inappropriate comments pertaining to work, but unfortunately this has happened in the past and has had to be outlined in company policies so that people are aware of the expected professional conduct when using social media.

There are also policies in place for those, like me, who run their services Facebook page. These policies cover what is appropriate content to post, and highlights the importance of gaining social media consent from service users’ next of kin before posting photographs or content featuring service users.

As outlined in this article;

https://hbr.org/2015/03/how-to-separate-the-personal-and-professional-on-social-media

there is great importance in separating personal and professional on social media. The article suggests that there are various types of social media posters, those who use an Open Strategy who are defined as people who value;

‘transparency and authenticity first and foremost and who post whatever comes to mind’

The article warns that this can be a dangerous way to manage your social media as a professional, which is an honest suggestion, opinions can be damaging and can reflect poorly o you as a person never mind as a professional. It is then suggested that you might consider the Audience Strategy which is when you

‘are careful to keep their professional and personal networks separate’.

There are some social media platforms that can be appropriate for connecting colleagues, such as LinkedIn, but the likes of Snap Chat or FaceBook are not appropriate platforms to use as they focus more on the personal aspect of one’s life. If you do accept friend requests on these platforms from colleagues, then the article does outline another strategy that you might find useful, the Content Strategy, where you only post carefully considered content that projects an image of professionalism.  However, this method does limit the freedom of your own social media and can feel a little restrictive. There are risks that come with all strategies and it seems clear to me as an individual that social media should be kept as a personal outlet and not a professional one. Professionalism should be upheld in the workplace as well as out of it. If you socialise with colleagues out with work then by all means add them to your friends list but other than that you should keep your personal posts exactly that, personal.

This article;

https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2016/apr/07/social-workers-social-media  

explores Social Workers feelings on Social media and highlights the pros and cons of using it. Personally, I believe that a professional in this field could benefit from having two social media accounts. Their personal one which is completely private and reserved only for friends and family. And a professional one used for service users and colleagues. One subject in the article mentioned his intention to design an app to allow service users and service providers to engage online and I think this is a great idea. It could be highly beneficial for service users to be given access to a thread of posts and experiences of other service users and replies or advice from professionals. This could be used to highlight common issues or concerns and explore them as a group, or to help find support in each other.

Especially in this day and age, technology is being used far more regularly as a means of communicating with professional bodies. WhatsApp for instance, I have a WhatsApp group used solely for my son’s football coach to share updates and training schedules with all of his students’ parents, I have a WhatsApp thread with my bank advisor which is used to make appointments and share information of services I might engage with. I have an app created for my daughters’ school to share information and events. It is modern and useful if used in the correct manner and for an appropriate purpose.

I think that social media has two faces, like humans do, a professional one and a private one. My Facebook for instance has a content of pictures of my children, check-ins on days out, holidays or meals, memories or funny moments encountered in my life. My business social media page is full of information on our service, photos of service users, explanations on changes or information for upcoming events. Colleagues, service users and their families and friends are featured on the business page, not my personal page. I manage them both from my phone easily and I keep my professional life and my private life separate.

I took the time to read my companies Social Media Policies and Procedures. The document is applicable to all employees, contractors and workers who have access to the use of Company computer systems and provides clear guidance about acceptable behaviour on social media both at work and outside of work. It offers examples of inappropriate content such as pornography, racial or religious slurs, gender-specific comments, information encouraging criminal skills or terrorism, of materials relating to cults, gambling and illegal drugs. As well as any text or images of other media that could reasonably offend someone on the basis of race, age, sex, religious or political.

It covers personal and privacy safety in regards to your personal social media profiles. It also states that our company finds it inappropriate to have clients or service users as friends on social media. The policy also covers the companies view on using social networking as a business tool.  After reading the social media policy I gained more knowledge of the company’s expectations and reservations regarding their employees use of social media. I also learned what is expected of me as a staff member when using social media in regards to the company and its reputation.

I have been running my companies Facebook page for years now, I was aware of the basic expectations such as refraining from using personal opinions on the site, don’t publish content featuring anyone who does not have social media consent and don’t share confidential information on the platform. The Social Media Policy is something that I have been familiar with for some time now due to this responsibility. The most important aspect of the policy is surrounding social media consent as it is a breach of service users’ confidentiality to share any information or images of them online without consent.

Keeping a divide between personal and professional opinion is also vital when you run social media for your setting, it can be hard to word introductions or caption images and videos without adding your own opinion. You must keep your wording neutral and your introduction must come from the company, not you as an individual. This can be hard when you run your own personal social media pages and it can take some time to become comfortable with switching between personas online.

The social media policy is very straightforward and most of it is just pain common sense but it has been beneficial for me to refresh my memory with it and really delve into the expectations of me as a social media advocate for my company. I currently check and double check all posts to ensure the content is appropriate and permitted.

The guidance regarding conduct on your personal social media platform is vital too and should not be shrugged off, too many times I have seen inappropriate posts regarding people’s workplaces or service users and it does make me, as a member of the audience, question the posters suitability for their role, how you conduct yourself on social media reflects on your employers and can be detrimental to your career. Ask yourself, is it worth it?