Developing a Social Media Policy for a Community Health

Centre… PreambleNovember 5, 2010

What is Social Media?

• Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content."[

Facebook, eh?

• 16 million Canadians spend no less than one hour a day on Facebook

• In the 34 – 44 age group, 67% are parents, 58% use it more than email and 56% use it more than cell phones

• Of 18 – 24 year olds, 82% use it more than email and 49% use it more than cell phones

November 3, 2010 London Free Press

• Canada has the heaviest Facebook profile penetration in the world • Facebook users are making connections with public entities three

times faster than they are with traditional friends.• Research group Nielsen found that Facebook users are 68% more

likely to remember seeing an advertisement if it’s shared by a friend. They were 100% more likely to remember the message in the advertisement and 300% more likely to purchase the product.

• “Facebook is effective word of mouth marketing. And for the very first time you can do it to scale,”

• Starbucks for instance has roughly 2.7 million hits on its corporate website per month whereas its corporate Facebook page gets 16.3 million hits per month.

A Short Video: Did You Know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Why?

“Banning access is not a policy,

it’s a pipe dream.”

Why?

• Many people still have difficulty understanding the full depth and breadth of London InterCommunity Health Centre’s programs / services / mandate.

Why?

• More people will encounter us online than in person and our websites and social media presence will play an increasingly strong role in influencing perceptions of our “brand.”

• (We get about 1300+ unique visitors to our website each month)

Why?

• Participation in online communities can promote better communication with our colleagues, partners, funders, the general public, traditional and non-traditional media and other community stakeholders.

• If we are truly an adaptive organization that is externally focused, we must adopt solutions that help us communicate effectively and efficiently.

What Does our Policy Need to Include?

• We need a social media policy that is informative and provides pragmatic participation guidelines.

• Internal component: guidelines for employees participating in online communities hosted by our agencies or other agencies

• External component: guidelines for individuals posting to our platform

• Basic do’s and don’ts… our code of ethics online

Sample Content

• Clear guidelines about what employees may and may not say

• Branding information

• Rules of engagement

• Transparency

End Result

• A reference document that supports employees in their use of social media and which helps them to communicate our key messages effectively.