The Social Media

BandwagonWhy HR should jump

Tammy LaPoint-O’Brien: Social Media Maven

MT|SHRM Social Media Pit Crew#TNSHRM13 Conference

Opryland Hotel: September 15, 2013

Social Media

Policies

Ugh!

@TammyLPOB

Welcome

• What is a bandwagon? And why does my company need to jump on it?

• What is this thing called social media?• Should I be worried? How much?• Social Media Policy: you mean I need to

have one?• What should it cover/entail?• Questions/ Comments

What is a Bandwagon?Join a growing movement in support of someone or something, often in an opportunist way, when that movement is seen to have become successful.

The word bandwagon was coined in the USA in the mid 19th century, simply as the name for the wagon that carried a circus band. Phineas T. Barnum, the great showman and circus owner, used the term in 1855 in his unambiguously named autobiography The Life of P.T. Barnum, Written by Himself, 1855…

- http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jump-on-the-bandwagon.html

Why Jump?

Reason• FREE advertising on various

platforms

• Keep up-to-date with trends, customers, and the competition

• Employees are the face of and represent your company.

Need• Save money on marketing/

advertising

• What is being said about your company, who says it, and track competitors

• Gulp! Employees are the face of and represent our company.

What is this thing called Social Media?

Social Media is…As defined by Google: websites and applications used for social networking

Defined by GSA's Office of Citizen Services & Innovative Technologies and Out: Think:

Blogs (e.g., WordPress, Blogger)Social Networks

(e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)Microblogs (e.g., Twitter)

Wikis (e.g., Wikipedia)Video

PodcastsDiscussion Forums

Media/Photo Sharing (e.g., YouTube, Flickr)

-http://www.howto.gov/social-media/social-media-types-http://outthinkgroup.com/tips/the-6-types-of-social-media

Should I be worried?

The top 3 easiest answers

are:

Yes

No

Maybe

Yes, you should be worriedWhy?

Social media is here to stay and your employees are using it 24/7.

How are they projecting the view of your company?

Are they hurting, hindering, or advancing your company’s image?

What are your customer’s impressions? How does it impact your online brand?

What affect does it have internally onyour organization, i.e.employee morale?

No, we have it covered

We’re sure none of ouremployees would say or do

anything improper. We have a policy in place.– Is it enforced?– Is social media monitored

to ensure compliance?

Maybe, what do you mean?

Well, we kinda have a policy. It is an un-

spoken rule or half-heartedly mentioned in the Employee Handbook, does that count?

- how is that working for you?-what effects have you noticed?-do you have it under control?

-do you have metrics on how it has hurt or complimented

your company?

How much should I worry?

That will depend solely on your company and which category you fall into: Yes, No, Depends.

Social media is here to stay: therefore, you can choose to ignore it or get ahead of it.

It is a powerful tool. As in Spiderman, great power comes great responsibility.

Oops, Boo Boos, and Never saw that coming…

Ashley Payne, a school teacher, while on vacation in Europe posted pictures of herself on Faceebook with alcoholic beverages and using an expletive. While her profile was private, the principal became aware and she was fired in 2009. She sued because she was not made aware of her rights as an employee. In 2011 , the courts ruled against her on several grounds.

The selfie — which showed Rivera shirtless in f mirror with a towel around his waist — created an uproar when he tweeted it in July. In a statement to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette over the weekend, Duquesne University said that the photo was "inappropriate and inconsistent" with the Catholic school's values.

Brendan O'Connor, a former employee of Milk Truck, a mobile grilled cheese and milkshake vendor in New York City, was incensed when employees of investment research Glass Lewis & Co. placed a $170 order but failed to tip. O'Connor, who also happens to be a journalist, tweeted out his frustration. Glass Lewis & Co. caught wind of the tweet and an upset representative reached out to Milk Truck. O'Connor was promptly fired, reportedly told by the owner that he "had embarrassed him and the company and that was that." Milk Truck offered its apologies via Twitter to Glass Lewis & Co., which accepted them.

Nicole Crowther was a recurring extra on Glee until she tweeted some

plot spoilers she had heard on set.She was more or less fired via Twitter

by the show's producer, Brad Falchuk, who tweeted in response:

"Hope you're qualified to do something besides work in

entertainment."

A British woman serving jury duty posted details of the case she was serving on. The she wrote, "I don't know which way to go, so I'm holding a poll."An anonymous tip resulted in the woman being immediately dismissed from the jury.

Sister Maria Jesus Galan was asked to leave the Santo Domingo el Real convent in Toledo, Spain, because she was spending too much time on Facebook. Fellow nuns said that her Facebook activity “made life impossible.”This all after she used the computer to digitize the convent's archives and help handle banking over the Internet.

Social Media Policies

What are the basics?

• What should it cover?• How in-depth should it be?• Will employees embrace it?• Should I reach out to the legal

department or seek representation?

• What consequences should be included?

• How can it be monitored?

6 Basic Steps

• How official do you want your Social Media policy to be?

• Define what Social Media is to your company

• Cover protected information, i.e., leaked

• Don’t speak on behalf of the company clause

• Don’t post anonymously on comments

• Outline enforcement guidelines

Questions/Comments

Tammy LaPoint-O’BrienTammy crafts and facilitates seminars for career transition groups, HR professionals and one-on-one coaching, instructing numerous people on how to begin using Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Most recently, she had become an aficionado of Instagram and Pinterest. Website: linkedin.com/in/tammylapointobrien Twitter: @TammyLPOB