A few weeks ago, I offered to help our Human Resources department create a “Social Media Policy” for my company. While my company didn’t want to impose draconian restrictions on Social Media, HR felt that some rules did have to be created for the good of both the employer and employee. Our head of HR and I spent some time reviewing some other policies as well as discussing the types of things that we wanted to include and how we wanted to present it. We decided that it was important to have guidelines that were clear, yet we didn’t want them to simply say what employees couldn’t do. With a variety of examples in mind, I set out to write something that would be helpful, informative, and clear, yet different and educational in some way. Shown below is the final version of the policy I came up with (with approval from HR). Note, the numbers in brackets are the actual character count as I’m considering publishing this on Twitter. In the spirit of Social Media, specifically Twitter, each sentence or paragraph of these guidelines will be 140 characters or less. [132] When you use social media your actions, writing and content are not only a reflection of you but also the company you work for. [128] There is only one Social Media guideline --> Use common sense![63] Seriously though, there is obviously some "fine print" involved with any guidelines or "rules of conduct." Social Media is no different. [137] First, let's understand what is considered "Social Media." It's Blogs, Forums, Wikis and Social Networks and commenting therein. [129] 7 Social Media Do's - Be Polite, Be Courteous, Be Helpful, Be Conversational, Be [...]