1. Travis Warren Ron Weikers
WHIPPLEHILL SOFTWARE-LAW.COM
HOW TO DEVELOP A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 101

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7. Policies
v.
Guidelines

9. Personal
v.
Institutional

11. STUDENTS AND PARENTS
- Enrollment Contract
- Behavior Code or Contract
- Honor Code
- AUP - Acceptable Use Policy
- Photo and Video Releases
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12. FACULTY AND STAFF
- Employment Contract
- Behavior Code or Contract
- AUP - Acceptable Use Policy
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13. SITE ADMINISTRATORS
- Guidelines for:
- Parents, Students,
- Staff, Faculty
- Alumni/ae
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14. BIG ITEMS
- Privacy
- Defamation
- Intellectual Property
- Harassment
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15. PRIVACY
- Laws, Rules & Regulations
- Case Law
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16. DEFAMATION
- Opinion
- Stating a fact
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17. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- School Logo, name
- Third Party logos, names,
- Images & Music
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18. FAIR USE
- Sampling
- Educational Purposes
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19. COMMENTARY
- may not initiate or administrate any
social media site (blog, photo or video
gallery, or other internet site) that
takes SCHOOLNAME as its primary
subject matter without written
consent by SCHOOLNAME
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20. DECISION POINTS
- “Posting”
- “Tagging”
- “Friending”
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21. DECISION POINTS
- “Posting” ➡ Student Newspaper
- “Tagging” ➡ Privacy Policy
- “Friending” ➡ Behavior Code
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25. Looking for good examples?
- Private Colleges or Universities
- Summer Camps
- Other Non-Profits

26. http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

27. OPERATING POLICY ON BLOGGING
AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE
SCHOOL respects the right of employees to create and use
personal blogs and social media sites (such as Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter) outside of their work time. Due to the rapid
expansion of both personal and work-related blogging and social
media use, many companies have developed policies on blogging
and social media use to protect themselves and their employees
from liability and negative publicity and also to give users some
useful guidelines for their own protection.

28. ! This document sets forth the Operating Policy of SCHOOL,
and its affiliates, , with regard to the use of blogs, social media
sites and similar online communication channels both during and
after work time. All SCHOOL employees, as a condition of their
employment, commit to observe and be bound by the provisions of
this Operating Policy.
! In accordance with SCHOOL’s Code of Ethics (and Business
Ethics Agreement, if applicable to you) and Employee Guide, your
blogging and usage of social media sites should not interfere with
your job or your responsibilities to SCHOOL, its customers,
vendors, employees or other persons that provide services to
SCHOOL. For this reason, and also because third parties may
attribute to SCHOOL any personal blogging or social media posts
you do using SCHOOL computers and networks, you may not
update or contribute to your personal blog or make personal use of
social media sites during work time.

29. ! As an employee of SCHOOL, you have certain responsibilities to
SCHOOL, its customers, vendors, employees and other persons that
provide services to SCHOOL as detailed below.
1. ! Your personal blog or any personal social media posting you make
is a personal publication and not a SCHOOL publication. If you choose to
identify yourself as a SCHOOL employee, make clear to your readers that
the views you express are yours alone and do not represent the views
and opinions of SCHOOL. At a minimum you should include this
disclaimer in your own blog or personal page on Facebook or other social
media site: “The postings on this site are my own and I take full
responsibility for them. I am not speaking as a representative of my
employer, any company or organization.” Also, all references in your
blogging to your position with SCHOOL or employment status must be
accurate (for example, you may not represent yourself as an active
employee if you are on leave). If you choose to disclose your position with
SCHOOL, please use only the title or description of your position officially
given to you by SCHOOL.

30. ! As an employee of SCHOOL, you have certain responsibilities to
SCHOOL, its customers, vendors, employees and other persons that
provide services to SCHOOL as detailed below.
1. ! Your personal blog or any personal social media posting you make
is a personal publication and not a SCHOOL publication. If you choose to
identify yourself as a SCHOOL employee, make clear to your readers
that the views you express are yours alone and do not represent the
views and opinions of SCHOOL. At a minimum you should include this
disclaimer in your own blog or personal page on Facebook or other social
media site: “The postings on this site are my own and I take full
responsibility for them. I am not speaking as a representative of my
employer, any company or organization.” Also, all references in your
blogging to your position with SCHOOL or employment status must be
accurate (for example, you may not represent yourself as an active
employee if you are on leave). If you choose to disclose your position
with SCHOOL, please use only the title or description of your position
officially given to you by SCHOOL.

31. 2.! From time to time SCHOOL may choose to participate in blogs, social media sites or other online
communications, and you may be asked to participate in such efforts, either by posting on a
SCHOOL-sponsored blog or social media page or posting comments on third parties' blogs. All such
communications may be deemed SCHOOL’s official communications. Therefore, before engaging in
any such activity for work (or for any SCHOOL-sponsored program which you may participate in
outside of work), you must discuss the intended nature and purpose of the blogging generally with
SCHOOL’s Legal Department and Communications Department and follow any additional guidelines
they provide. NOTE: This does NOT mean that all online communications must be submitted for prior
legal and communications review, although this may be required in certain instances (such as those
discussed below). However, the Legal and Communications Departments should be informed in
advance of the goals and context of the intended blogging or social media usage so that they can
assess any risks to SCHOOL which may be involved and work with you to manage those risks
appropriately. (For example, Federal Trade Commission rules require you to identify your employment
or affiliation with SCHOOL if you make posts on third parties' sites to advertise or promote SCHOOL
or our products or services.)
! At a minimum, in work-related online communications, any summary or discussion of the terms or
features of SCHOOL products or services (including, but not limited to, rates, rewards, charitable/
philanthropic matching, minimum payments, etc.) must be pre-approved by SCHOOL’s Legal
Department. If you are in doubt as to what may be appropriate to write, seek advice from SCHOOL’s
Legal or Communications Department. When participating in work-related communications, you must
identify your position or affiliation with SCHOOL. SCHOOL does not take responsibility for any
publication except for those authorized by it.
! In some cases, SCHOOL department managers may wish to permit outside consultants (i.e., non-
employees) to blog in connection with SCHOOL projects on which they are working. The same
requirements and procedures that apply to SCHOOL employees under this Operating Policy shall also
govern consultants' blogging activities on behalf of SCHOOL. SCHOOL managers must advise such
consultants of this Operating Policy and are responsible for ensuring their full compliance with it.

32. 3.! The same principles and standards that apply to your activities in
general, as reflected in SCHOOL’s Code of Ethics (and Business Ethics
Agreement, if applicable to you) and Employee Guide, apply online to
the extent your activities may affect your performance, the performance
of others, or SCHOOL’s business interests. Please bear in mind that
blogs, social media posts and other online publications are potentially in
the public domain, and, along with all blog or social media posts and
other online communications made from SCHOOL computers or
networks, are occasionally reviewed by SCHOOL. You have no
expectation of privacy in any publicly accessible posts or in any posts
(whether public or made on password-only sites) made using SCHOOL
computers or networks. Screenshots or copies of all posts made from
SCHOOL computers or networks may be stored on your hard drive or
otherwise retrievable by SCHOOL. If you wish to keep your personal
online communications private, you should make them using your
computer at home and activate your privacy settings or set up a
password system so that you can carefully control who accesses your
posts.

33. 4.! The following rules apply to BOTH the content of your personal blog or social
media posts (even if you do not identify yourself as a COMPANY employee) AND
the content of your contribution to an official SCHOOL blog, social media page or
other online posting:
a.! Make sure you do not disclose or use information that is confidential or
proprietary to SCHOOL, its customers, vendors, employees, affiliates or other
persons that provide services to SCHOOL. Such information may include
information that is available to you as a SCHOOL employee but that is not public
knowledge; for example: customer information, financial information regarding
SCHOOL or its performance, business projections, upcoming product, service or
program details or timelines, information about SCHOOL’s business or marketing
concepts and strategies, and other types of confidential and proprietary
information.
b.! Do not cite, reference or discuss SCHOOL’s customers, vendors, employees
or other persons that provide services to SCHOOL without their approval.
c.! Do not provide any information about SCHOOL, its business, or its
competitors which is untrue, misleading or deceptive. Do not disparage
SCHOOL’s competitors.

34. d.! Do not use trademarks, copyrighted material, logos or other similar intellectual
property belonging to SCHOOL (in your personal posts), or SCHOOL’s customers or
vendors. If you choose to use trademarks and logos belonging to other third parties, the
following requirements apply:
(1)!Do not use third-party trademarks or logos in any way that attempts (or seems to
attempt) to capitalize on their fame, reputation or familiarity to benefit you or SCHOOL,
that seems to associate you, SCHOOL or the blog or other posting with the trademark
or logo owner, or that seems to suggest any affiliation or endorsement by the owner
(unless the owner's consent has been obtained).
(2)!To avoid complaints, do not use third-party trademarks and logos in connection with
negative or derogatory posts.
(3)!Do not use third-party trademarks and logos in connection with any content that
promotes a revenue-generating product or service (such as a product promotion).
(4)!The following disclaimer must be clearly visible on every page where third-party
trademarks or logos appear and ideally should appear somewhere near the trademarks
or logos. “Third-party trademarks used on this site are the property of their respective
owners, and do not indicate any sponsorship or endorsement of, or affiliation with, “, as
applicable, by such trademark owners.”

35. e.! Do not use expression that would constitute discrimination or
harassment in violation of SCHOOL’s Equal Employment Opportunity
and/or other policies in the Employee Guide, or that may reflect
negatively on SCHOOL and affect its business, such as inflammatory
political, racial or religious content.
! Failure to follow these rules may subject you to disciplinary action (up
to and including termination) and may, in certain cases, depending on
the information provided or on the circumstances, also be a violation of
law resulting in civil or criminal liability.

36. General Writing Guide:
! If you decide to contribute to a blog, social media site or other
online publication, whether for work, or on your own time, please
keep the following guidelines in mind:
1.! Speak in the first person. Don't hide behind anonymity or
attribute your comments to others. This will avoid possible liability
or negative publicity for SCHOOL and will help build the credibility
of your blog or social media presence.
2.! Respect copyright and other intellectual property rights of
others. Beware when providing links to content which may infringe
copyright. Do not post another person's photographs or comments
that were intended to be private without that person's permission.
Also, keep in mind that information posted online remains in the
public domain for a very long time -- protect your own privacy.

37. 3.! Respect your audience and others. Refrain from using ethnic slurs, personal
insults, obscenity, harassment and threats, as well as comments that invade the
privacy of another person or organization. If you are uncomfortable about
something you want to write, particularly if it concerns your job, take a step back
and reconsider it.
4.! Focus on areas with which you are familiar and in which you have some
expertise. This way you will attract more readers who will regard you as a credible
source of information. If you make a mistake, take the high road by correcting it.
5.! If you open your blog or social media page to comments, please keep in mind
that in certain circumstances you may be held responsible for the content of such
comments and should take any necessary precautions to protect yourself.
! SCHOOL may change this Operating Policy from time to time at its discretion.
In such cases, the updated version of this Operating Policy will be made available
on [specify Intranet location, if applicable].