Should You Ban Facebook at the Office?

Let's face it: Your employees are using Facebook (and Twitter...and LinkedIn...and...) while on the clock. If you're lucky, they're using social media to talk up your business. But that's not always the case.

Don't dash off that e-mail banning Facebook use altogether just yet. Social media can be a great way for your employees to extend your company's brand and engage in a meaningful conversation with your customers. But that doesn't mean some rules of the road aren't in order.

Your Tweeting employees could put your business at risk, inadvertently or not, by misrepresenting it online, says Kevin Beaver, an independent information security consultant with Atlanta-based Principle Logic.

Just over one in three employers had a social media policy drafted and implemented last year, estimates Eric Meyer, an employment lawyer with Dilworth Paxon in Philadelphia. Eric urges every company to create a social media policy. “It's a way to protect you, the employer and your employees by reminding them what is appropriate online behavior." Along with a set of social media rules, Eric recommends including five guidelines in your social media policy:

1. Remind employees to be civil and polite and to use good judgment when they're conversing online.

2. Encourage employees to refrain from making anonymous posts or using pseudeonums. Employees should be transparent about who they are and who they work for.

3. Explain what social media is and give examples. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, message boards and blogs are all social media.

4. Warn employees not to let social media interfere with their job responsibilities.

5. Advise employees to think twice before posting. What they say online can potentially expose them and your business to litigation.

Eric says that most social media policies only need to be one or two pages and shouldn't take more than two hours for an experienced lawyer to create.

Of course, once you have a social media policy in place you’ll need to devise a way to enforce it. Eric cautions employers not to discriminate. Monitor everyone at your company or monitor no one. And because of the ever-changing nature of social media you'll need to review your social media policy every six months to a year to make sure it's still relevant.