Media Outreach

I just read a blog entitled “Social Policies Will Backfire” written by Jay Deragon and posted on The Relationship Economy’s blog. We’ve previously talked about setting social media guidelines for your church or organization and I thought this was a little bit of a different spin on the topic.

Some pertinent points to consider:

1. Fear is the motivator of control. – When we’re afraid we’re going to lose productivity we rush to conclusions that restricting use of something will help productivity.
2. People are going to continue to communicate with each other even if there are restrictions.
3. Think about influencing more than controlling the use of social media within your organization.

This post offered a useful social media policy, which is:

1. We are concerned about your reputation and ours as it relates to use of all things social. If you want to understand and manage these concerns feel free to attend our “Maintaining yours and our reputation online and off” web cast by clicking here (offer an educational video and guidance from HR).
2. Social technology makes all communications transparent (yours and ours). You are part of and an extension of our public relations. As such if you produce content online think about the image it creates to our collective relations.  Any negative or derogatory remarks, confidential information or images will only hurt you and us. No one wants either of us to be hurt by impressions, images and communications open for the world to see.

Maybe trying to control social media use isn’t what we need to be doing. Maybe accepting it and letting it influence the way we work is something to think about.

What are some ways social media can be used “on the job”- whether in a church or another workplace that can be beneficial?

Photo By: webtreats