This document summarizes key points from a presentation on social media policies for museums. It discusses defining social media, why institutions adopt social media strategies, and popular social media platforms. It emphasizes getting staff onboard with social media use and considering what to include in a policy like expectations, monitoring, and crisis response. The presentation cautions that policies should not restrict protected labor activities and provides examples of effective and problematic social media use from other organizations.

1. Social Media:
Philosophy and Policy
Texas Association of Museums
March 28, 2012
#smpolicy
Catherine Kenyon, Principal
Catherine Kenyon & Associates
@cookwithaview
Mary Beth Tait, Director of Collections & Technology
Dr Pepper Museum, Waco, TX
@marbt

2. What is social media?
• Social media are web or mobile services that
revolve around the participation, interaction and
content distribution among the users themselves.
• Social media are built upon the spread of content
like text, articles, images, podcasts and videos.
• What distinguishes social media is that the
content can be spread to other services.
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3. #smpolicy

4. Why social media?
• Seize the opportunity for your staff
to be the voice of your brand and
institution.
• Social media is a unique opportunity
to speak globally to your expertise.
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5. Social Media Services
• Video sharing services – YouTube, Google Video,
Vimeo
• Photo services – Flickr, Zooomr, Facebook, Instagram
• Documentation and presentation services –
DropBox, Slideshare
• Blogs, micro blogs – Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr,
Twitter
• Bookmarking services – Delicious, Digg, Pinterest
• Location-based networking – Foursquare, Facebook
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6. Get Everyone on Board
• Create an open and welcoming approach to new
technology rather than a restrictive approach.
• Be an advocate for social media in your institution.
• Get beyond the stereotype that social media is a
time waster.
• Empower employees to use social media under the
umbrella of the employee code of conduct and a
social media policy.
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7. Why have a social media policy?
• The line between the personal and the professional sphere
is officially blurred.
• The line between “official” news media and social media is
also officially blurred.
• Institutional information is available from many sources,
some not controlled by you (Yelp, Foursquare).
• Users spread information about brands, programs and
events.
• Employees naturally talk about work online.
• Good news travels fast.
• Bad news travels even faster.
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8. A social media policy may not be
right for every organization
• A separate social media policy at a small
institution may be overkill.
• It depends on staff involvement, both
professionally and personally, online presence of
the institution, desired objectives, etc.
• Some organizations with a robust social media
presence don’t have formal policies.
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9. For example…
Three Little Rules
Beck Tench the Director for Innovation and Technical Enlightenment at
The Museum of Life and Science in Raleigh, NC’s, uses these three rules
when her staff present a new project using social media.
• 1) Yes first. Everyone at the museum has the opportunity to engage in
the museum's online presence if they have the desire to do so.
• 2) If it gives you pause, pause. I am always available to discuss how to
handle situations online (to post or not to post? how to deal with a
certain kind of commenter, etc.)
• 3) Beck will have your back if something goes wrong. If you mess up,
you'll have an advocate in your corner defending your actions. Failure
is often just as valuable as "success.”
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10. A social media policy may not be
right for every organization
• Whereas large institutions may have huge staffs and
an entire department dedicated to online marketing
and PR.
• Museums attached to public or private universities
will be under the larger institution policy and may
have less say in participation or management.
• State run/funded museums will have similar
restrictions. #smpolicy

11. For example…
Considering Social Media
• The social media policy of Tufts University is complex but
welcoming, offering tips, templates, and references to
related policies.
• The Shirley and Alex Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts is
governed by these policies.
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12. What to include in a social media policy
 Think twice, publish once
 Be transparent
 Don’t speak outside your expertise
 Get permission to speak on behalf of the organization
 Don’t post anything you don’t want your mom to read
 If you associate yourself in any way with the
organization, what you say can be used against you.
Period.
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13. What to include in a social media policy
Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon of the National Labor
Relations Act says:
An employer’s policies “should not be so sweeping that they
prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law,
such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among
employees.”
•Your policy can’t be filled with broad generalizations that
restrict labor laws already in place.
•Words like inappropriate, secret, offensive, etc. must be
defined.
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14. What to include in a social media policy
• Common expectations
• Individual employee policy
• Institutional policy
• Definitions
• Monitoring institutional online presence
• Policies and procedures for handling a crisis
• Staff responsibilities
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15. Individual Employee Policy
• Policies regarding personal blogs
 Policy about disclosing personal blogs to management.
 Disclaimer to differentiate the bloggers opinions from the
organization’s.
 Policy about personal blogging during work hours.
 Secrecy and discretion in regards to institutional matters.
• Policies regarding social media
 Policy about using social media services during work hours.
 Secrecy and discretion in regards to institutional matters.
 Policy in regards to Institutional groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
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16. Institutional Policy
• Policies regarding participation in social media
 Who can represent the institution
 What kind of information can be distributed on social
media
 How to handle feedback on staff produced content
• Procedures when institution is mentioned in social media
 Negative comments
 Positive comments
 Unhappy visitors or stakeholders
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17. Crisis Handling
• Policies for crisis handling in social media
 Answer critiques directly
 DO NOT censor the opinions of followers or online visitors
 DO take down posts with excessive violence or vulgar
language
 Define this in your policy
 Use institution’s own channels to answer critiques
 Know when to take legal actions, and when not to
 Know when to have direct contact with social media
services (block a user, etc.)
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18. Monitoring Institutional Online Presence
• Develop a routine to keep informed in regards to
your institution in online media.
 Blog monitoring
 Social media monitoring
 Google/Keyword alerts
• Policies for employees
 Inform staff where and how to report news and
information found online regarding the institution.
 Encourage all staff to help with monitoring online
media.
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19. Who does the work?
• Decide who is responsible for the maintenance of each
service, even if they are not specified in the policy.
 Staff can change more frequently than the policy
• Have a written protocol and chain of responsibility for
content:
 Developing the idea, approval of the idea, and technical
responsibilities
• Take this opportunity to become the expert
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20. Plan for Rapid Change
• Stay current on trends in and out of the museum field.
• Use well researched resources like the NMC’s Horizon
Reports – museum and K-12 editions.
• Join the Museum Computer Network (MCN) or the
Nonprofit Technology Network and attend their annual
meetings.
• Look at what other museums are doing. A few good ones to
watch:
 The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
 The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois
 Powerhouse Museum | Science + design, Sydney Australia
 The Victorian & Albert Museum (UK)
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21. Some Things to Consider
• Companies that promote openness
in social media are much less likely
to become involved in a social media
crisis.
• None of the top 100 companies to
work for block access to social
media.
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22. Some Things to Consider
• Who pays for the hardware associated with managing social media?
 Phone plans
 Apps
 Data usage
• Don’t create a suffocating work environment because of fear of
misrepresentation, low efficiency, etc.
• Beware of the dreaded “Tweet from the Wrong Account” and learn to use
the tools, especially if you are juggling personal and professional
accounts.
• Don’t be afraid of mistakes. People in social media like real people, and
real people make mistakes. They will forgive you as long as it is handled
well.
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23. Cautionary Tales
Try to avoid getting “Dooced.”
According to Urban Dictionary, to get “Dooced” is to
lose your job because of something you wrote on
your website. Dooce is also known as blogger
Heather Armstrong, who was famously fired in
2002 for writing satirical stories about her co-
workers (who all remained anonymous, as did her
place of employment) on her blog dooce.com.
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24. Cautionary Tales
Here is what Heather has to say about her experience:
“In February 2001, I launched dooce.com as a place to write about
pop culture, music, and my life as a single woman. I never expected
more than a couple of dozen people to read it. A year later I was fired
from my job for this website because I had written stories that
included people in my workplace. My advice to you is BE YE NOT
SO STUPID. Never write about work on the Internet unless your boss
knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK
ON THE INTERNET. If you are the boss, however, you should be aware
that when you order Prada online and then talk about it out loud that
you are making it very hard for those around you to take you
seriously.”
Source: dooce.com/about
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25. Cautionary Tales
The Red Cross “Rogue Tweet”
This tweet from Red Cross social media specialist Gloria Huang
was meant for her personal account:
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26. Cautionary Tales
The Red Cross “Rogue Tweet”
The fix and response was light-hearted and apologetic. It
resulted in donation and support from Dogfish Head beer, too!
#smpolicy

27. Resources
• New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report – Museum edition
http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2011-museum-edition
• New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report – K-12 edition
http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project/horizon-reports/horizon-report-k-12-edition
• Online Database of Social Media Policies – includes policies of some of the largest corporations and some
non-profit agencies http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php#axzz1mOAwImkA
• Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy - wiki
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Strategy+--+Table+of+Contents
• Walker Art Center Blog Guidelines http
://newmedia.walkerart.org/nmiwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkerBlogGuidelines
• Why Your Social Media Policy May Be Illegal by Eric Schwartzman
http://socialmediatoday.com/464675/why-your-social-media-policy-may-be-illegal
• Social Media Policy Template Updated to Comply with 2012 National Labor Relations Board Guidance by
Eric Schwartzman http://ericschwartzman.com/pr/schwartzman/social-media-policy-template.aspx
• Dooce.com http://dooce.com/about
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28. Resources
• The Red Cross “Rogue Tweet”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-rogue-tweet_n_824114.html
• Social Media Governance Online Database of Social Media Policies
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php#axzz1mHQwR1vn
•
• Mashable Business “10 Must-Haves for your Social Media Policy”
http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts/
• The Gen Y Guide to Web 2.0 at Work by Sacha Chua
http://sachachua.com/blog/2008/05/the-gen-y-guide-to-web-20-at-work/
• Tweet Freely: Your Social Media Policy and You BY AARON LESTER
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10291:tweet-freely-your-s
• http://www.stopblocking.org/
• http://museums-social-media.wikispaces.com/
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