What’s in your social media policy?

A balance of coaxing and clear rules can harness employees’ power to promote your brand

There are basically three ways companies can respond to social media: wholeheartedly embrace its potential to do both harm and good, and ask employees to do the same; timidly experiment but remain skeptical and scared; or hide under a rock, hope that social media goes away, and likewise forbid its employees from engaging.

News flash: Social media isn’t going anywhere.

You don’t have to be afraid of social media to create a policy for your company. Though JCrew and The Wall Street Journal came out this year with two examples of relatively strict social media policies for employees, there are plenty of companies whose policies educate rather than dictate.