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Does your company have an online policy? Can your employees post at will?

If you don’t have an online policy, it’s probably time to get one! Back in the day of offline media dominance, only journalists had the ability to publish content and reach out to an audience. Journalists working in these channels are subject to editors and have editorial guidelines and training to help them decide what to publish and what is not permissible. For some, there are hefty legal departments available to advise them.

Online Reputation

Contrast this with the individual’s guide to publishing online. ‘Common sense’ is the best ‘advice’ available. This leads us to Eric Schmidt’s (Google CEO) interview in the Telegraph today where he suggested that young people might need to change their names to escape an ‘indiscreet’ online youth. Such a suggestion creates a bit of a stir, but essentially he’s got a point – people can now have enormous amounts of information about them freely available online. While some blogs and forums may be moderated, there tends to be little editing of online content. And crucially, once it’s posted, you can’t take it back. It could be stuck in Google’s index and served up years later – with your name on it or your picture even. For young people in particular, who may have few concerns now about their reputation and their privacy settings on FaceBook now, may find what the internet says‘ about them in years to come, does not tally with the sort of person they want to be perceived as when they go for a job!

So the concept that people need to grasp is that:

• what you put online, may stay online
• the laws of libel apply to the internet
• you can’t hide behind avatars
• you have a reputation and it’s online

Brand Management

Companies also have a reputation to protect and there is a need to have an online policy for employees to ensure that the reputation is not compromised, either directly or by association. On the flip side, a company now needs to monitor what’s being said about it and there are tools available to do this. Google Alerts for example can show all mentions of the brand or company online. Of course, then you may need to address any issues that arise.

But for employees, emphasise that they could be perceived as representing the company when they post online and to bear in mind the following points:

• any form of  communication could be taken as the company view
• consider the context of what’s written, could it be misconstrued out of context
• think about the wording carefully, a flippant or sarcastic tone can come across badly 
• take time, and advice, before responding to negative or critical comments
• ensure that facts are correct before stating
• never insult, a negative attitude reflects poorly on the publisher or poster, rather than recipient
• don’t argue online, take it offline with a phone call perhaps, to establish opinion and maybe reach common ground

Web 2.0 may be about  ‘joining the conversation’,  but as in any dialogue, the articulate and considered contribution is the more valuable (and enjoyable)!