Online social networking opportunities—including professional blogs and “microblogs,” communities and forums, wikis, peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, and other channels of online discussion and interactive publishing—are increasingly common. These collaborative and interactive resources can profoundly impact the way that [variable: Covered Organization] employees work, interact, and support each other and the organization.

The collaborative nature of social networking can represent a valid and valuable professional resource, providing [variable: Covered Organization] expert advice, technical knowledge, and innovative deliberation unavailable through internal organizational channels. However, interaction with a broad professional community outside of the [variable: Covered Organization] staff and network can also introduce risks. Employees who participate in social networking channels must interact responsibly and avoid actions that undermine productivity, expose proprietary information, or violate the privacy of [variable: Covered Organization] customers, partners, and employees.

This policy outlines the acceptable and unacceptable uses of social networking channels by [variable: Covered Organization] employees, including guidelines for acceptable and online identity management, community interaction, and information exchange.

All employees, contractors, vendors, volunteers and other personnel who produce manage, or interact with online communities, including professional blogs and “microblogs,” communities and forums, wikis, peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, and other forms of online discussion and interactive publishing.

This policy covers online publishing and communications reference, pertain to, or contribute to [variable: Covered Organization] initiatives. [variable: Covered Organization] respects the rights of employees right to personal privacy outside of the workplace; however, any employee publication, interaction, or online representation that references [variable: Covered Organization] in part or at any time is considered to be covered in its entirety by this policy.

Social networking:

Good practices for social networking are consistent with general rules for professional communications and interactions. Employees are individually responsible for everything they publish to online channels and should exercise good judgment in determining whether the information they release is professional, appropriate, and representative of [variable: Covered Organization].

In general, interactions with online communities or interactive publishing media must:

• Identify the employee by name and organizational role in any communications or publications about [variable: Covered Organization] or its initiatives.
• Be accompanied by a disclaimer that any views expressed are the employee's own and are not endorsed by or necessarily representative of [variable: Covered Organization]
• Provide value in all interactions.
• Adhere to principles of conduct and professionalism that govern other in-person and workplace communications. Do not publish abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, offensive, provocative, promotional, irrelevant, deceptive, or hateful content.
• Comply with conduct guidelines and applicable laws and contractual terms, including:
• [variable: Covered Organization] Code of Conduct
• National copyright and fair use laws
• National and state privacy laws covering the disclosure of personal, proprietary, and health information
• Non-compete and non-disclosure agreements or contracts covering the employee and [variable: Covered Organization]
• National and state financial disclosure laws
• National and state trademark, trade secret, and patent laws

The following types of information may /not/ be disclosed without explicit consent by [variable: organizational department or role]:

• Conversations between employees
• Announcements, documents, discussions, or other information shared in internal meetings
• The names of clients, partners, suppliers, or other employees. It can be acceptable to use a pseudonym or generic description of an entity to illustrate a point or use case, as long as this reference does not by design or inference reveal the true identity of the referent.
• Internal emails, notes, memos, and other interpersonal communications
• Internal documents not specifically marked for external distribution
• Pre-publication drafts of documents ultimately intended for public distribution
• Planning documents, production documents, software code,
• Organizational charts
• Organizational contracts, policies, and other legal documents

The following types of information may be freely disclosed without further authorization:

• Information published on unprotected sections of the [variable: Covered Organization] Web site.
• Information published by the press or other media outlets about [variable: Covered Organization].
• Your own name and role (unless specifically prohibited by your manager or another organizational contract, policy, or guideline).
• Publicly available financial and business information pertaining to [variable: Covered Organization].
• Best-practice knowledge, advice, and general professional insight that does not expose internal operational procedures or imply or disclose any proprietary or otherwise protected information.

Forums, file-sharing sites, portals, blogs, and other social networking channels that are officially operated and managed by [variable: Covered Organization] are subject to special rules and, in some cases, exemptions. Divisions or individuals that establish their own social networking channels to interact with customers, media, and other professional contributors must:

• Attain managerial approval for the channel itself and all published content.
• Establish terms and conditions for participation in the channel, including acceptable use, authorization for use, regular content review, and acknowledgement of applicable policies and guidelines.
• Continually review community contributors, contributions, and content and enforce adherence to the organizational code of conduct, as well as community expectations for conduct and information value.
• Adhere to all policies for information protection and acceptable use of networks.
• Avoid ad hoc commitments or responses that might divert organizational resources to unreviewed or unapproved activities.
• Establish and enforce any necessary safeguards to ensure that protected communications and collaborations (e.g., for internal collaboration systems) are protected from unauthorized access and use
• Assign and document staff responsibilities for maintenance, moderation, and management of the channel
• Publish direct contact information for the channel moderator or administrator, including a corporate email address.
• Establish and enforce a maximum response time to community contributions, queries, and comments.
• Establish and enact a content management plan that covers how long information will be online, how and how long channel content will be retained, the review of submitted information, and how community-contributed information will be made available to other community members.
• Establish rules and procedures for moderation, authorization, and anonymous posting.
• Reserve the right to remove any content

Social Networking interactions must adhere to the [variable: Covered Organization] Code of Conduct, and should reflect common-sense principles of constructive professional communications. Employees should:

• Truthfully represent themselves and their work, but protect their own privacy. Employees should not divulge details that would not normally be shared with colleagues or strangers.
• Be considerate of others and conscious of the potentially global perspective that is often represented in social networking.
• Keep internal communications internal, even when communicating with colleagues or other [variable: Covered Organization] employees.
• Keep interactions professionally relevant. Avoid discussions of religion, partisan politics, extra-professional groups or causes, personal activities, and lifestyle topics that might lead to unproductive debates or detract from other community members' ability to share professional knowledge. In particular, do not use the [variable: Covered Organization] name to endorse or promote any of the previously mentioned issues.
• Speak as individuals and include a disclaimer, if possible, with any published information that clarifies the information, opinions, advice, etc. are their own and not posted on behalf of [variable: Covered Organization].
• Cite original sources when referencing or leveraging someone else's work. If possible, a link to an online reference for the source work should be included.
• Respect the difference between professional enthusiasm and overt marketing or promotion. Employees should never promote [variable: Covered Organization] product, services, or events in forums where such promotion is culturally discouraged.
• Avoid predictions and forward-looking statements about [variable: Covered Organization] financial performance, strategic decisions, leadership or ownership transitions, and business activities.
• Keep communications positive and productive.

Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action which may include performance sanctions; termination for employees and temporaries; a termination of employment relations in the case of contractors or consultants; dismissal for interns and volunteers; or suspension or expulsion in the case of a student. Additionally, individuals are subject to restriction or suspension of [variable: Covered Organization] email privileges, as well as civil and criminal prosecution.

This policy is supported by the following rules, standards, and procedures:

• [/variable: internal documents (with links, if available)/]
• [/variable: external documents (with links, if available)/]

• [variable: title (not personal name) of role responsible for overseeing this procedure]
• [variable: Contact information of office responsible for overseeing this procedure]

[variable: Policy publication date]

• [variable: Policy revision date]

• 18 USC 90 §§ 1831-1839 Economic Espionage Act of 1996
• Uniform Trade Secrets Act
• US Copyright Law
• 47 USC 222 Privacy of Customer Information
• 18 USC 1905 Disclosure of Confidential Information

• Australian Government Circular 2008/8: Interim protocols for online media participation
• BBC Editorial Guidelines for personal use of Social Networking and other third party websites
• United States Airforce "New Media and the Air Force" (PDF)
• United States Navy memorandum "Web 2.0 - Utilizing New Web Tools" (PDF)
• Harvard Law School Blogs Terms of Use
• IBM Social Computing Guidelines
• Dell's Online Communication Policy
• Intel Social Media Guidelines