A recent study found that 54% of businesses prohibit employee social media use completely. There are valid arguments supporting both sides of this debate. We've seen quite a few news stories in recent months about social media policies coming to light. We've seen the topic discussed with regards to the news industry, sports leagues, and more recently, movie studios.
Fears exist. Questions. "How are my employees going to screw things up out there?" The result often ends up coming in the form of strict social media policies that severely limit interactions and engagement. "Here are the things that you can't do."
What fears do you have involving employee social media use? Share your thoughts.
In many cases, these rules are very justified. Amber Naslund made a very good point in an interview with WebProNews at BlogWorld this past weekend though. If you're going to give employees guidelines and tell them how they should not be using social media, you should try balancing that by giving them some ways that they should use it.
In the long run it comes down to what your goals are for social media use, and those goals should influence your policies. When you figure your goals out, you should be able to figure out how you want employees to proceed.