MNG81002 Case Study: Social Media Policy in the Workplace

This case study examines the significance of social media policies within organizations, focusing on the real-world example of Sunshine 100. The analysis delves into the challenges of integrating social media tools, contrasting them with traditional marketing methods and highlighting the importance of employee conduct on social platforms. It explores the potential damage caused by negative employee posts and emphasizes the necessity of a comprehensive social media policy. The study outlines the key components of such a policy, including guidelines on who can speak for the company, conflict resolution strategies, and personal account guidelines. Furthermore, the case study emphasizes the need for legal considerations like credit sources, privacy, and disclaimers. Finally, it includes a communication plan that details how the company will implement and communicate its social media policy to employees, including training and resources to ensure responsible social media use, all with the goal of enhancing stakeholder engagement and maintaining the company's reputation.

Management Communication

Table of Contents
Answer i)....................................................................................................................................3
Answer ii)...................................................................................................................................4
Answer iii)..................................................................................................................................4
Answer iv)..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................6

Answer i)
The introduction of social media tools across the organization can pose significant
challenges, managing which, goes beyond implementing right tools and technologies. When
the comparison of social media with traditional media is taken into consideration, it is
observed that the majority of small businesses struggle to select best methods of marketing
which include either traditional media or social media. The utilization of print advertisements
in newspapers and magazines and other examples include mailboxes, commercials,
television, radio, and such others. In addition, the majority of business invests on developing
website, advertisements of brand name through social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, which are known as social media platforms (Cave, 2016).
When comparison of social media and traditional media is case in point, it is essential to
know what is at stake. The criteria of traditional media are somewhat large and the businesses
are likely to expose to various outlets such as television, radio, magazines, and experiencing
marketing through traditional media channels (Carter, 2019). While considering the benefits
of social media over traditional media, it is also essential to consider the impact of social
media on marketing. Like, a one-way SOS medium, traditional marketing means
broadcasting the message to a number of people through radio or television. Then, it is
expected from the consumers to notice the broadcasted information and get influenced by the
message. In the present context, marketing is more strategic, effective as well as cheaper if
digital marketing ROI is taken into consideration as it makes the investment in social media
highly valuable. The social media marketing is less expensive contrary to the traditional
media price, to approach same number of people and reaching the target audience.
Traditional media utilizes message that are hoped to hit anyone while social media has the
ability to target laser precision. Social media marketing utilizes content to develop trust with
time while traditional marketing emphasizes on forcing the opinion on a purchaser in hope

that their buying behaviour may get influenced if repeated frequently enough. Social media
marketing is considered as a two-way communication medium as, feedback could be received
from customers (Rodriguez, 2019).
Answer ii)
The employees are considered to be as the backbone of an organization and their comments
or behaviour on their social media handles might create huge impact on the identity, image or
reputation of the organization (University of Bristol, 2016). The reason is that, it is displayed
publically and such broader and unintended audiences might make certain specific kind of
perceptions regarding their workplace or organization in which they work. In the case of a
post by an employee of Sunshine 100 on Facebook, did not go well for the company and
became media highlights on the same day. The employees should think before what they are
posting on their social media profiles. It is their ethical responsibility towards their
organization not to disrepute their organization in front of others whether physically or
digitally. The organizations are identified on the basis of the productivity of its employees
and by the attitude and behaviour of the employees. So, there is direct relation between the
expressiveness of employees on their social media accounts and the image of organization in
front of others. When the employees of a specific organization posts negative content on
social media about their organization or something related to the organization, it damages the
reputation of the organization among public and vice versa (O’Connor et al., 2016).
Answer iii)
The social media policy is considered as the code of conduct of a business. A well crafted
social media policy should include defence strategies against security risks and legal issues;

empower employees; and protect brand or business. In addition, social media policy should
also cover;
 Clarification regarding who can speak for a company on social media and there
should be a comprehensive set of guidelines to be followed by the entire
organization. Furthermore, the handling authority should be skilled enough to talk
about the guidelines of business, etiquettes, confidentiality and consequences
(Adonato & Lysak, 2017)
 It should provide a plan for dealing with conflict because conflicts escalate quickly
on social media. In this context, there should be team members responsible for crisis
response, message approval, customer service, PR management, and social
engagement.
 There must be personal account guidelines in social media policy, for which, the
employees need to check their facts, respect law and avoid posting negative things
about the brand or the company. The disclaimer on personal accounts should also be
included that could remind the customers about an employee being an individual
entity and not the spokesperson for the organization.
 Considering various types of potential legal risks associated with social media, social
media policy should cover credit sources, privacy and disclosure procedures,
disclaimers and various regulatory challenges (Fuduric & Mandelli, 2014).
All these points related to social media interaction should be covered under the social media
policy of the company.

Answer iv)
Background
The Social Media Department of the company has developed a policy as to how the
employees of the company will utilize social media as a strategic communication tool to
enhance approach to stakeholders, connect with new audiences and in increasing dialogue
with public regarding its mission (USNRC, 2019). This Communication Plan summarizes
how this policy will be communicated to employees.
All the employees should consider social media as an important strategic communication tool
that can enhance ability to reach new audiences, share information in formats that are easier
to use and to expand the amount of content by organization for general public. Social media
enable us to obtain feedback, engage in public discussions related to our mission and to
correct errors or misconceptions about our activities. The company will implement a phased
roll-out strategy for social media handling that provides for additional training to the
employees for what to do and what not to do on social media accounts.
The company will provide all the employees with the hand-outs and guides to get
acknowledged about the guidelines to be followed while using social media accounts in order
to maintain the reputation of the company.
References
Adonato, A.C. & Lysak, S., 2017. You Can’t Post That!: Social Media Policies in U.S.
Television Newsrooms. Electronic News, 11(2), pp.80-99.
Carter, R., 2019. Your guide to creating a social media policy. [Online] Available at:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-policy/ [Accessed 02 May 2019].

Cave, J., 2016. Digital Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing: Which One Is Better? [Online]
Available at: https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2016/july/digital-marketing-vs-
traditional-marketing [Accessed 02 May 2019].
Fuduric, M. & Mandelli, A., 2014. Communicating social media policies: evaluation of
current practices. Journal of Communication Management, 18(2), pp.159-69.
O’Connor, K.W., Schmidt, G.B. & Drouin, M., 2016. Helping workers understand and follow
social media policies. Business Horizons, 59(2), pp.205-11.
Rodriguez, V., 2019. Social Media vs. Traditional Media – Make the Transition to Digital
Marketing. [Online] Available at: https://uhurunetwork.com/social-media-vs-traditional-
media/ [Accessed 02 May 2019].
University of Bristol, 2016. Social Media Policy. [Online] Available at:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/style-guides/web/policies/legal/social-media/ [Accessed 02 May
2019].
USNRC, 2019. Communication Plan (DRAFT) Social Media Policy Roll Out. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1304/ML13044A750.pdf [Accessed 02 May
2019].