Social Media Policy for LITA

Many organizations have policies about how social media can be used by employees. If LITA determines there is a need for a social media policy, these are general guidelines for creating social media policy for LITA members who use social networking/web 2.0 sites to blog, tweet, etc. for LITA. A Social Media policy could be provided to LITA members and non members that blog, twitter, use Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or any other social software account LITA maintains. 

Note: These are Team U suggestions for LITA based on articles found online. This is NOT an official policy of LITA.

Adapted from  “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” at http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts/

Th 1. The policy should focus on what can be done instead of what the users of LITA social media accounts can't do.

2.   2. Be responsible & write as a representative for LITA

• Exercise good judgment and common sense for what you write
• Refrain from comments that can be interpreted as demeaning, inflammatory, etc.
• Remember that you are blogging, tweeting for LITA and that your main audience is ALA members; be sure not to unintentionally alienate any members 

3.    3. Be authentic, identify yourself

• Include your name and, when appropriate, library and your title when you blog, tweet, etc. for LITA

4.    4. Community is important

• LITA’s social media community should be an environment where users feel comfortable sharing, connecting, and receiving help; competition should not be encouraged or emphasized

5.    5. Respect copyright & fair use

• Be sure to give people proper credit for their work, and make sure you have the right to use something with attribution before you publish.

6.    6. Don’t share confidential information

• Members or non-members that use LITA social media accounts should be sure not to share confidential information about their employer, LITA, or ALA and its divisions

   

7.    7. Provide value

• Be sure what you say provides value for ALA members, share information that will be useful to them