'They need to blend elements of employment terms and conditions with an appreciation of social media etiquette,' says Sanders.
That said, a social media policy does not need to be a long, complicated document. Speed MD Stephen Waddington suggests two pages of A4 should be plenty: 'Social media guidelines should cover tone of voice, private versus public, transparency, engagement and risk. It should support the company handbook or code of conduct.'
When constructing your policy, there are many helpful resources online. Armstrong suggests using socialmedia.policytool.net as a starting point.
Many organisations, such as the BBC, Intel and IBM, have published guidelines online, and the CIPR has published and consulted on social media guidelines as part of its working panel on social media, headed up by Brown.
