Social media is used widely in business. When done well it can expand a company’s reach well beyond its traditional markets. As with anything, however, it has its downsides, and needs to be carefully managed.

In an effort to control the potential negative impact of social media on the organisation, the BBC has reportedly issued new guidance to staff on social media usage, which will force staff to maintain impartiality.

The new guidance is said to apply to staff whether they are using online platforms professionally or personally, stating: "If your work requires you to maintain your impartiality, don't express a personal opinion on matters of public policy, politics, or 'controversial subjects'."

The BBC said there would be "tougher guidelines for some staff in news, current affairs, factual journalism, senior leadership, and a small number of presenters who have a significant public profile".

However, the BBC reports, the guidance states staff should avoid using disclaimers such as "My views, not the BBC's" in their biographies and profiles, as they provide no defence against personal expressions of opinion.

It also advises staff against using emojis that could reveal an opinion and undercut an otherwise impartial post, and to always assume they are posting publicly even if they have tight security settings.

The guidance states: "Remember that your personal brand on social media is always secondary to your responsibility to the BBC."

The BBC’s approach goes a long way to controlling employees’ personal as well as professional use of social media, which may go further than other organisations need, however it does raise some important issues about social media that need to be managed:

Brand identity

Social media can have both positive and negative effects on your brand identity, and so it is vital that you:

• Maintain your brand identity consistently across channels.
• Treat legal and regulatory sensitivities with awareness.
• Prevent a security breach.
• Prevent a full-blown PR crisis.
• Act quickly if a crisis or breach does happen.
• Be upfront with your employees regarding their own social media responsibilities.
• Encourage your employees to own and amplify your brand’s message.

Negative press – what you can and can’t do

Your social media policy needs to take into account the potential dangers of social media activity and set out rules to avoid negative press.

Employees and employers should be aware that their online behaviour could break defamation, data protection or privacy laws. This can include posting damaging or libelous comments about a company or its products or publishing sensitive commercial data. It also includes someone divulging protected personal data – such as details of salary, political or religious beliefs or disciplinary records.

Employees should particularly be aware that they cannot post photos or videos of clients or other staff without the individual’s express consent, ensuring that the individual is aware that photos will remain on platforms like Facebook for many years.

(Mis)representing the company

Employers should make it clear when employees will be seen as representing the company and what personal views they can express. Some companies, for example, forbid employees from expressing any political views on their company accounts. In addition, an employer should be clear about what it means by defamation and how it expects employees to help protect the company brand.

The social media policy should make it clear to employees that adverse or inappropriate comments about the organisation or managers or colleagues on their personal media accounts, especially when it is clear on their profile that they are an employee, may result in disciplinary action.