Two big questions continue to circulate through the social media space: What is the ROI of Social Media, and Who Owns Social Media. This is the third in a series of 4 posts about my thoughts and philosophy on these topics. My objective is to bring clarity for those seeking greater understanding of how social media will impact their organization.

Despite seeming unrelated, I think that these questions are actually inter-related. The first step to gaining clarity is to parse the question of ownership into two subsets: Thought leadership within the field; and accountability within an organization.

Accountability within an Organization

The question, “Who owns social media” is asked in one of two contexts:

within an organizational context

Will our social media program be controlled by the PR department, the marketing department, HR, etc.

or outside the organizational context

Who is developing best practices, who are the thought leaders, what are the standards and who is determining what they are.

(I answer the second question here)

Social Media Governance

At their core, social media technologies strip away real and perceived boundaries between humans (or at least the relatively few humans with access to the internet).  Inside the firm, this escalates the need for trust, as every one of your employees can now become a spokesman for your company.  This can go very wrong very quickly.  The knee jerk reaction is to prohibit or ban social media activity during company time or about company issues.  But this is just putting a finger in the dike, and is based on fear and control.  This policy is doomed to fail in 2010.

In my previous post in the series I made the argument that accountability for the results of a social media plan needed to be pressed down to the level at which the execution is entrusted.   Pushing responsibility out to the edges of the organization requires that those executing the plan know the expectations and policies governing their activity.  This looks very different at the enterprise level than it would at the small or mid-size business, as more layers add complexity to the relationship between the executive leadership and the customer.  But in either case, the key is governance.

Handrails and Edges

Effective social media governance should identify what I call the handrails and the edges.  Handrails provide a safe area within which people can navigate freely, without concern.  Edges identify the danger-zones, where one mis-step has immediate consequences.  The area between the handrail and the edge represents a need for careful discernment and consideration.  Imagine the tourist area at the lip of the Grand Canyon:

• There are handrails that provide a very safe zone for people to enjoy the park.  Anything they do in these areas is safe.  Maybe your social media policy says that any activity on a personal site (such as a facebook profile) off company time is at the employees sole discretion.  Employees then know they are free to rant on their personal profile page about whatever they want after hours.  Will they?  Maybe, or maybe not, but the point is that they know they have the freedom to do so without fear of retribution from their employer.
• Jumping over the rail won’t kill you in most places.  There is some room between the rail and the edge of the canyon.  Pay attention here, and you are going to be okay.  Lose focus and you could slip and fall.  In your social media policy, this is the white space between what you define as safe behavior, and what you define as unacceptable behavior.  This is where discernment, trust, and company culture guide employee actions.  Ask employees who maintain a blog to include a disclaimer that the views expressed are theirs alone and do not reflect the views of their employer.
• Take a step over the edge at the Grand Canyon, intentionally or not, and the consequences are evident, immediate and dire.  Your social media policy should be just as clear about the consequences of stepping over the line.  You have a brand to protect, and one person’s bad day can wreak havoc on millions of dollars of brand equity with one 140 character rant.

2010 is rapidly approaching and the idea of social media as a distinct channel is quickly dissipating.  Social media is a consumer-driven toolset, and all of your employees are consumers.  Therefore your social media policy needs to address each and every member of your organization.  Gone are the days of “better to ask forgiveness than permission”, as the stakes are only getting higher.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on social media governance in your organization.  What’s working and what’s not?

Related posts:

1. Who Owns Social Media? Part 2
2. Who Owns Social Media? Part 1
3. Social Media: first, define the problem
4. Why ROI doesn’t matter for Social Media
5. Social Media ROI for Entrepreneurs