In two previous blog posts, one about Jane and the other on the preview of her new project I spoke a little about Jane Binnion of Jane's Social Media and the work that she does. Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the full video (for which a three minute taster can be found online for free) of Jane's new venture which has been prepared by Rachel Gibson the local company of Quay Creative.
The event occurred in conjunction with the Lancaster TweetUp which is an event co-hosted between Jane's Social Media and Lancaster ESTA. There was bit of a gala evening with a packed room, sparkling drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol) and a magnificent Ice Cream stand from Indigo Swirl.
Jane and Rachel decided to make a film that could be used to supplement a companies social media policy. For them film was ideal as it is 'an easier medium (for the audience) to process'.
Jane and Rachel had some big ideas for what they wanted to achieve with the film, it had to be:
- modern
- fresh
- informative
- entertaining
- a popular and digestible work
But it also had to convey the issues they see in the growing social media world. Companies are now facing an uphill task not just to implement policy but to educate their workforce on what that policy means.
There are many issues that when you create a social media policy. One of the largest is that it will quickly grow into a long list of rules with amendments and exclusions to cover eventualities. Jane has good experience of this as in a previous job she was a manager who often needed to write such policy documents and has seen the pitfalls of creating such pieces.
Companies create top-down social media policies that become rule-heavy tomes.[1] People are also unsure of the distinctions between their public life and their work life, where do they stand in regards to how the comments are treated. It is easy to sign a document without realising to what you are agreeing.
There is a real issue that people do not understand just how visible their social comments can be, even if they maintain a private account. They can quickly find themselves being quoted and re-shared with a wider audience than what they intended. If you use social media and instantly delete there is often still a record of what you said that can be retrieved or shared with others.
In the UK alone Social media is a growing phenomena with:
- 40% of companies use social media
- 50% of companies encourage staff to use social media [2]
The film also has interesting opinions on copyright and use of logos and professional links/sites which are useful to contemplate and not what people would normally consider.
As before the film struck me as a competent piece. With the ability to brand it to company usage the value is apparent, it can be used as a rounded introduction to the issues around social media usage that would complement staff guidelines and training.
If you are a sole trader, an employer, or a human resources employee I think you would be wise to either purchase a copy or have Rachel and Jane brand a version for your companies needs. I think it is especially useful for those people employing new staff or educating existing stafff on changing company policy to match the rise in social media usage.
It is useful for anyone who regularly uses social media to promote their company to view this video as there is something that will either surprise or inform you, it will certainly give you an introduction into what you should consider when utilising social media sites.
[1] I think that there is also the issue that many companies don't realise that what they are writing as a series of reactionary rules may not be enforceable if an issue arises.
[2] No citation seen (I likely missed it watching the video while taking notes).
