Abstract

This paper proposes a new policy development framework, entitled ‘Social Media and Organisation Policy’ (SOMEOP) which considers the essential aspects that allow organisations to achieve their intended outcomes when using social media tools, without constricting the flexibility they bring. Through an interpretive content analysis within a media and consulting company, as well as extensive literature review, this paper highlights the role policy plays within organisations and the typical procedures that an organisation goes through when developing an appropriate social media policy. Findings from the research indicate that traditional policy development processes are unsuitable for social media implementation. Some reasons include the blurring of home-work boundaries; the widespread availability of social media tools; and the scope of their use. This is where our new framework is able to shed some light. Our research has uncovered that through increased feedback from various layers of management, new social media policies can be developed to embrace changing situations that are not anticipated with traditional tools, such as email.

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