Maja -
We're in the process of developing a policy, also adapted in part from the
Walker Art Center's blog guidelines, which I love because they are so succinct
and also really point to common sense. I think common sense is the key, but as
Perian points out, not everyone agrees on what "appropriate" is.
One thing we've found successful with our Facebook page is to have a group
approach to developing the posts. We have 5 staff people working on the page.
If one of us has an idea, we e-mail it to the group. We are all good at
responding pretty immediately. If one or more of the group members agrees it's
a good post, we go ahead with the posting. We actually work pretty quickly and
in the process we have created a great collaborative group. Rather than being
cumbersome, I feel like this approach actually frees us up to be really
creative since it takes the onus off of one person and gives everyone a
sounding board to try out ideas and really be creative. I can think of a few
post ideas I have had that my inner voice was telling me were on the edge of
being bad ideas. Left to my own I may not have posted, but by vetting through
the group we ended up posting and got great responses. The group approach also
helps keep the momentum up -- if one staff person is out, or just busy, the
others can keep it going.
Another tip may be to have some editorial staff involved in the group. Our
Facebook group has 2 editors involved, myself included. Editors will know the
official terminology and editorial style for your institution and can help
shape the tone for the social media (hopefully very different from your
"official" tone!).
Hope this helps
susan
Susan Edwards
Sr. Writer/Editor, Web Group
J. Paul Getty Trust
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.440.7510
sedwards at getty.edu
>>> <mcn-l-request at mcn.edu> 8/26/2009 12:00 PM >>>
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:33:38 -0700
From: "Perian Sully" <psu...@magnes.org>
Subject: Re: [MCN-L] institutional policy for a museum's online
presence via social networking
To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" <mcn-l at mcn.edu>
Message-ID: <AD775DE5635C2042BF1DCB7EED36A83B727BD6 at jlm-net.jlm.local>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dear Maja:
We adapted our policy from the Walker Art Center's blog guidelines,
which they have posted online here:
http://newmedia.walkerart.org/nmiwiki/index.php/Main/WalkerBlogGuideline
s
Basically, we fall on the side of "use common sense". I am the official
Twitter-er, but I hand over those duties from time to time to any staff
member who wishes to be the staff Tweeter for the week. A variety of
folks use our Flickr account for posting collection images and curated
projects. I'm currently the only person who uploads to our YouTube
account, but I'm open to that changing. Facebook is supposed to be in
the hands of the marketing department, but it could use a bit of
encouragement. And any staff member or intern who wishes to blog may do
so, but I do the copy and content editing before it's published.
We've been going this way for little over a year now, without strict
guidelines, with no incident. I do put down some groundrules regarding
tone of voice (casual, but professional, and if you use internet-speak,
spam people, or are otherwise obnoxious, I'm yanking your access), and
obviously nothing confidential, but confidentiality and appropriate
conduct is generally agreed to at time of hiring (we all have to sign a
confidentiality agreement).
I think there's a nice balance that can be had, but it does require some
trust in your staff and a few groundrules laid out at the outset.
Hope this helps,
~P
Perian Sully
Collections Information Manager
Web Programs Strategist
The Magnes
Berkeley, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of
Maja Clark
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 12:36 PM
To: mcn-l at mcn.edu
Subject: [MCN-L] institutional policy for a museum's online presence
viasocial networking
Does anyone have an institutional policy or guidelines for what & where
staff may & may not post online? Or is it more to do with hierarchy &
trusting a designated staff member to approve all staff postings before
they go live?
We've been looking to expand our web presence beyond our website. There
is concern among senior IT staff that the museum's online image needs to
more orchestrated to prevent the museum's reputation from being damaged
by inappropriate online representations by individual staff members. Am
scratching my head wondering if it's possible to have a corporate-minded
policy on such things AND somehow give staff enough freedom/trust to run
with ideas to achieve the freshness & immediacy that web 2.0 can offer.
Thank you,
Maja
Maja Clark
Collections Manager, Shangri La
Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art
4055 Papu Circle
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 792-5506
www.shangrilahawaii.org
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