Creating a social media policy
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This document discusses considerations for creating a social media policy for high school athletes. It begins by providing statistics on the popularity of various social media platforms, especially among teens and young adults. It then discusses issues like validation, cyberbullying, and the future impact of social media use. The document outlines steps to include when creating a policy, such as background information, defining social media, appropriate and prohibited uses, consequences, and requiring signatures. It stresses the need to review the policy annually as social media evolves. The overall purpose is to provide guidelines for appropriate social media behavior while representing the school.
Creating a social media policy
- 1. Creating a Social Media Policy For questions and assistance in creating your social media policy, contact: Dr. Jimmy Sanderson Dr. Blair Browning Clemson University Baylor University jsande6@clemson.edu blair_browning@baylor.edu @jimmy_sanderson @blair_browning
- 2. Social Media Popularity Facebook: 864 million daily active users 703 million mobile daily active users
- 3. Social Media Popularity Twitter: 284 million monthly active users 500 million tweets sent per day 5,787 per second 80% of active Twitter users are on mobile
- 4. Social Media Popularity Instagram: 60 million photos per day shared 1.6 billion likes daily
- 5. Social Media Popularity Snapchat: 100 million active users 400 million snaps per day 71% of Snapchat users are under 25
- 6. Social Media Popularity Yik Yak: Anonymous posting app (no login required) Localized (anyone within 1.5 mile radius can read) Extremely popular with High School students
- 7. Social Media & Teens 95% of teens 12-17 use the Internet 80% of online teens use social media 77% use Facebook 24% use Twitter Growth in visual platforms (Instagram, Snapchat)
- 8. Social Media & Teens Issues: Validation Cyberbullying
- 9. Social Media & Teens Issues: Future Impact
- 10. Social Media & HS Athletes Given the high social media use by teens & the popularity of sports, HS athletes are under microscope with social media: Especially relevant as recruiting industry has grown exponentially Ease for people to access content (media, fans, parents) “Tattling/Reporting”
- 11. Social Media & HS Athletes Given their affiliation with the school, athletes social media use reflects the High School, District, and Community One of the big challenges for all organizations How to manage social media use by employees/students? Very difficult to regulate due to ease of transmission
- 12. Social Media & HS Athletes
- 13. Social Media & HS Athletes
- 14. Social Media Policies One way that organizations have attempted to manage social media use is through policy This is consistent with other organizational expectations Very important – provides guidelines and sets boundaries
- 15. What goes into a Policy? Policy should function as a “roadmap” Where do you want student-athletes to go with social media?
- 16. What goes into a Policy? As much as we might wish for student-athletes to stop using social media, that’s just not a reality in the world we live in
- 17. Step #1 Background Brief paragraph that discusses the emergence of social media Benefits/risk/responsibilit y that come with using social media Representative of school/community No expectation of privacy
- 18. Step #1 This may be an appropriate place to discuss incidents that have affected other student-athletes Stress that one post can take away a lifetime of work
- 19. Step #2 Outline what is meant by “social media” Very important as perceptions exist that: Doesn’t mean apps Doesn’t cover mobile usage Make sure talking about relevant platforms
- 20. Step #3 Outline how social media “can be” used: Build a brand/identity Promote School/Team Example hashtags Network/Connection
- 21. Step #4 Outline things to avoid/prohibitions: Hateful messages based on protected characteristics (e.g., race, ethnicity, sexual orientation) Sexually explicit material (e.g. sexting – Snapchat is big platform) Cyberbullying Criticism of coaches
- 22. Step #4 Trash-talking with other athletes/schools Within reason, avoid ambiguous terms “inappropriate” Better to list specifics, as well as a disclaimer “Including but not limited to” Right reservation
- 23. Step #5 Consequences: Progressive Discipline is generally best option Include “up to and including” based on severity of incident Restriction of social media Can be touchy legal subject Removal from team may be better option
- 24. Step #5 Consequences: Important to emphasize that student can explain his/her version Align with School/District Policy
- 25. Step #6 Signature (Manual) Include statement that signature indicates that policy has been read and understood Provides documentation Consider parent/guardian signature as well
- 26. Also Important… Social Media is always changing Policy should be reviewed annually and revised as needed Try and keep to 2 pages Should complement education
- 27. Questions?