The+Packard+Foundation's+Social+Media+Philosophy,+Guidelines,+and+Tips

The Foundation’s social media policy is based on the current use of social media platforms and incorporates all existing Foundation policies. Our Social Media Philosophy and Guidelines will continue to evolve as our adoption of social media tools evolves.
 * Social Media Philosophy, Guidelines & Tips **

It is our intent to foster use of social media tools in line with Foundation values. The Communications, Human Resources, and Legal departments have compiled examples to demonstrate and clarify how these guidelines should be implemented.

//Philosophy // Staff are encouraged to be good ambassadors for the Foundation in their work online and offline. Staff may use social media to listen, learn, and share information in an immediate and transparent manner in pursuit of impact; and to do so in line with our values, with good judgment and respect.

//Policy Guidelines //
 * All existing Foundation policies apply to your use of social media. Please refer to the Employee Handbook . If you are routinely using social media tools for your work, be sure your supervisor knows and understands the scope of your use of social media.
 * If you are blogging or posting to social media sites in your professional capacity, you may not engage in lobbying activities or political campaigns.
 * You may exercise your right as an individual to participate in the political or legislative process, but the Foundation asks that you take utmost care to ensure that your position with the Foundation is not involved and not perceived to be involved in these activities.
 * Specifically, this means that your Packard Foundation email account cannot be associated with any online accounts that you may use to engage in political activities.
 * When discussing the Foundation, grantees or your work, be sensitive to the confidential nature of certain information, e.g., pending grants, personnel, pending Foundation policies, or other information that hasn’t yet been finalized or shared with the public. Check in with your supervisor if you have a question about whether or not something fits into this category.
 * All uses of the Foundation logo (both online and offline) require approval from the Communications Department. If you would like to use the Foundation logo in a blog/post/tweet please email the Communications Department to request the appropriate approvals. All requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
 * Consider if you are speaking in your professional role or from a personal perspective. Be sure to claim your views as personal when appropriate. In order to clarify your personal views, you may want to include a disclaimer in your post or in your profile. For example, “The views expressed in this blog are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.” Using separate personal and professional accounts will further highlight this distinction.
 * Be authentic and respect others’ work. Don’t plagiarize. When referencing others’ ideas, photos, or words be sure to credit the original source and comply with copyright laws. Pay attention to copyright statements and warnings. Feel free to ask the Communications or Legal Departments if you have questions.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Networking is good. Friending, following, re-tweeting, and getting LinkedIn to others in the field (grantees, other funders, collaborators etc.) allows you to be a part of the social media community and to learn and engage with others. Keep in mind that online interactions should generally mirror in-person relationships. Post comments or updates that you would be comfortable sharing with your network and colleagues in person. Trustees, Foundation staff and grantees may choose to “friend” or connect with one another at their own discretion, but are not obligated to do so. Keep in mind that information flows in both directions—if you regularly post personal photos and information to your current Facebook page that you would hesitate to share with a trustee or grantee—you may want to set up a second Facebook page specifically for professional networking purposes.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Common sense wins the day. Remember that your online activities are public. Use good judgment and when in doubt—ask! Your supervisor can provide guidance on programmatic uses of social media. The Communications or Legal Departments can also provide counsel regarding your online activities, our policies and guidelines.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Social Media Tips // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">These tips draw on the advice and experience of social media experts and bloggers for companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Yahoo!, and, in particular, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which use social media in their work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Contribute to the conversation. You can do so by both writing about your ideas or experiences and by creating hyperlinks to the newspapers, magazine articles, studies, blog posts, or commentaries of others who have insights that you value.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Be transparent. When adding content to social media platforms for work purposes, be clear about your role with the Foundation. Consider using separate profiles to distinguish when your ideas reflect your personal views or professional contributions. (Please see Examples for different profile types.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Copy edit your posts. Use the spell-checker and be grammatically correct. Informality is not an excuse for misspellings, bad grammar, or poor style.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Be clear if you make updates to a post. If you correct a post or comment, say so.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Be conversational when you write. When writing, imagine you are talking on the telephone with a friend who is generally knowledgeable but may not understand the nuances of the topic. Be transparent, ask questions, invite comments from others, and listen to what they have to say.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Remember basic etiquette. Don’t post entries that are off-topic to the blog or post comments that are off-topic to the specific post you’re commenting on. And follow the general rules of online etiquette, e.g., don’t post in all capital letters.