One of the tensions you will inevitably encounter is what’s being said about your organization and church from the inside.
Your church is ultimately liable for what’s being said by your employees and staff, and the first time that line is crossed needs to be the last time, if any time at all.
Organizations and businesses in the marketplace have already begun to draft guidelines for social media engagement and interaction to prevent information leaks, liabilities, and other legal issues.
Perhaps your church needs one too?
More thoughts on Policy and Guidelines after the jump:
‘Don’t Be Stupid’
The general rule of thumb is “Don’t Be Stupid.” It’s seriously that simple but apparently many people have even a hard time with this, and unfortunately the consequence of not tackling the issues before they crop up can be devastating.
Your job is to first acknowledge that social media is here to stay and then provide an avenue of conversation with your staff and employees guidelines to follow. Some ministries I know have written them out explicitly, others have just had all-staff conversations. The point is to do it.
Of course, there is much room for interpretation here. There are obviously times where information shared can be valuable to the ministries reputation, even some information that at one point may have felt like a “trade” or “institutional” secret. The idea of being transparent is real and its effectiveness is a healthy thing, but it will ultimately boil down to being a very “grey area.”
If your staff isn’t sure they should definitely ask you, but what if you don’t know yourself? Answer: Ask them. Having this two-way conversation about content and use is the best policy that I’ve seen and it establishes a culture of openness that’ll be extremely valuable long term.
Why? Because it’s the best way to “draft” any policy. Pretty much everyone understands the value of their staff using social media for church and ministry but having a policy that’s too draconian can decrease morale, trust, and ultimately your online equity build, which may be the worst hit.
Monitoring
Is there a right or wrong way to monitor use? First off, it’s pretty much impossible for you to prevent employees from signing up and using the services.
But your part is to help educate that it’s also just as impossible for them to completely separate themselves from their places of employment and being a representative of the ministry and their personal lives. The line is very much blurred. What they do online is inevitably going to speak for the ministry and church.
A light blend of Grace and Law (and kind reminder) that they are held personally accountable for their actions is oftentimes all that’s needed in most circumstances. The reminder probably doesn’t have to be repeated often, but at least often enough so that it’s deep within the organization at a cultural level. Just because we’re ‘Christian’ doesn’t mean that we’re brilliantly aware of the cost of our actions.
Finally, it’s up to you to lead your team to the right balance, and it’s up to you as to whether you’ll make it “offiical” or “unofficial,” whether you’ll have explicity meetings and training about it or not. The point here is that you can’t ignore it; you must do something about it, because it’s a real issue and the costs are just as equally real.
If you’d like to read some more parallel posts that I’ve written about this subject, check out the following:
- Your Social Networking Activity Can Be Damning (and Damaging) to Your Ministry
- How Much Ministry Doesn’t Get Done Thanks to Social Networks
- The Precarious Balance Between Church and Personal Brand – The Popularity Issue
- The Tension of Building an Institutionally-Personal Brand
- Why Pastors Should Be Anxious About Social Media
Jim says
I like to 2 way conversation the best. I've seen this issue come up already.