My Personal Social Media Policy
Here is my personal social media policy. It’s how I wish to connect – not a set of rules for others. Find out more about creating your own here. I hate the word “follow” as it implies a specific type of relationship that I think is false (i.e., that of “fan” or “audience” rather than, the more neutral, “contact”), henceforth I will use the term “contact” to describe my network connections.
PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
1. Connecting: Why do you want to connect?
When somebody connects with me in a social network, I generally look for some obvious point of connection. It is most often a shared contact or focus of interest. These are the kinds of connections I enjoy. When there is no obvious link, I assess the motivation to connect a little more critically. I’d like to know how you found me and why you want to follow. Why? Because I want a relevant reason for our connection.
2. Follow, add, friending: I seek signal
I am discerning about who and what I engage online. I connect with people I’m genuinely interested in – people whose ideas, work and presence contributes something positive to my online experience. I do not engage people whose use of social networks hinges on influence, status or micro-celebrity (i.e., sociopathology).
3. Privacy and boundaries: Different people require different boundaries
I have protected updates not out of desire to “hide” things but rather to make decisions about where my data is distributed – and to whom. I don’t not publish or broadcast information about my personal relationships or work with clients. I feel this this is inappropriate subject matter for public consumption. I ask that you do not engage me in either form of exchange. I also ask that you engage questions of a personal nature with me privately.
As a teacher, I can’t “let it all hang out” like people in non-regulated professions. My networks include students – former and present, colleagues and a few parents. And I imagine more and more teachers using online tools will find themselves in a similar social context.
4. Signal to noise: It’s a dialogue (not a monologue)
I do not engage others online as my personal audience, awaiting news of my every thought or move but as a collective public (of which I am a fellow participant). I try and pay attention to my signal v. noise and ask that you do the same. This is why I prefer to connect with people who actively engage others – rather than viewing their contacts as nothing more than an audience or attention feed. I do bookmark quite a lot and should warn you that this constitutes a part of my output in social networks – it is a valued part of my output by those with whom I have meaningful connection.
5. Bullies and trolls
I do not tolerate baiting, trolling or the broadcasting of personal grievances via social media. While I tend to look past political debates, I will unfollow/unfriend/block any person who uses social media as a means of direct abuse with another person. Contrary to popular strategies put forward by PR and marketing types, the manufacture of social controversy and crisis are better suited to television programming than viable and productive approaches to online life and community.
6. How I use these services
In addition to basic community building and social networking, I broadcast a combination of semi-informal questions, comments and responses to those in my network. I also combine an RSS of my bookmarks as a means of sharing content of interest to myself and my network and keeping my feeds active when I am not there. I rarely post things of a personal nature.
By creating this policy I hope to challenge others to do the same and build on this example in order that we may, collectively, start to define some sort of social contract for social media.
I invite you to do the same – if you wish to use this as a basis for your own SMP! If you do create one, please leave a link in the comments below (to help others define similar policies).
Related reading: Our data, ourselves: The users bill of rights
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