SAMPLE * NOT LEGAL ADVICE * SAMPLE*

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY: Employees’ Personal Use of Social Media

For purposes of the Company’s Social Media Policy, “social media” includes web applications that facilitate information sharing and collaboration such as forums, online social networking sites, blogs, virtual worlds, online profiles, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, and voice over IP. Examples of social media applications are LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, Yelp, Flickr, Second Life, Yahoo groups, Wordpress and ZoomInfo.

This Social Media Policy concerns Company employees’ personal use of social media. All employees are subject to these guidelines regardless of where the conduct occurs or what equipment and technology are used.

This Policy neither encourages nor discourages employees from utilizing social media. It is not the Company’s intention to unnecessarily restrict your ability to have a personal online presence or mandate what you can and cannot say. Certain communication, however, are not appropriate and should be avoided. For this reason and because employees’ social media activities may otherwise impact on the Company’s operations, the Company has established the following guidelines to assist you in acting responsibly in connection with your personal use of social media:

Policy Guidelines

  • You are responsible for what you write and post on the Internet. Exercise good judgment and caution when posting anything related to the Company on the Internet.
  • Do not post financial, confidential or proprietary information about the Company including, but not limited to financial statements, earnings reports, sales reports, sales and marketing information and techniques, business plans, financial data, pricing lists, supplier lists, trademarks, copyrighted information and other confidential supplier data, customer lists, concepts, ideas, policies and/or other confidential customer data.
  • Do not post comments or other material about coworkers, supervisors or others connected to the Company that are vulgar, obscene, slanderous, detrimental to the Company, threatening, harassing, intimidating, or otherwise in violation of the Company’s policies concerning discrimination, harassment or violence.
  • In particular, do not engage in any online activity that may be viewed as harassment by another Company employee because of the employee’s age, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, disability, veteran’s status or other category protected by law.
  • Confine posts to matters unrelated to the Company if necessary to ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.
  • Do not post the Company’s promotional content designed to endorse, sell, advertise, or otherwise support the Company and its products and services.
  • Use of the Company’s logo, trademarks and branding imagery on personal social media is strictly prohibited.
  • Photographs or other electronic depictions of Company personnel, clients or potential clients taken at the Company, on Company business, or any Company-sponsored events (whether taken inside or outside the Company’s workplaces), may not be posted.
  • If you do post information or comments about the Company, identify yourself as a Company employee and make clear that your views are not reflective of the Company’s, as follows:“The opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Company.”
  • The Company’s computer systems, software and equipment are for business purposes only; their use for employees’ personal use of social media is prohibited. Likewise, personal use of social media should not interfere with your responsibilities at the Company.

The Company may monitor content on the Internet and reserves the right to remove posts that violate this Policy. An employee who violates this Policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment, and may be required to correct or remove a post.

If you have any questions about this Social Media Policy or a specific posting on the Internet, please contact the Human Resources Department.

Prepared by: Robert J. Haurin, Esquire, The Weinstein Firm, 1800 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 1720, Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-636-0616,

This sample policy is provided as general information to clients and friends of The Weinstein Firm. It is intended solely for educational purposes. It should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal advice on any specific matter, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. The Weinstein Firm and the author (1) make no representations, warranties, or guarantees as to its technical accuracy or compliance with any law ( federal, state, or local) or professional standards; and, (2) assume no responsibility to any recipient of this document to correct or update its contents for any reason, including changes in any law or professional standards. Before making any changes to your employee handbook of policies, you should formally retain the counsel of an attorney knowledgeable about your organization, and the laws of any jurisdiction(s) within which your organization conducts business to ensure the document’s maximum usefulness and compliance with applicable laws and professional standards.