Social Media Policy
Social Media Policy
Definition of social media
For the purposes of Frantic Assembly’s Social Media Policy, social media is any online platform or app that allows parties to communicate instantly with each other or to share data in a public forum. This includes social forums such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Social media also covers blogs and video and image-sharing websites such as YouTube.
Employees should be aware that there are many more examples of social media than can be listed here and this is a constantly changing area. Employees should follow these guidelines in relation to any social media that they use.
Use of social media at work
Employees are allowed to make reasonable and appropriate use of social media from Frantic Assembly's computers or devices, provided that this does not interfere with their duties.
Frantic Assembly encourages employees to make reasonable and appropriate use of social media as part of their work. It is an important part of how we communicate with our audience.
Employees may contribute to Frantic Assembly's social media activities, for example by posting on the Frantic Assembly Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts.
Employees must be aware at all times that, while contributing to Frantic Assembly's social media activities, they are representing Frantic Assembly. Staff who use social media as part of their job must adhere to the following rules:
- Employees should use the same safeguards as they would with any other form of communication about Frantic Assembly in the public sphere. These safeguards include:
i) Making sure that the communication has a purpose and a benefit for Frantic Assembly
ii) Getting a colleague to check the content before it is published
Any communications that employees make in a professional capacity through social media must not:
- Bring Frantic Assembly into disrepute, for example by:
i) Criticising or arguing with customers, colleagues or other organisations.
ii) Making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations or groups.
iii) Posting images that are inappropriate or links to inappropriate content - Breach confidentiality, for example by:
i) Revealing confidential information about or owned by Frantic Assembly
ii) Giving away confidential information about an individual (such as a colleague or customer contact) or any other organisation.
iii) Discussing Frantic Assembly's internal workings or future business plans that have not been communicated to the public. - Breach copyright, for example by:
i) Using someone else's images or written content without permission
ii) Failing to acknowledge where permission has been given to reproduce something.
iii) Do anything that could be considered discriminatory, or as bullying or harassment of, any individual, for example by:
- Making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender reassignment, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age.
- Using social media to bully another individual (such as an employee of Frantic Assembly).
- Posting images that are discriminatory or offensive or any links to such content. - Breach Frantic Assembly’s Safeguarding Policy, for example:
i) Privately communicating with a young person or vulnerable adult.
ii)Sharing personal details with a young person or vulnerable adult.
iii) Arranging to meet with a young person or vulnerable adult through social media.
iv)Sharing any content which is not appropriate for young people or vulnerable adults.
Safeguarding and Social Media
As a company that frequently works with young people, employees, practitioners and freelancers must be mindful of the fact that their social media accounts may be searched or followed by young people. Frantic Assembly advises that employees either:
- Make accounts private or unsearchable; or
- Be mindful of their online conduct; ensuring that all content is appropriate and adheres to the Frantic Assembly Safeguarding Policy and Procedure.
Employees posting images of Frantic activities online, should ensure that photo permissions have been granted for all individuals in the image, either by the individuals themselves or parents/carers of young people or vulnerable adults.
If you have a Safeguarding concern about activity taking place over social media, the same protocol should be followed as with any concerns offline (see the Frantic Assembly Safeguarding Policy and Procedure).
Excessive use of social media at work
Employees should not spend an excessive amount of time while at work engaged in personal/non-work-related social media. This is likely to have a detrimental effect on employees' productivity. They should ensure that use of social media does not interfere with their other duties.
Social media in your personal life
Frantic Assembly recognises that our employees make use of social media in a personal capacity. While they are not acting on behalf of Frantic Assembly, employees must be aware that they can damage Frantic Assembly if they are recognised as being one of our employees.
Employees are allowed to say that they work for Frantic Assembly, which recognises that it is natural for staff to want to discuss their work on social media at times. However, the employee's online profile (for example, the name of a blog or a Twitter name) must not contain Frantic Assembly's name.
If employees do discuss their work on social media (for example, giving opinions on their specialism or the sector in which Frantic Assembly operates), they must include on their profile a statement along the following lines: "The views I express here are my own."
Any communications that employees make in a personal capacity through social media must not:
- Bring Frantic Assembly into disrepute, for example by:
i) Criticising or arguing with customers, colleagues or rivals.
ii) Making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations or groups.
iii) Posting images that are inappropriate or links to inappropriate content. - Breach confidentiality, for example by:
i) Revealing trade secrets or information owned by Frantic Assembly.
ii) Giving away confidential information about an individual (such as a colleague or customer contact) or organisation.
iii) Discussing Frantic Assembly's internal workings or future business plans that have not been communicated to the public. - Breach copyright, for example by:
i) Using someone else's images or written content without permission
ii)Failing to give acknowledgement where permission has been given to reproduce something.
iii) Do anything that could be considered discriminatory against, or bullying or harassment of, any individual, for example by:
- Making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender reassignment, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age;
- Using social media to bully another individual (such as an employee of Frantic Assembly)
- Posting images that are discriminatory or offensive [or links to such content].
Use of social media in the recruitment process
In relation to finding candidates; the Frantic Assembly SMT are permitted to use social media to support recruitment, if an individual has put their details on social media websites for the purpose of attracting prospective employers.
The management team of Frantic Assembly may also conduct searches, either themselves or through a third party, on social media when these are directly relevant to the applicant's skills or claims that they have made in the recruitment process. For instance:
- A prospective employee might claim that they have used social media in his/her previous job (for example, as a publicity tool)
- A prospective employee's social media use may be directly relevant to a claim made in their application (for example, if they write a blog mentioned in an application or a skill in which they claim to be proficient).
There should be no systematic or routine checking of prospective employees' online social media activities, as conducting these searches during the selection process might lead to a presumption that an applicant's protected characteristics (for example, sexual orientation or religious beliefs) played a part in a recruitment decision.
This is in line with Frantic Assembly's equal opportunities policy.
Disciplinary action over social media use
All employees are required to adhere to this policy. Employees should note that any breaches of this policy may lead to disciplinary action. Serious breaches of this policy, for example incidents of bullying of colleagues or social media activity causing serious damage to Frantic Assembly, may constitute gross misconduct and lead to summary dismissal.