1. Purpose
The Wandering Man recognises that the use of social media plays an important role in the professional and personal lives of our staff. However, given the open and immediate nature of these platforms, it is important to set out the responsibilities of all staff (including contractors) and the Board of Directors regarding appropriate social media use, both personally and professionally.
For information about use of social media for Volunteers, Speakers, The Wandering Man Members, Online Forums Champions and Education Speakers, see the, The Wandering Man Volunteer Management Procedure.
2. Scope
The Social Media Policy applies to all The Wandering Man staff and the Board of Directors. The term ‘staff’ includes all categories of employees, including full-time, part-time, casual, student work experience/placement, temporary and contract staff. For the purpose of this document ‘social media’ refers to:
- social networking site such as -
- Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, WhatsApp, WeChat and Twitter;
- video and image sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo;
- blogs and content boards
- Podcasts
- such as Tumblr, Pinterest; and 4Chan;
- forums
- discussion boards such as The Wandering Man Online Forums, Reddit, and Yahoo! Answers.
Note the above is not exhaustive and applies to emerging social media platforms not listed.
This document does not apply to The Wandering Man communication, project management or collaboration platforms such as Ring Central Miro, SharePoint, Confluence and other tools. Use of these internal platforms are governed by the Access Control Policy and Standard.
3. Compliance
Depending on the circumstances, non-compliance with this Policy may constitute a breach of employment or contractual obligations. Those who fail to comply with this Policy may face disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. When using social media, all staff should also ensure that usage is in accordance with The Wandering Man’s Code of Conduct.
4. Policy statement
The personal and professional use of social media by The Wandering Man staff and the Board of Directors should not bring The Wandering Man into disrepute, seriously misrepresent The Wandering Man, compromise effectiveness at work, imply The Wandering Man endorsement of personal views or disclose confidential information without authorisation. In addition, staff are encouraged to review the Privacy Policy if considering sharing personal information.
5. Identifying inappropriate use
Inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to The Wandering Man, or content that may otherwise have been published in breach of this policy, should be reported firstly to the Head of People and Culture as well as the Head of Brand and Marketing. In addition, such incidents should be registered through the Incident Management Procedure.
Inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to The Wandering Man may be identified by The Wandering Man staff, a community member, regular monitoring by The Wandering Man Online Communities Team, or by self-report.
6. Professional use of social media
Professional use of social media is defined in this Policy as the use of any social media account or platform to make any original comment as a representative of The Wandering Man. There are two categories of professional use of social media:
- Using social media as an authorised spokesperson of The Wandering Man. This category covers The Wandering Man’s authorised spokespeople, Directors and Executive Team. Authorised spokespeople are determined by the Executive Team, Director and/or Head of Policy and Communications and have permission to make announcements and/or original comments on behalf of The Wandering Man.
- Using social media as a representative of The Wandering Man. This category covers The Wandering Man staff who use social media as part of their role to promote or disseminate the work of the organisation.
- This includes reporting from events at which The Wandering Man is a host, sponsor, partner or participant; commenting or providing an opinion on a The Wandering Man campaign or resource to assist in promoting it; and acting as a speaker or presenter at an event.
‘Sharing’ or ‘retweeting’ material from The Wandering Man’s official social media accounts or promoting a The Wandering Man campaign, resource or activity (without adding an opinion or comment) does not fall into professional use of social media and is covered by personal use of social media.
If in doubt about any of the following obligations, staff should consult with the Head of Brand and Marketing.
6.1 Using social media as an authorised spokesperson of The Wandering Man
When using social media for professional purposes, authorised spokespeople must:
- disclose status as an employee/contractor/Board Director of The Wandering Man, and use only their own identity, or an approved official account or avatar;
- disclose and comment only on information classified as public domain or information that has been approved by the Head of Policy and Communications, CEO or Board to be released publicly;
- ensure that all content published is accurate, not misleading and complies with all relevant The Wandering Man policies;
- ensure they are not the first to make an announcement (unless specifically given permission to do so by the Chair, CEO or Head of Policy and Communications);
- comment only on their area of expertise and authority;
- ensure comments reflect The Wandering Man’s values, including respect;
- adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platforms/websites, as well as copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, as well as The Wandering Man’s Privacy Policy. An authorised The Wandering Man spokesperson must not:
- post or respond to material that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, homophobic/transphobic, infringes copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a Court suppression order or is otherwise unlawful; or
- use or disclose any confidential or secure information; or
- make any comment or post any material that might otherwise cause damage to The Wandering Man’s reputation or bring it into disrepute.
6.2 Using social media as a representative of The Wandering Man
When using social media for professional purposes, representatives of The Wandering Man must:
- disclose status as an employee/contractor of The Wandering Man, and use only their own identity, or an approved official account or avatar;
- disclose and comment only on information that has been released publicly as part of the event, campaign, resource or activity they are promoting;
- ensure that all content published is accurate, not misleading and complies with all relevant The Wandering Man policies;
comment only on their area of expertise and authority; • ensure comments reflect The Wandering Man’s values, including respect, enthusiasm and integrity; • adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platforms/websites, as well as copyright privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, as well as The Wandering Man’s Privacy Policy.
A representative of The Wandering Man must not:
- be the first to make an announcement or release information that has not been previously released publicly;
- post or respond to material that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, homophobic/transphobic, infringes copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a Court suppression order or is otherwise unlawful;
or
- use or disclose any confidential or secure information; or
- make any comment or post any material that might otherwise cause damage to The Wandering Man’s reputation or bring it into disrepute.
There are a number of methods available for the moderation of material that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, etc.
Please consult the Executive Team for advice on this.
7. Personal use of social media
The Wandering Man recognises that staff have every right to use social media in their personal lives.
This Policy does not intend to discourage nor unduly limit their personal expression or online activities. However, staff should be mindful that any comment made on social media can be tracked and could be used to discredit both the work of The Wandering Man and the staff member commenting - particularly if comments relate to the work we do at The Wandering Man. If in doubt about any of the following obligations, staff should consult with the Head of Brand & Marketing.
When using social media in a personal capacity, staff should:
- Reflect The Wandering Man’s values, including respect, enthusiasm and integrity;
- ensure that comments do not undermine, ridicule, or otherwise damage the public position of The Wandering Man, The Wandering Man’s work, The Wandering Man’s partners, The Wandering Man volunteers or The Wandering Man staff;
- keep private any confidential information obtained in their capacity as a The Wandering Man employee/contractor;
- refrain from disclosing their professional contact details; • refrain from providing comments on mental health issues to journalists, politicians, lobby groups or stakeholders;
- refrain from posting any material that could likely cause damage to The Wandering Man's reputation or bring it into disrepute;
- adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform.
When publishing personal blog posts or opinion pieces about mental health or wellbeing, The Wandering Man staff must include a disclaimer informing the reader that the piece does not represent the views of their employer. Please consult the Strategic Communications Lead if you require assistance.
7.1 Using social media at work.
When accessing social media via The Wandering Man's internet and intranet systems, staff must do so in accordance with The Wandering Man’s Information Security Policy.
This policy requires staff to use these resources reasonably in a manner that does not interfere with their work and is not inappropriate or excessively accessed. Examples of reasonable use include:
- ‘retweeting’, ‘posting’ or ‘sharing’ content from The Wandering Man accounts on their own social media accounts;
- monitoring social media for opinion or feedback around a particular issue relevant to the staff member’s role; and
- checking personal social media accounts during a break. otherwise inconsistent with the Information Security Policy, or relevant internal policies.
7.2 Connecting with colleagues on social media.
The Wandering Man recognises that staff may wish to connect with other The Wandering Man staff on various social media platforms. However, there is no expectation that staff should connect. It is at the discretion of the individual if they want to keep their profiles private.
8. Legal considerations
8.1 Privacy, confidentiality and information security
Personal Information obtained in the course of employment/engagement with The Wandering Man should only be used in a manner consistent with The Wandering Man’s Privacy Policy.
Conversations or information that is deemed confidential or classified, or deals with matters that are internal in nature, should not be published or reported on.
8.2 Copyright
Copyright laws and fair use of copyrighted material must be respected and work attributed to the original author/source wherever possible.
8.3 Harassment and bullying
The Wandering Man’s Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and Procedure applies in all situations, including in social media environments. Workplace bullying and harassment includes any bullying or harassing comments that staff make online, even on their own private social networks or out of office hours.
8.4 Defamation
Material that may cause injury to another person, organisation, association or company's reputation must not be published, and further guidance should be sought if publication of such material is thought to be necessary.
8.5 Offensive or obscene material
Material may be offensive or obscene and may infringe relevant online classification laws if it is pornographic, sexually suggestive, harassing, hateful, racist, sexist, abusive or discriminatory.
9. Related policies
The Wandering Man’s Policies and Statements
· Privacy Policy
- · Governing Document - Rules
- · Support Service Terms of Use
- · Volunteer Privacy Collection Statement
- · Speakers and Ambassadors Privacy Collection Statement
- · Child Safety and Wellbeing Commitment Declaration
- · Donation Privacy Collection Statement
- · Whistleblower Policy
- · Mission Statement
- · Our Core Values
- · Our Strategy
10.Definitions and abbreviations
Avatar A digital representation of a user in a virtual world or online community, often in the form of a three-dimensional character.
Confidential Information, which, if compromised, poses a high risk and/or may adversely affect The Wandering Man.
Incident Any unplanned event resulting in, or having the potential for, injury, ill health (including mental health), damage, or other loss, for example to property, reputation and more.
Personal Information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not. This may include name, date of birth, occupation details, and medical records.
Platform Reputable social media platforms-
- YouTube
- Twitter or X
- Messenger
- Short Messenger Service (SMS)
- Tik Tok
- Google+
- Wordpress/Blogger
- Youtube/Vimeo
- iTune/PodCasting
- Snapchat
- Messenger
- Viber
11.Proessional Social Media Use
- The Wandering Man expects that Workers will:
- be professional and respectful.
- promote the best interests of The Wandering Man
- not include misleading or deceptive statements or inferences
- refrain from inappropriate swearing.
- only include intellectual property (such as photos, videos and quotes) that The Wandering Man has permission to use or that do not require permission to use.
- comply with The Wandering Man’s Privacy Policy
12.When engaging in Personal and/or Professional Social Media Use
Workers must also ensure that they:
- don't use a work email address to register personal social media accounts.
- refrain from conduct that has the potential to damage The Wandering Man’s reputation.
- don't make comments that are unlawful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, discriminatory or hateful to, or about other Workers, clients or stakeholders of The Wandering Man
- don't make comments that are, or could be perceived to:
- be made on behalf of The Wandering Man, rather than an expression of a personal view unless approved or consistent with the Social Media Policy and Procedure
- compromise the Worker’s capacity to fulfil duties in an impartial and unbiased manner.
- are mindful that their behaviour is bound by The Wandering Man’s Policies, Procedures and Code of Conduct, even outside work.
- make clear that any views expressed in Personal Social Media use are their own and not those of The Wandering Man
12. Responsibilities
- The Executive Committee shall nominate a Director to co-ordinate The Wandering Man’s social media management.
- Workers may, from time to time, post or comment on the activities of The Wandering Man and where appropriate/authorised, post on behalf of The Wandering Man using the organisation’s online social media profiles.
Unless a Worker is promoting or supporting the activities of The Wandering Man, this should only be done only with the express knowledge and authorisation of Director.
- The Director has responsibility for overseeing the organisation’s Social Media Strategy. Their role includes:
- Determining which social media platforms are most appropriate for The Wandering Man to engage in, and policing those boundaries.
- Ensuring that all posts are in keeping with The Wandering Man’s mission, core values, and policies.
- Ensuring appropriate and timely action is taken to correct or remove inappropriate posts (including defamatory and/or illegal content), and to minimise the risk of a repeat incident.
- Ensuring that appropriate and timely action is taken to repair relations with any persons or organisations offended by an inappropriate post.
- Moderating and monitoring public response to social media, such as blog comments and Facebook replies, to ensure that trolling and spamming does not occur, to remove offensive or inappropriate replies, or caution offensive posters, and to reply to any further requests for information generated by the post topic.
- Developing a strategy for expanding our social media footprint over time
13. Breaches
If a Worker breaches this Policy or associated Procedures, they may be subjected to disciplinary action, up to and including the termination of their engagement
Review
This document will be reviewed 12 monthly to ensure it remains current, accurate and reflects best practices. During the review process, the document will be assessed for
- Accuracy of information
- Alignment to current policies and procedures
- Clarity and completeness
- Need for updates and revisions
The most recent review will be documented below
| Version History | Active | Review Date |
| Social Media Policy - Created - V1 | 05/01/2024 | 05/01/2024 |