ESPN, the NFL, and the Marines are the latest to being focusing on how its employees and player are using Twitter and social networking sites. Yesterday, ESPN implemented a policy which restricts how it's on-air talent and staff can use social sites.
The new policy from ESPN is rumored to have stemmed from ESPN’s management’s frustration with the fact that its on-air talent have been using Twitter to break news.
While it does not have a league-wide policy, the NFL has encouraged all teams to adopt social media policies. "Ultimately, it's up to the individual teams to set policy," Greg Aiello, the NFL’s Senior VP of Media Relations. The Green Bay Packers have gone as far as fining players for Tweeting during team events. In recent weeks, NFL player have been tweeting during training camps. Tweets have ranged from comments on training camp food to comments on other players contract statuses.
According to CNN, the new marine Corp policy cites the high risks and exposure the social networking sites as the driver for the policy. "These internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries.” While Twitter and Facebook are great tools for Marines to communicate with their family and friends, the security and well being of all military personal are paramount.
The ESPN policy doesn’t ban its people from using Twitter or social networking sites, but restricts them from representing themselves as ESPN employees in their updates and postings.
Exept from the ESPN policy:
“ESPN understands that employees may maintain or contribute to personal blogs, message boards, conversation pages and other forms of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) outside of their job function and may periodically post information about their job or ESPN's activities on these outlets. If an employee posts ESPN or job-related information, they are required to exercise good judgment, abide by ESPN policy, and take the following into consideration. ESPN employees are obligated to be aware of and comply with any applicable provisions set forth in ESPN's Employee Handbook and The Walt Disney Company's Standards of Business Conduct. Employees may not disclose confidential or proprietary company information or similar information of third parties who have shared such information with ESPN. ESPN's intellectual property, logos, trademarks, and copyrights may not be used in any manner.”
Social media has clearly impacted how the media covers sports, and I’m not sure how it will evolve. Like ESPN, the NFL and the Marines, companies must move toward a social media policy that sets expectations and guidelines that protects their company’s assets, intellectual property and interests. For information on social media policies, click here.
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