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Most

likely, you have a Facebook account. So

does almost everyone in your common interest development. Facebook has 800 million users currently and it is projected that by this summer there will be almost one billion users. That’s right—a billion. Twitter is another common social media outlet. It

is even more popular than Facebook

for many of your members, depending on the demographics of your association. With over 500 million users this year, Twitter has become its own news network reporting in real time on everything from tornados to foreign political revolutions. Using only 140 characters at a time, it has become a main source of facts and inspiration for the entire world.

The fact is, most of your members aren’t surfing the web anymore and probably won’t be checking your association’s web page either. In many instances they won’t even be reading your newsletters. Instead, your members will be following you as board members, committee members and the association itself (if it has an account) on Twitter and Facebook. It will be a Tweet or a Facebook message they are reading to remind them of an annual meeting or to gain information about the association’s activities, not the minutes or a meeting or a notice mailed to them or posted on a wall in the common area.

With all of this and the transition which is occurring by many associations to various social media outlets, issues relating to privacy, free speech, defamation, trademark and copyright and other legal issues more than suggest that a policy be considered for associations as to the use of social media. With some limited exceptions, the board of a common interest development will not be able to legislate to its members what can and cannot be communicated by them via social media. The board can, however, put in place a policy for its board, committees, professional management companies and vendors to adhere to when using social media.

Social media policies can be loose or detailed, long or short. You get to choose. What is important is that you make a choice. To do nothing invites problems while at the same time taking away from the board the protections offered by the business judgement rule—a defense which can be raised when the board makes protected business decisions such as these. A sampling of the social media policies being used by 100 large companies and organizations can be found at: http://socialmediatoday.com/ralphpaglia/141903/ social-media-employee-policy-examples-over-100- companies-and-organizations

However you decide to craft yours, among the points you will want to consider for inclusion in social media policy will be the following:

Decide who is approved to speak on behalf of the association in social media. The association might consider picking one person to speak on its behalf and direct that person to the articles and other training which will help them steer clear of problems.

Make it clear who is authorized to create social media accounts for the association. For instance, consider adopting a rule that no new Twitter, Facebook or other social media accounts be established without the approval of the board.

Set some boundaries for content. For example, matters which involved the association’s contracts, its employment decisions, attorney-client matters, collection matters subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other matters of a sensitive or private nature should not be discussed. What personal matters are discussed is a matter of discretion; however the board should give some guidance to those involved in posting to social media sites on behalf of the association as to matters which are appropriate to achieve the purposes decided upon.

An association is a community. What is said by the leadership in the community can create harmony or friction. As to board and committee members personal accounts, when discussing association affairs they should make clear that they are not speaking on behalf of the association when they are not.

Some content just should not be posted anywhere. This

probably includes

offensive language or photos, private or confidential information or posting anything which is defamatory. This may seem obvious, but put it in the policy anyway.

16 Community Associations Journal | July 2013