Blog Council members highlighted for ethical social media policies

As many of you know, the Blog Council has worked hard to establish strong ethical guidelines in corporate social media.

In a recent article, David Gelles of the Financial Times reports on the Belkin scandal in which an employee offered $0.65 for anyone willing to submit positive reviews for Belkin products on Amazon.

While the scandal is a reminder of how much work remains in spreading the Blog Council’s message of ethics and disclosure to our corporate peers, we’re thrilled that members Coca-Cola and UPS were highlighted in the article for their social media ethics policies.

Here’s an excerpt from Gelles’ article:

Last year, Coca-Cola established its own set of social media guidelines and distributed them in a memo to all employees. The policy emphasizes the need for transparency and encourages employees to use common sense when discussing the brand online. “We’ve always had very diverse channels to reach consumers,” says Adam Brown, digital communications director. “Wherever they are, that’s where we go. That’s now evolved into the need for a social media policy.”

So when Mr Brown went online to promote Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl advertisements, he followed the guidelines. On Facebook, Mr. Brown announced that he was a Coke employee and pointed other users to the Coke ads on YouTube. On Pittsburgh Steelers fan forums, Mr. Brown, who is from Pittsburgh, named his employer and then directed fans to the Coke blog, which had an interview with Steelers’ defensive star Troy Polamalu.

Click here to read the full article (registration required).