Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing that policy! We're still working out our social media policies for staff (clinical staff, administrative staff, management and community managers alike!) and having examples like mindyourmind's to reference is very helpful. (I will let you know if we adapt or modify any part of it for our own agencies.)
Nexus recently launched its social media strategy with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, along with a brand new website. As part of the process, we worked with youth to develop Community Guidelines, which are posted across all our social media channels and our website. Ultimately, we want youth to be fully engaged in managing our social media strategy, but until that point we're making a concerted effort to include them in every decision making process possible. Part of that means sitting down with them at various points (usually once every other month or so) to discuss their expectations for our social media strategy, as well as guidelines for maintaining a safe online space (just like our offline counselling and drop-in spaces). It's educational for us because it means we learn what they want and what they don't want to see from us online, how they want to interact with us online, and what's important to them outside the parameters of mental health alone and how we can meet their needs in those areas as well. It's also an opportunity to talk about topics ranging from privacy and online safety, to using the Internet to find a job or get into college. So far it's been a rewarding experience for both parties.
While we know we're reaching fellow community health organizations, mental health organizations, elected officials and the general public, what we're not sure about is our actual impact on the youth we serve because we made a commitment NOT to seek out youth to follow and NOT to follow them back if they follow us. This was a decision we came to because we want to respect youths' privacy and not blur the lines between counselling and life outside of counselling for both our clients and our staff. (In our initial meetings about social media, this was something the youth strongly supported.) It would be really helpful to hear how some other organizations are managing this dilemma and if you think this decision warrants rethinking.
Thanks in advance!