Resources for Church Social Media Policies

March 6, 2010

My congregation needs a social media policy. So this morning I set out on a little Web quest to look at such policies created by other churches. I bet we’re far from alone, but to my surprise, I could find almost nothing.

That said, there are a few excellent general resources. I pass them along for those who might have similar needs.

• Safe Church guidelines for social media from the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut was the closest match to what I was looking for. It has specific suggested language, and even a way to create a small booklet to distribute. I’ll be doing just that with my congregation’s Communication Committee.
• One of my favorite church blogs, New Media for Unitarian Universalists by Shelby Meyerhoff, has Does the UUA have a sample “new media policy” for congregations? It’s a list of “some general principles that may help guide congregations in their new media use.”
• Finally, 12 Tips for Developing a Social Networking Policy and Usage Guidelines for Your Church has another helpful checklist of things to consider.

Do you know of other social media policy resources for churches — particularly sample policies? If so, please let me know.

P.S. A late addition: ChurchCruch recommends PolicyTool for Social Media for quickly generating what we need.

Posted in: Social Web