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Social Media Philosophy and Guidelines
The Foundation’s social media policy is based on the current use of social media platforms and
incorporates all existing Foundation policies. Our Social Media Philosophy and Guidelines will continue
to evolve as our adoption of social media tools evolves.
It is our intent to foster use of social media tools in line with Foundation values. The Communications,
Human Resources and Legal departments have compiled examples to demonstrate and clarify how
these guidelines should be implemented.
Philosophy
Staff are encouraged to be good ambassadors for the Foundation in their work online and offline. Staff
may use social media to listen, learn and share information in an immediate and transparent manner in
pursuit of impact; and to do so in line with our values, with good judgment and respect.
Policy Guidelines
1. All existing Foundation policies apply to your use of social media. Please refer to the Employee
Handbook on INYO. If you are routinely using social media tools for your work, be sure your
supervisor knows and understands the scope of your use of social media.
2. If you are blogging or posting to social media sites Personal Identity:
in your professional capacity, you may not engage  Only personal email address affiliated with account
in lobbying activities or political campaigns.
 No Packard Foundation resources used
You may exercise your right as an individual to
participate in the political or legislative process,
but the Foundation asks that you take utmost
care to ensure that your position with the
Foundation is not involved and not perceived to
be involved in these activities..
Specifically, this means that your Packard
Foundation email account cannot be associated
with any online accounts that you may use to
engage in political activities.
3.
 If employer is listed in your profile, consider using a
disclaimer to clarify your views are personal
OK
OK
OK
OK
Lobbying
Political Campaigns
Solicitation
Partisan views
Work-Related Identity:
 Packard email address is affiliated with account
 Activity or posting content during business hours
 Employer/job title is listed in your profile
NO Lobbying
NO Political Campaigns
NO Solicitation
NO Partisan
views to the confidential nature
When discussing the Foundation, grantees or your work,
be sensitive
of certain information, e.g., pending grants, personnel, pending Foundation policies, or other
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information that hasn’t yet been finalized or shared with the public. Check-in with your
supervisor if you have a question about whether or not something fits into this category.
4. All uses of the Foundation logo (both online and off) require approval from the Communications
Department. If you would like to use the Foundation logo in a blog/post/tweet please email
Catherine Afarian at cafarian@packard.org to request the appropriate approvals. All requests
are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
5. Consider if you are speaking in your professional role or from a personal perspective. Be sure to
claim your views as personal when appropriate. In order to clarify your personal views, you may
want to include a disclaimer in your post or in your profile. For example, “the views expressed in
this blog are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.” Using separate personal and
professional accounts will further highlight this distinction.
6. Be authentic and respect others’ work. Don’t plagiarize. When referencing others’ ideas, photos,
or words be sure to credit the original source and comply with copyright laws. Pay attention to
copyright statements and warnings. Feel free to ask Communications or Legal if you have
questions.
7. Networking is good. Friending, following, re-tweeting, and getting LinkedIn to others in the field
(grantees, other funders, collaborators etc.) allows you to be a part of the social media
community and to learn and engage with others. Keep in mind that online interactions should
generally mirror in-person relationships. Post comments or updates that you would be
comfortable sharing with your network and colleagues in person. Trustees, foundation staff and
grantees may choose to “friend” or connect with one another at their own discretion, but are not
obligated to do so. Keep in mind that information flows in both directions – if you regularly post
personal photos and information to your current Facebook page that you would hesitate to
share with a Trustee or grantee – you may want to set up a second Facebook page specifically
for professional networking purposes.
8. Common sense wins the day. Remember that your online activities are public. Use good
judgment and when in doubt -- Ask! Your supervisor can provide guidance on programmatic
uses of social media. The Communications or Legal Departments can also provide counsel
regarding your online activities, our policies and guidelines.
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Social Media Tips
These tips draw on the advice and experience of bloggers for Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Yahoo! and, in
particular, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others who use Social Media in their work.
1. Make a contribution. You can do so by both writing about your ideas or experiences and by
creating hyperlinks to the newspapers, magazine articles, studies, blog posts or commentaries of
others who have insights that you value.
2. Be transparent. When adding content to social media platforms for work purposes, be clear
about who you are and your role with the Foundation. Consider using separate profiles to
distinguish when your ideas reflect your personal views or professional contributions. Identify
yourself and write in the first person about things you know; your credibility and knowledge will
show. If you’re not sufficiently knowledgeable about a particular subject, consider encouraging a
colleague who is knowledgeable about the subject to write about it. (Reminder: If you are
expressing your personal opinions, our Guidelines call for the use of a disclaimer such as, “These
views are my own and don’t necessarily reflect the views of my employer.”)
3. Copy-edit your posts. Use the spell-checker and be grammatically correct. Informality is not an
excuse for misspellings, bad grammar or poor style.
4. Be clear if you make updates to a post. If you correct a post or comment, say so.
5. Be conversational when you write. When writing, imagine you are talking on the telephone with
a friend who is generally knowledgeable but may not understand the nuances of the topic. Be
transparent, ask questions, invite comments from others and listen to what they have to say.
6. Remember basic etiquette. Don’t post entries that are off-topic to the blog or post comments
that are off-topic to the specific post you’re commenting on. And follow the general rules of
online etiquette, e.g., don’t post in all capital letters.
7. Be prepared for disagreement, especially on controversial issues, but don’t attack individuals or
encourage individual attacks. In your post, try to provide some details and reasoning for your
positions; when possible, acknowledge why people might disagree.
8. Be respectful. Remember that many people may read your posts; they are not private. If you
have a nagging concern that you wouldn’t want your post or comments to be read by a
particular person, find a different way to express yourself, or find a different topic to write
about altogether.
9. Be aware that irony, sarcasm or other comments often do not translate in writing. If you mean
your words ironically or sarcastically, you should probably rewrite your post to make sure your
meaning is clear.
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10. Remind yourself to smile while posting on social media platforms. Your mood is likely to come
through in your writing. If you’re in a bad mood, it may be best to wait before you post your
thoughts on public platforms.