Here’s Drew’s take on Online Civility

Somewhere, with the advent of social media tools, we lost our discretion gene. Now many people will point to Facebook and teenagers and say that THEY have no filter. THEY share inappropriate things. THEY bully their peers.

And they do. But so do we. The adults.

I have seen many professionals that I know and respect say things online (in chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter, their blogs etc) that they would never say out loud in a meeting, at a cocktail party or if they were in front of the person in question.

Before you hit “publish” or “update” you need to ask yourself these questions:

• Would I say that out loud in front of this group of people or person?
• Would I say it out loud in front of my kids?
• Would I say it out loud in front of my co-workers?
• Would I be proud to have this associated with my name for all time?

Because the truth of the matter is….you are saying in front of those people, saying it out loud in front of your kids, friends, family and peers and it will be associated with your name for all time.

Somehow the artificial “wall” that the computer screen creates makes people feel more removed and somehow immune to the consequences of their words. Of course, that’s not the case at all. In fact, thanks to Google’s archival abilities, if anything — we should be more polite, more discreet, more respectful and more careful about what we say online.

But, as a society, we haven’t learned that painful lesson yet.

Until the discretion gene reappears, employers need to be mindful of the risk they’re at, in terms of their employees behavior. Every company should have a social media policy, much like we all have sexual harassment policies today.

You can find a good sampling of social media policy examples here.

As people, we need to think before we type. And as employers, we need to protect ourselves until everyone does just that.

A guest video blog from our friend Ken Olsen from CDS Global. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJVLNQM6-fE

Kristi Knous, from the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, is passionate about her job and the opportunities she has. Hear what she and her team are doing to make Des Moines a better place. 

My favorite way to pass the time on summer mornings is to go for a run, and my favorite place to do that is in Des Moines. I love to run around Gray’s Lake, take the Meredith Trail and run past Principal Park.

The other day I passed the Kiwanis Miracle League Field. The Miracle League allows children who have disabilities to play baseball on a safe, rubberized field, which was funded by the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. Children with disabilities in Iowa had very little opportunity to play organized sports before Miracle League, and it is wonderful for them to have the opportunity to play baseball for the first time.

The Community Foundation nominated the Des Moines Kiwanis for the Organization of Character Award in 2008 for starting the Miracle League and they won the award for their superb work. The Miracle League project brought other nonprofit organizations and donors together. The aligned resources made the project take shape more quickly and it was fun to see how working together made a huge impact.We really are better together!

The Community Foundation provides funding to improve the quality of life in Greater Des Moines. Being a good example of character and working to better our community are important to the Community Foundation. Community organizations like the Des Moines Kiwanis exemplify what the Community Foundation loves to see—hard work and commitment to help make our community even better.

I encourage you to make our community better by donating your time, treasure and talent to our community’s nonprofit organizations. Join us in building a better community by keeping these important organizations running!