While some PR and marketing departments fear the use of social media by employees for engaging dialogue with customers and the public in general, Intel is trying to work with it by publishing a document called “Social Media Guidelines” that contains rules of engagement for online social discussion. Social media can also be a terrific way for companies to engage customers in a more grassroots way, and many organizations are beginning to realize this.

Here are a few of the guidelines in Intel’s social media document:

- Stick to your area of expertise and provide unique, individual perspectives on what’s going on at Intel and in the world.
- Post meaningful, respectful comments-in other words, no spam and no remarks that are off-topic or offensive.
- Always pause and think before posting. That said, reply to comments in a timely manner, when a response is appropriate.
- Respect proprietary information and content, and confidentiality.
- When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite.
- Know and follow the Intel Code of Conduct and the Intel Privacy Policy.
The full document containing the guidelines can be found here. http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/social-media.htm

In terms of publishing on blogs, Intel warns that authors often times publish directly and without oversight of a formal publishing process. Although Intel is loosening up control over some company generated content, the benefits may outweigh the challenges in that a more “balanced”, open and dynamic conversation may form with it’s customer base and greater public.