United just published their Social Media policy.  You can read all about it in the latest Inflight Services Weekly newsletter. 

Good for them. I think that United is justified in releasing this policy.

Social Media policies are a common practice for any corporation these days, and from what I can see, compared to other corporate social media policies, United’s policy is pretty reasonable and fair---all things considered.

BTW: I think I’m in violation of the policy section that says “Avoid…registering sites that use or include the name ‘United’”

Oops!  Bummer.  I guess I may have to remove this resource I created.  Lawyers, contact me I’ll shut it down. And don't overcharge United for your service. Sending an email to me takes 5 minutes.  Don't bill them for 5 hours.

I've been publishing United Airlines information and working with internet publishing tools since 1996.  Not all of it has been in agreement with the latest CEO or Go Team Go! at United.  I was pretty hard on Glen Tilton for terminating Retiree medical benefits---and he deserved every bit of it.  I was annoyed by the silly decision in 2001 to remove stripes from flight attendant uniforms.  Yet, in all cases I've tried to show United some kind of respect and be as professional as I can.  Yes, I poke fun at the industry, which, let's face it, provides us all with plenty of material. Guilty as charged.  And I still think the Screw-O-Meter is funny as hell to use for certain kinds of policy changes, even if not everyone over at WHQ agrees with me.

I’m still learning, but can say that I have worked at trying to understand the discipline that goes into knowing how to walk that fine line between Freedom of Expression and Just Being an Asshole Toward a Fellow Employee on Facebook.  And it's not just Facebook.  There’s this total asshole with his anti-United website.  (By the way, I added a rel='nofollow' attribute to that hyperlink so Google won’t count it as helping raise his dumb site's search ranking).

But, then social media came along.  And anyone with a smartphone sitting on a toilet can publish their thoughts instantly to the entire world.  Johannes Gutenberg would roll over in his grave and throw up if he were to ever login to Facebook.

Social media is bullshit, though. Read this book as to why. In fact, Facebook is so lame, that I personally quit the service awhile back.

But I digress…

An interesting sentence from United’s social media policy states, "Your obligation to treat co-workers and customers with dignity and respect applies equally to Social Networking postings."

Amen to that.

I may be in the minority here, but I actually wish that United would crack down on some of the social media nonsense going around---I really do.  I see employees being nasty to each other without limitation, rules, or a care in the world.  Maybe this policy will be the wake-up call certain individuals need.  It’s one thing to disagree with, or even poke fun at, a company decision---particularly a dumb one at that.  It’s quite another to attack a fellow human being or employee for all the world to see.

And you are never anonymous.  United also states in their policy: "United may, in its discretion, review your Social Networking activities and may take action to determine your identity if your posting is anonymous or you use a pseudonym."

What I say here means nothing to you, of course.  Many visitors here will continue to post on those sites.  But be very careful.  With the social media policy, you've been warned by the hand that feeds you (United).  Particularly that part about treating co-workers and customers with dignity and respect.

It’s just common sense.

Which of course, isn't common enough.