This document has been developed with inspiration and ideas provided by Rich Edelman and his “6 A.M.” blog. Thanks to Mr. Edelman for sharing his “Online Behavior Policies and Procedures” with the Internet community.
The opinions expressed on this site are the opinions of the participating users and may not necessarily reflect the views of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC, Realogy Corporation, or its affiliates, parents, and subsidiaries.
These rules below have been constructed to reflect the evolving norms of online community behavior, especially as pertains to how corporations comport themselves online. These threads of commonality - woven through common sense and the company handbook - will help.
1. Employees are personally responsible for any online activity conducted with an Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate or Realogy email address, and/or which can be traced back to an Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate or Realogy domain, and/or which uses Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate or Realogy assets.
2. Employees must honor the terms of their employment agreement, as well as those of any contracts we have with any client or third party. It is not inappropriate to disclose or use Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate’s or a client’s confidential or proprietary information in any form of online media.
3. All employees must proactively disclose their true identity and affiliation with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate when participating in any online community.
4. Respect the privacy of your colleagues and the opinions of others. Before sharing a comment, post, picture or video about a client or colleague through any type of social media, his/her consent is required.
5. Avoid personal attacks, online fights, and hostile personalities. If a blogger or any other online influencer posts a statement you disagree with, you can voice your opinion, but do not escalate the conversation to a heated, personal argument. Speak reasonably, factually, and with good humor. Try to understand and credit the other person’s point of view. Additionally, avoid communicating with hostile personalities in an effort to avoid personal, professional, or credibility attacks.
6. Identify any copyrighted or borrowed material with citations and links.
7. Evaluate your contribution’s accuracy and truthfulness before posting. If you find that you’ve made a mistake, admit it, apologize correct it and move on.
8. Follow the rules in the Realogy employee handbook.
9. Build a reputation of trust. Don’t use your own personal online relationships or the company’s network to influence polls, rankings, or web traffic.
10. Do not “friend” anyone (as through a social network) whom you either do not actually know and/or with whom you have not previously corresponded.
11. You should ask the permission of any client, journalist, blogger or other online influencer before “friending” them as through a social network. Additionally, any Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate employee who has client, journalist, blogger, or other online influencer contacts should ask them if they want to receive communications via the social networking site. Social Networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace should not be compromised as a way to get the attention of busy clients, journalists, bloggers or other online influencers.
12. Follow the established terms and conditions of use that have been established by the venue used for your social media activities (Web site, blog, discussion forum, etc.). You can usually find links off the home page of each site. Don’t do anything that would violate those rules.
13. Obey the law. Don’t post any information or conduct any online activity that may violate applicable local, state or federal laws or regulations.
14. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Being professional doesn’t mean you can’t also speak in a human voice.
