According to PCWorld.com "more than half of all adult Internet users in the United States either visit or maintain a profile on at least one social networking site." While social media is rapidly becoming the social norm for many Internet users, social media rules, regulations, best practices, and social etiquette have not really been created for the workplace.

Social media is hard enough to navigate without adding the workplace element. Is it acceptable to add your coworkers on Facebook? Should you Tweet about a project you’re working on? For employers it’s important to maintain a proper public decorum, and that extends to social media. So how can your business and employees avoid

potentially damaging social media situations?

Have a Dedicated Social Media Expert

One way to prevent conflict and issues is to have a designated social media expert that engages others through the business handle and to ban employees from mentioning the company through social media platforms.

Even small businesses should have someone who focuses on social media so they can garner exposure and branch out to customers on the Internet. However, it’s important to limit what is said or mentioned about the company-- you don’t want multiple employees saying different things, especially when it’s inaccurate. It’s also important to control how things are said-- from a branding and messaging standpoint.

Create Social Media Policies

As noted below, you can use HR management software to create, distribute and report on workplace social media policies and guidelines or you can sit down with your HR department and try to come up with social media policies on your own. If you do decide to create your own policies, think through several situations. Do you want to give written warnings for employees that violate company polices? What don’t you want your employees to say?

While social media can be a great tool to boost your company’s exposure, it’s important to exert control over the channels. Increased exposure could mean increased risk that more harm than good is created. Think long and hard about what is OK and what is not OK for your employees to say through social media and make sure to document it in a handbook making it clear to employees what your company’s policies are and the consequences for non-compliance .

Utilize HR Management Software

There are several HR management software tools on the market than can help your business with human resources specialties, social media policies included. Compli, for instance, has software that offers policy and best practice recommendations. They also help clients analyze their needs, adopt and implement written policies and educate heir employees on what is expected when using social media tools and channels.

It can be difficult to manage your employees through the tricky terrain of social media, but with HR management software, it can be much easier to come up with solutions and social media policies.