Emily Williams
Published: 08/09/2012
Posted by: RET Staff

If these Olympic games have taught us nothing else, they've shown us that an individual's Tweet can impact their entire team and even their entire nation. And, in my opinion, they've given real estate brokers a good reason to revisit their social media policy and take a closer look at the impression their agents/employees are making online.

Twitter No-No's

The Olympic athletes I referenced at the beginning of this article were lambasted for making racist and otherwise-deeply-offensive remarks on Twitter. You'd think it would be common sense to abstain from that kind of activity on a public forum. Alas, you can't underestimate common sense enough, so let's lay out a few Twitter no-no's you should share with your team:

1. Don't make comments about politics, religion, race, sexual orientation, or any other even remotely incendiary subject. In doubt about whether or not something is incendiary? Then just stay away from it!
2. Don't criticize the company or representatives of the company. Complaining about management, co-workers and company policy is simply not okay.
3. Don't reveal business secrets or plans for the future. There are some things your competitors shouldn't know.

You should go further than mentioning these Twitter mistakes in a team meeting. I recommend developing a formal social media policy.