Featured image by Tara Winstead

Effective human-centered policies and practices require more than good intentions. They need specific, actionable guidelines that address the realities of social media work while maintaining operational effectiveness.

Many organizations struggle to translate the ideals of employee well-being and human-centered values into practical policies and structures that protect social media teams from the unique challenges of digital work. This gap between intention and implementation often leaves teams vulnerable to the psychological toll of online harassment, traumatic content exposure and unsustainable work demands.

Today, we’ll talk about three ways our leadership teams can bring the human back to digital:

1. Building processes for triaging challenging content
2. Managing response time expectations and human limitations
3. Integrating wellness practices into the workplace

 

Building Processes for Triaging Challenging Content

Social media teams regularly encounter disturbing content, from breaking news coverage to malicious posts, yet many organizations lack systematic approaches to protect their teams from psychological harm. With two-thirds of Americans saying social media has made political discussions less civil, creating structured processes for handling challenging content isn’t just helpful—it’s essential for team sustainability and legal protection.

 

Questions Your Leadership Should Ask:

• How can we minimize potential exposure to team members? Are we rotating social media call more frequently during crisis events or high-intensity times?

• What technology safeguards do we have in place to filter harmful content before it reaches our team?

• Do we have keyword filters or the ability to block potentially traumatic content? Are apps set to not automatically play videos in the feed?

• How do we currently support employees after they encounter disturbing material?

• How do we protect our employees’ personal information from being shared in hostile online environments?

• Do our teams know how to access employee assistance programs or our organization’s crisis support team?

• What are protocols for when employees receive threats or are doxxed?

• Do we have clear criteria for “bad faith” conversations that teams should avoid?

• Have we defined and communicated when HR, legal, and security teams should be involved?

 

Managing Response Time Expectations And Human Limitations

Traditional social media policies often create impossible standards by demanding immediate responses without considering human capacity limitations. If your billing department and customer service teams are only online 8-5, your social media team shouldn’t be expected to be responsive 24-7. Aligning digital expectations with human capabilities protects teams while maintaining professional service standards.

 

Questions Your Leadership Should Ask:

• Are our response time expectations realistic given our social media team and customer service teams’ sizes and coverage hours?

• Do we have clear criteria for what constitutes a true emergency requiring immediate response?

• How do we protect employees’ personal time while ensuring adequate coverage?

• Are we staffed appropriately for the level of engagement we expect to maintain?

• What are our escalation criteria and contacts for after-hours messages?

• What are our rotation schedules so no individual bears constant on-call burden?

• Can we create auto-response systems that manage expectations during non-business hours?

• How can we implement “right to disconnect” policies that protect personal time?

• Do we have surge capacity plans for high-activity periods?

• Can we implement workload monitoring systems that flag overload conditions?

• Have we established content quality checkpoints that ensure brand standards without creating bottlenecks?

• Do we have the right tools, technology and staffing to support efficient work?

• Do we have backup plans and priorities for when key team members are unavailable or for when resources are limited?

 

Integrating Wellness Practices into the Workplace

With 82% of social media managers experiencing mental health impacts from their work, wellness can’t be an afterthought. It must be built into the foundation of how social media teams operate.

 

Questions Your Leadership Should Ask:

• How do we proactively monitor team well-being rather than waiting for burnout symptoms?

• Do our managers have the training and tools to support employees experiencing digital stress?

• What mental health resources do we offer that specifically address the unique challenges of social media work?

• How does our physical and digital work environment support or hinder employee well-being?

• Can our leaders recognize early signs of digital burnout, and are they empowered to redistribute work or offer resources to help?

• Do we offer our teams access to mental health professionals familiar with digital work challenges?

• Can we create screen-free meeting days or “offline zones” where team members can work without digital distractions?

• Can we implement mandatory disconnection periods during high-stress events?

 

Moving Forward: Policy As Protection

The goal of human-centered social media policies is not to coddle employees or lower performance standards. It’s to create sustainable systems that protect human dignity, retain team members and maintain operational effectiveness. In an increasingly hostile digital environment, these policies and practices serve as essential infrastructure for long-term organizational success.

 

Author: Robbie Schneider, SMS

Robbie Schneider, SMS, is a healthcare content marketing leader and social media strategist, and author of Social Media, Sanity & You: A Guide To Mental Wellness For The Digital Marketer.

Robbie has more than 20 years’ experience using traditional and emerging media platforms to connect and engage consumer audiences in the healthcare space. She leads the social media and blog content strategy for Franciscan Health and serves as a board chair with SocialMedia.org Health.