Social Media Policies Within the Financial Sector in South Africa

• Main Authors: Amanda van den Berg, Miemie Struwig
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-11-01
• Series: SAGE Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020975030

The main purpose of this article is to explore the social media policies of financial institutions in South Africa. Owing to the advances in technology, businesses are exposed to many opportunities but also risks in social media platforms. For the study, a thematic framework was considered to analyze social media policies, which included risk and relationship building, brand image and reputation, stakeholders and communities, disciplinary action and compliance as well as professional and personal guidelines. A qualitative document analysis of social media policies of select South African Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed financial institutions was then conducted. For the data analysis, a thematic document analysis using a consensual qualitative research process was applied. The results showed that all the financial institutions appreciated the value and opportunities provided by social media and ensured strict compliance to their social media policies. However, there were some financial institutions that did not focus on relationship building, did not mention brand image and reputation, did not include all stakeholders, and did not suggest personal guidelines in their social media policies.