Social media is a great tool for homeowners associations. It’s good for information dissemination such as updates on events or work being done, sending out reminders, and even creating a space for the community to interact with each other. All in a quick and efficient way.

However, social media can get troublesome quickly and efficiently too. After all, it’s a space on the internet where everyone acts a little bolder than they do in real life. If not handled properly, it can become a burden rather than an asset.

Here’s how you can make sure your HOA’s social media pages are a safe and productive space for both the board and the community.

Choose the right platform

There are many social media sites to choose from but what’s best for HOAs is a place for the community to be exclusive and where they can easily interact with each other. The availability of additional applications such as scheduling events or creating polls to vote on a matter are also helpful for an HOA. It also has instant direct messaging for concerns some may not be comfortable sharing with the entire community.

All these can be found on Facebook, which makes it the best platform for an HOA. Aside from being able to create a page and inviting members, it’s also the one platform most people over 40, the age of most homeowners, are already familiar with.

Create rules and guidelines

Once you create your Facebook page, the next thing to do is establish rules and guidelines for how members should behave and interact on it. Place them on the About section of the page or anywhere else appropriate for everyone to view once they join. Make a note that anyone found violating these rules will be permanently banned from the page so members know to strictly abide by them.

Examples of such rules can be banning the use of foul, derogatory, or hurtful language in posts or limiting a certain activity such as buying, selling, or trading to specific days of the week only. 

Keep topics relevant

Another important rule for the page is to make sure that sensitive topics, such as politics, aren’t discussed. This can lead to some disagreements and possible arguments on the page. As creator of the page, you can set yourself as a moderator or you can get someone to do it, so that posts by the community are screened before they appear on the page.

Engage with the community

Now that rules and topics to avoid have been established, it’s time to talk about what you can discuss on your HOA page. Make it a place where members of the community look forward to visiting and interacting with each other so that their real life relationships can grow too, and you have yourself residents that are happy and caring of one another and the board.

One way to engage with the members of the page is to create topics for discussion on certain days. For example, Mondays can be for trading recipes or Fridays for book swaps, and the rest of the week can be free for all.

It’s also important to check and answer direct messages consistently and promptly. Unaddressed concerns can be cause for a resident’s anger.

Always be professional

An HOA is a business and as your Facebook page is an extension of that, it should reflect a business page as well. You shouldn’t be posting anything personal or unrelated to the HOA and the same goes for the members. How you interact with the members publicly on the page or privately on messages should also reflect a professional demeanor.

Careful with posting

A Facebook page is linked to a Facebook profile and you can toggle between the two when you’re posting on the website. If you created your HOA’s Facebook page with your personal account, you can mistakenly post as the page when you meant to on your personal profile. Always double check what account is posting before you share something inappropriate for the HOA page.

Keep laws in mind

Not only do social media platforms have their own policies, there are also actual laws that protect social media users, whether it’s individual accounts or business pages or brands. Be wary of plagiarism, copyright issues, and other privacy rights when posting.

Hire a Social Media Manager for your HOA

Does all of that sound too much, on top of all the work you already do for your HOA? We get it.

You can hire someone to handle your HOA’s social media from us! Talk to us today about your HOA assistant needs by booking an obligation-free consultation.