The internet might seem like a scary place to do business, but with counsel and content regulation, it can be a powerful tool in association management.
may say things online as a private member of the community that would be completely improper if said in their capacity as a director. A member may hate their neighbor’ s dog and want to complain about it online; a director, on the other hand, has a duty to act in the best interests of their association, and their individual biases should be set aside. Associations, for decorum and other purposes, may again want to enact board policies regarding directors’ online conduct, and / or adopt rules that make it clear to the membership that only posts from certain accounts or email addresses should be treated as“ official,” to the exclusion of any others.
Another rising concern for associations moving into the modern world of digital communications is moderation and content regulation. If an association is considering hosting a website or other service that has forums or otherwise allows members to address each other and the board directly, the board needs to establish its moderation and hosting responsibilities. If an association is going to moderate online content, a clear policy for both the membership and the board should be created regarding what content is or is not acceptable. Such policies may also address how content violations will be handled and how the association can enforce its content restrictions. Policies and rules like this will go a long way toward ensuring that a degree of civility
The internet might seem like a scary place to do business, but with counsel and content regulation, it can be a powerful tool in association management.
is observed. For such policies to be effective, however, the board must ensure compliance with all requirements and enforce them fairly and equally among all participating members.
These are just a few examples of issues that can arise when an association uses social media and the internet. A Florida association should cautiously and slowly increase its internet and social media presence in a manner that suits its community’ s needs.
Certainly, the more active an association becomes in cyberspace, the more risks and potential liability it faces. At each step, proper policies, and rules and regulations should be adopted to protect not just the association but also to provide clarity for the membership. The internet may be a scary place, but with proper guidance and counsel, there’ s no reason an association cannot make use of such a powerful tool.
WWW. CAIW�STFLO�IDA. O�G community • September 2026
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