Pre-print version of paper accepted for publication in Journalism Studies Learning by Doing - Perspectives on Social Media Guidelines in Norwegian News Organizations Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo k.a.ihlebak@media.uio.no Anders Olof Larsson Faculty of Management Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication & Technology anders.larsson@westerdals.no Abstract The paper at hand investigates journalistic social media use from the perspective of the media organization. Specifically, we examine how media professionals working within Norwegian news organizations perceive social media guidelines by focusing on three empirical areas – assessing perceptions of scope, form and content. Data is collected and analyzed by means of a mixed-method approach. First, we provide results from a large-scale survey of Norwegian editors and journalists. Second, the article details insights from fourteen qualitative elite interviews with editors-in-chief, working in leading news organizations in the context studied. The study shows that while the use of social media present new dilemmas for the organizations, the main goal of guidelines is to allow for journalists to utilize them rather to restrict the use. While guidelines are for the most present, they appear as subordinate to other, more informal ways of control. The uncovered lax approach opens of for experimenting when new technology is introduced, and seems sensible in a rapidly changing technological environment. At the same time, the pressure increases for the individual journalists that have to find their way in a field of work that grows ever more complex. Keywords Journalism; social media; news organisations; guidelines; objectivity