I love social media stories. In the afternoon session on social media policies in the workplace, I got to hear a few that I had not heard before. They all start out like bad jokes… have you heard the one about three teenage girls who use a sink at KFC like a hot tub? Have you heard the one about the airline pilots? I am just waiting for the day when one of these stories starts out have you heard the one about the lawyer… (although, while at the conference, I was forwarded a link regarding a case in MA which does have social media aspects and involves an attorney and a law school student/aspiring model… which was fitting).
Several of the issues that were raised were that posting trade secrets in blogs can have dire consequences for a company (read: make the trade secret not so secret) and the FTC rules regarding endorsements. For those attorneys that work in social media, these points probably were more confirmation of already existing knowledge. However, for those who are not well versed in social media and/or online advertising law, it was probably eye-opening that employees promoting their employer’s products can cause big issues for the company.
Although there were many dangers highlighted, both attorneys on the panel mentioned the benefits of social media use by employees too. Client interaction, advertising, and addressing negative comments by foes were just a few ways employees could help a company through the use of social media.
I agree with the panel that social media, in some form, is here to stay. Trying to stop employees from using it is an uphill battle that will probably be lost. However, companies need to be smart about it and make sure they have the correct policies in place to deal with social media, and to be honest, overall communications whether online or offline.
