Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are great opportunities for companies to expand their businesses and reach new customers.
They also could be a big liability.
Any comments businesses post on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites could lead to a lawsuit over libel, invasion of privacy, and even copyright infringement – just like official e-mails and memos.
Here are six easy ways to limit your exposure:
1. Get a guru or gatekeeper: Designate someone with background and expertise in social media to screen content before it is posted on a social networking site.
2. Have standards: Create rules on who is allowed to post and set guidelines on what can be posted.
3. Respond rapidly: Here’s the upside to all this risk – errors are easy to fix and can be done quickly at the click of a button. Don’t hesitate to take down content that is inappropriate or damaging to the reputation of your business.
4. Be cyber secure: Create corporate usernames and passwords to prevent unauthorized posts by employees.
5. Update your contracts: Make sure all your contracts are current and that they permit the use of content in new media as well as the old.
6. Ask the big question: Does this post actually advance the interests of your business? If it doesn’t, then it’s not worth the risk.
For more information about protecting your business call us at 781-237-1515 or visit our Web site: delandgibson.com.
