Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Why You Need a NEW Social Media Policy (Now!)



Attorney Daniel Schwarz just wrote a very interesting article about one of the big privacy issues happening in social media: "Workplace Issues Now Grow on “Vines”; Why Employers Need a Policy More Than Ever."


Here is why you should care:



"Employees, while still using Facebook, are using lots of other sites now to share information. In fact, the number one free app in the Apple App Store now is Vine.""Never heard of it? You will soon.  Its a product of Twitter and a new social networking site where people can share looping six second videos."



"Here’s the workplace angle though; just like Facebook, people are using Vine to take videos of their workplace."



"What if an employee posted a self-portrait video driving heavy machinery at the airport? Um, someone did that too."


"Then, there is this guy who really doesn’t want to work and shows videos from the back office."


"And let’s not forget that this employee has enough time to read Harry Potter and listen to Pandora while showing an empty workplace."


"All these videos were found doing a search of the hashtag “#work” on Vine; I found them in about 5 minutes. 

All employees need is a smartphone and an app, and the damage is done."


So what can be done? I suggest you consider a more detailed social media policy. I also suggest you read Daniel's column.