Kieran Hawe from Westfair Online on Vimeo.
With daily reports of mis-texted tweets and digital faux pas, businesses are realizing that social media is a double-edged sword.
“What”™s being accomplished on social media really comes down to the business”™s objectives and goals, of how you want to be portrayed out there,” said Kieran Hawe, a Stamford-based private digital media consultant, digital marketer at Disney Publishing Worldwide and advisory board member at the Connecticut Online Marketing Association.
“It”™s really about understanding that this information is going to be out there and accessible for a very long time.”
Employers should have in place a plan to manage their social-media presence, Hawe said, and make sure employees know the rules. On Wall Street, he said, it”™s rare to find a senior executive in an embarrassing social media situation because they understand the repercussions of sharing information.
“It”™s not about social media ”“ it”™s about understanding the power of putting out information,” said Hawe.
Hawe cited the embarrassing situations that sports stars, politicians and celebrities seem to be involved and pointed to a culture that was used to having guidance in regard to public statements.
“You have to be OK with being out there, and therefore think about what you say,” he said. “The younger generations get that more than anyone else, but they are also the most judgmental. They know how to use these technologies positively and negatively, and are more aware of how others use them.”
Hawe said older generations are still trying to grasp the idea of immediacy. He said businesses should think about social media in two ways ”“ as a corporate voice and employee voices.
Establish a policy for online activity
“The first thing that a company needs to do is define a social-media policy ”¦ they need to have one yesterday,” said Melissa Fleischer, president of the HR Learning Center in Rye, N.Y.
Fleischer helps employers navigate employment laws and has programs that focus on social media. “Most corporations have set up policies at this point,” she said. “There are most definitely legal risks and they need to ensure they protect themselves.”
According to the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center”™s 2011 Reputation Management and Social Media study, of employed internet users 27 percent work for corporations that have policies about social media and how they present themselves online.
Hawe said from the mailroom to the boardroom, employees using social media need to understand they are representing the company they work for. Hawe himself offers disclaimers on his Twitter account when he”™s working with different brands.
“In this day and age you can find out a ton of information about someone by doing a quick search,” said Hawe. “That includes the place that they work ”¦ people who argue that their social media is private also need to be mindful that it”™s not a closed system.”
According to the Pew Research Center study, 44 percent of adults who go online have searched for information about someone whose services or advice the seek in a professional capacity, and 31 percent of employed internet users have searched online for information about coworkers, professional colleagues or business competitors.
Hawe said Twitter”™s ability to index and sort ideas and information makes it one of the most open areas of social media.
“Through Twitter you”™re giving a very large amount of people (information that is) brief and easy to understand and pass on,” said Hawe. “Today information can travel very fast in very large, uncontrolled channels. That can be good or bad.”
Employers at a disadvantage
Fleischer said the most common work-related issue in regard to social media is employers attempting to terminate an employee because of online posts.
“It”™s a huge issue,” she said. “It most often involves terminating an employee for unlawful off-duty conduct.”
Fleischer said that California, Colorado, North Dakota and New York have laws prohibiting an employer from terminating an employee for legal off-duty conduct, including that on social media sites.
In February 2011, a settlement was reached with American Medical Response of Connecticut in Hartford regarding the firing of an employee who criticized the company on Facebook. In the case, the National Labor Relations Board maintained the firing was illegal because the employee”™s online comments should be akin to “protected concerted activity.”
Fleischer said how employers view employee social media accounts and whether there are certain privacies being violated can also create issues. She said business managers should be careful about viewing anything that could be private because it can qualify as violating privacy rights.
“Researching employees or candidates on social media can be a dangerous road,” said Fleischer. “These sites can show you if a person is pregnant, their religion, age or if they have a disability. Viewing the page can taint the ability to be unbiased and even allow you to be sued for discrimination.”
”˜So much is at stake”™
Fleischer said the accessibility to social media via smartphones and email has increased the potential for work-related problems. She recommends companies define standards for time spent tending to in-office work while out of the office.
“Many companies are violating wage and hour laws through their expectation of contact,” said Fleischer. “The employer should be proactive in these policies.”
Hawe said that while some employers are trying to staff up in the area of social-media management, the people who would handle the issues may be well-versed in public relations and human resources but not necessarily in how to handle these channels.
“The job market out there for entry-level social media people is growing strong,” said Hawe. “Anybody who has experience managing a channel is very valuable to business right now. Businesses are realizing so much is at stake, there are some major opportunities.”
