Social Networking Shows Companies its Ugly Side
N. Kimberly Hoesl
Marianne Ibrahim
Doyle, Restrepo, Harvin & Robbins, L.L.P.

Although there are many benefits to social networking for companies such as increased exposure and marketing, there are also many ramifications. Companies should be attuned to their employees' use of social networking and provide clear and specific guidelines for the protection of both the employee and the employer.

I. High Stakes

Productivity & Risks:
A recent study reported that the top cyber media vehicles used are:¹

• Facebook (80%)
• Twitter (66%)
• YouTube (55%)
• LinkedIn (49%)
• Blogs (43%)

Is access to these social networking sites important to the functioning of your company or does is it result in "social-not working"? The TV show "The Office" depicts playing solitaire as the ultimate downtime activity for employees. Facebook has the potential of becoming the next solitaire game—the biggest diversion at work after personal email. However, it has far more ramifications as it is loaded with both personal and business information. Social networking sites can be more than simply detrimental to employee productivity; they can harm a company's brand or reputation.²

Company Privacy
Organizations should be concerned with confidentiality and security breaches in cyber space. More than just Facebook and productivity issues, the potential to leak company information also expands to the "business" network sites. Disclosure of information by engineers, chemists, or other specialized professionals may risk exposure of confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. Revelation of seemingly harmless information by other employees may reveal private information to competitors. Statements by executives or insiders may mislead the securities industry. Information disclosed by legal counsel and staff may breach attorney-client privileges. Such concerns lead to several questions companies should consider: Who decides what is appropriate to post or not? Can someone post information about an upcoming promotion or big assignment? Does your company have a policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work? What about policies after work?

Company Image:
Beyond leaking private information or affecting productivity, other information leaked through cyber space, such as harmful or altered pictures you don't want clients or customers to see, disgruntled employee complaints, or false rumors, may harm a company's brand or image.

These are some recent examples of social networking blunders turned potential corporate image debacles:

• Domino's Pizza employees posted a distasteful YouTube video about how pizzas were made. The franchise owner lost 58% of his business and ended up closing down his business, and Dominoes officials struggled to diminish the harm.³
• A man posted a threatening comment on a blog page using his wife's 1-800-Flowers e-mail address, which ended up costing her job.⁴
• A newly hired employee found her way out of the job when she tweeted this: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."⁵
• The president of Whole Foods, John Mackey, posted negative comments about competitor Wild Oats before the merger of the two companies.⁶

As one commentator notes, "grown-ups don't seem to be using social media any more wisely than kids."⁷

II. Resolutions

In-house counsel should be aware of these issues, and encourage senior management to be proactive rather than reactive. A recent survey reported that more than half of U.S. companies have blocked social networking sites.⁸ Whether or not your company chooses to block these sites, there are additional proactive steps it should consider. Blocking is not enough however, as people access these sites from home, so these issues would still apply.

Social Networking Policies
Companies should adopt a written policy for its employees. This may also be a good time to review and update the current communication and email policies. The drafters may consider including specific examples of prohibited uses and enforcement/actions to be taken for failure to comply. Here are some common guidelines in current policies:

• Do not use your company e-mail address. Company e-mail addresses should be used only for company approved commu-nications. (This may be similar to a company's policy on letterhead use).
• Do not use the company logo or trademark without written consent.
• Use a disclaimer, provided by the company, that clearly states the opinion is that of the author and does not represent the view of the company.
• Any use of the internet that would result in personal profit or a personal business venture is prohibited.⁹

Examples of Implemented Policies
Many entities have already implemented detailed cyber policies with varying degrees of boundaries. For example, Wells Fargo drew the line at only allowing their employees to share that they work at Wells Fargo and no more. The following sites provide access to numerous company policies currently in place:

• www.SocialMediaGovernace.com
• Kate Bladow, Examples of Social Networking Policies, July 13, 2009, www.techno.la/2009/07/articles/ethicspolicies/examples-of-social-networking-policies.
• Laurel Papworth, Enterprise: List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines, April 4, 2009, http://laurelpapworth.com/enterprise-list-of-40-social-media-staff-guidelines/.

Social Media Team
Companies should create a social media team, and then send policies or questions to their legal departments for approval. Companies may consider creating a team consisting of representatives from HR, legal, and management to communicate regularly and keep current on new developments.

The team should consider the most effective medium in disseminating the new policy and consider discussing related issues in employee meetings. The team may not want to rely entirely on a written policy considering it may not keep up with the pace of social networking advancements and popularity. There needs to be additional and quicker ways of staying on top of things. The team should also be responsible for monitoring cyber traffic about the company and can use applications such as Google Alerts or Trackur to do this. In closure, companies are wise to be well tuned in to the quickly evolving and fast paced cyber craze of social networking.

1. Jack Loechner, Corporate Use of Social Networking Still an Executive Concern, Aug. 25, 2009, MediaPost, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=112098.
2. See No Facebook At Work: Majority of US Companies Block Social Networks, Oct. 7, 2009, HUFFINGTON POST, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/no-facebook-at-work-major_n_312277.html.
3. Domino's Pizza . . . , April 2009, Mail Online, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169881/Dominos-Pizza-workers-filmed-revolting-video-abusing-takeaway-food-charged-police.html
4. Robert McMillan, Woman fired over death threat sent from work e-mail, July 26, 2008, Network World, http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/071608-woman-fired-over-death-threat.html.
5. Taylor Buley, When Social Media Bites, FORBES, Sept. 28, 2009, available at, http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/28/twitter-facebook-myspace-technology-personal-social-media.html; see also hyperlink: "In Pictures: 20 Social Media Blunders."
6. Dustin Lushing, Whole Foods CEO Sorry for Web Subterfuge, July 18, 2007, Newser, http://www.newser.com/story/4459/whole-foods-ceo-sorry-for-web-subterfuge.html.
7. See supra, note 5.
8. Jeff Elder, MySpace in Workplace Doesn't Suit All Tastes, MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE, Oct. 18, 2009, available at http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/222777.
9. See James Wong, Drafting Trouble-Free Social Media Policies, Law.com, June 15, 2009, available at http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202431410095&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu&hbxlogin=1.