Organizations that don’t dedicate resources to social media can face risks that have a ripple effect well beyond the marketing department, according to presenters at a seminar totaled "Social Media: Navigating the Legal Minefield".
The Capitol Communicator seminar hosted by MDB Communications detailed case studies of companies that were not prepared for the impact of social media. United Airlines, for example, lost $180 million in market capitalization at one point because one customer posted on YouTube songs he wrote about the company breaking his guitar during shipment.
Speakers Drew Boortz and John Feldman of law firm Reed Smith, standing, described the steps for organizations to consider before establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter or any of the dozens of social media outlets. These include knowing the social media platforms, reviewing social media policies and updating them as new regulations are released, and having appropriate expectations for what can be achieved, such as brand awareness. In creating a strategy, they recommend taking into account the concerns of regulators, such as ensuring disclosure of any form of payment to providers of testimonials. In addition to being overt regarding those receiving a paid endorsement from you, you should also be transparent if an employee also provides a testimonial.
Social media, in short, provide great potential, as well as great peril, to communicators, as the groundrules are being written almost on a daily basis. And, communicators, at some point, may be facing the Feds who are working to create rules and regulations for the exploding social media options.
“Our group of Washington, D.C.-area communicators deals with these issues every day and, for many, it is an experiment because social media changes so quickly,” said Paul Duning, co-founder of Capitol Communicator. “Events like this help to keep all of us current on best practices, successful in our jobs and able to create value for our employers.”
The sold-out presentation was partly based on a white paper from Reed Smith entitled "Network Interference: A Legal Guide to the Commercial Risks and Rewards of the Social Media Phenomenon", which is available at: http://www.reedsmith.com/publications/white_papers.cfm?cit_id=26419&widCall1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false