Shane Troyer - Partner, Grant Thornton LLP
Companies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are helping to rewrite the rules for how business is being done in the 21st century. Social media is giving employees and employers more flexibility and the ability to respond more quickly. But is all this social media technology good for business? Many companies are starting to seriously examine the business benefits of social media, and they are looking even more closely at its risks, which include fraud, theft, defamation, cyberbullying and invasion of privacy.
Other social media risks include:
•negative comments about the company;
•stale information;
•disclosure of proprietary information;
•exposure of personally identifiable information; and
•fraud through enabled phishing attacks and other schemes.
Although most companies acknowledge social media’s data-security risks, many have yet to invest in security protections. Increasingly, companies are adopting social media policies or at least updating their disclosure policies to consider social media. Regardless of what tools are used to communicate the company’s social media expectations, it’s important that such information be widely communicated and acknowledged by employees. Ensuring strong awareness of the potential risks and the processes to address them is the most effective tool organizations have to address social media risk.
Philipp Postrehovsky - Chief operating officer, RentMoola
There are three main risks to corporate social media use:
1) Being left out: Not only do you want to be a part of the conversation but you also want to be an industry expert who drives the discussion.
2) Being slow and dormant: Timeliness and frequency are key to social media success. You don’t need to respond within minutes but be ready to reply in a timely manner. Also, make sure to share content regularly.
3) Being political: Avoid political opinions at all costs, and if you’re going to support a specific event or holiday, make sure it makes sense for your brand; otherwise you may set an unwelcome precedent.
Not having an online voice in today’s digital ecosystem is simply not an option if you want to build any meaningful and authentic brand experience.
Have doubts about what you’re about to post or don’t know how to respond to a comment? Form a social media rapid response committee to avoid PR blunders and manage any challenges that arise.
Mark Tuchscherer - CEO, Geeks Chicago
Every business, large or small, needs active social media accounts across multiple platforms. There are many risks associated with social media accounts, and to minimize them, we recommend several strategies.
For one, make sure that corporate accounts are used only for business and branding. We still encounter issues arising from owners’ or executives’ use of corporate accounts for personal matters. Commingling one’s political or religious views never works out well for the company or the brand.
Also, when multiple people have access to the social media account, make sure there is only one administrator who controls everything. Using something like Hootsuite and giving different people access to this social media management software is the best option. This way, if someone leaves the company or is terminated, the administrator can revoke access immediately. This lowers your risk of disgruntled employees posting something inappropriate on the corporate account.
For internal social use within the company, you must tread very lightly. We always recommend signing up for something like a Facebook at Work account to separate it from personal accounts, while still allowing employees access to a Facebook account at work. This helps with team-building and morale within the company.
