Social Publishing - Content Control & Employees

For many businesses, social media has become an indispensable tool. With its low-cost of implementation and ability to drive prospects into the sales funnel, businesses continue to turn to it as a means of more effectively managing and measuring marketing dollar spend. For all it is, it remains somewhat untested in the legal system. It begs the question "What liability if any does a business take on when employees create blog entries, post on Facebook, tweet or use geolocation apps"?

Many businesses are required by law to review external communications before they are made public while others believe a review of external communications is prudent. There are a number of reasons for review and in this article we will address employee / contributor based blog entries. Twitter and facebook are a different matter and we will address them in a future post. Note: Those in the financial & insurance professions should consult FINRA guidelines before venturing into any social communication platform as messages conveyed may be construed as or considered advertising or advice.

Setting up a simple blogging process is easy and we have outlined the ix best practice steps below. While there are other questions the business might ask when it comes to blogging, the steps that follow focus on controlling the risks of publishing.

1. Establish an editorial policy - What information or topics can and can not be published.
2. Appoint at least two editors who have the final word - In some cases one of them may be your legal team.
3. Map out the work flow - On a single sheet of paper trace the steps a blog entry must take in order to get published.
4. Install a work flow plug-in - If you are serious about managing content and want to reduce publishing costs, a plug-in forces review and controls who has access to the publish button.
5. Create an editorial schedule across the business. Let everyone know what is happening and when so they can plan to create entries that augment activities.
6. Invite anyone to publish (now that you have controls in place).

With the first four steps in place, a well-meaning employee will not hit the publish button by accident and unleash a post that creates tension in the ranks or exposes the business to risk and liability.

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