Social Media and the Workplace

I will be writing extensively in the upcoming weeks about Social Media and the Workplace.  Actually, not so much about social media (there are experts in that area all over the place), but the impact it has on employers and businesses.

So let's start off with an excellent article written by Maria Greco Danaher of Ogletree Deakins on the potential liability employers have when an employee uses social media.  Here's an important excerpt:

"...an employee who uses electronic media, including e-mail, blogs, or social networking sites, to make comments about a product made by his or her employer, and who fails to disclose his or her relationship with that manufacturer may create legal liability under the FTC guidelines.  Further, should a consumers rely on a particular comment in that posting to his or her detriment, any ensuing damage could be attributed to the manufacturer/company."

It's pretty apparent that social media has a place in the workplace.  Most experts (including me) agree that it's not practical to ban social media in the workplace.  So what do you do?

More to come...