Caveat Tweeter: Legal Issues and

Social MediaPresented by Matthew A. Gilbert, MBA

matthewagilbert.com | @MatthewAGilbert

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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WelcomeDisclaimer: I’m Not a Lawyer, but I’m S’all Good Man!

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AgendaTopics of Discussion

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• Surveying Stats

• Reducing Risk

• Planning Policy

• Becoming Big Brother

• Concluding Comments

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Surveying StatsReview the State of Social Media

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BA• Facebook: 1.15+ Billion Users

• Google+: 500+ Million Users

• Instagram: 130+ Million Users

• LinkedIn: 238+ Million Users

• Pinterest: 70+ Million Users

• Twitter: 500+ Million Users

• YouTube: 1+ Billion Users

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Surveying StatsReview the State of Social Media

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BA• The Spread of Social Media

• Ubiquitous: Pervades every aspect of our lives.

• Entrenched: Not going away anytime soon.

• Viral: Like a zombie apocalypse! #TweetingDead

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Reducing RiskUnderstand the Legal Landscape

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BA• Immersion: One-third of the workforce in the U.S.

uses social media for at least an hour a day at work.

• Importance: One-quarter of workers wouldn’t take a

job if access to social media was not allowed.

• Impact: Use of social media by employees makes

employers fearful about decreased productivity,

unfavorable publicity, and increased risk.

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Reducing RiskUnderstand the Legal Landscape

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Social Media in the Workplace: http://youtu.be/uLG9jwgAios

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Reducing RiskUnderstand the Legal Landscape

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BA• Reality: Social media policies are just as necessary as

discrimination, leave, and vacation policies.

• Reasonability: Employers must reduce risk to their

operations & brand without reducing morale.

• Regulation: Once employers developed social media

policies, government agencies established guidelines.

Other agencies got involved with social media

regulation as well.

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

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Planning PolicyDesign a Social Media Strategy

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Facebook Firing Report: Employment attorney Audrey Mross discusses social media in the workplace: http://youtu.be/CFmWLQusZ8E

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Planning PolicyDesign a Social Media Strategy

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BA• Approach: The best policy is simply “a framework to

stop and think.” Create an atmosphere of inquiry and

evaluation.

• Application: Applying the RESPECT concept:

• R: Responsibility

• E: Etiquette

• S: Selectivity

• P: Privacy

• E: Efficiency

• C: Confidentiality

• T: Transparency

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Planning PolicyDesign a Social Media Strategy

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The Most Hilarious Twitter & Facebook Fails: http://youtu.be/nVHlCtX5Ucs

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Planning PolicyDesign a Social Media Strategy

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BA• Disclosure: What is the difference between the

public’s or an employer’s right to know vs. a person’s

right to privacy? What if an account is already public;

are the rules different?

• Protected Concerted Activity (NLRB): Gives

employees the right to act together to improve their

pay and working conditions, with or without a union

– off or online.

• Divergence:

• Bloggers: Required to disclose affiliations.

• Employees: Not required to share passwords.

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Becoming Big BrotherDisclosure vs. Diplomacy: A Slippery Slope?

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Prime News : Employers asking for Facebook passwords: http://youtu.be/y1R0nyXlivw

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Becoming Big BrotherDisclosure vs. Diplomacy: A Slippery Slope?

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BA• Self-Disclosure: Fires up the pleasure centers of our

brains may shed light on the roots of social media

addiction. Strongly associated with increased

activation in brain regions that form the mesolimbic

dopamine system.

• Self-Promotion: 30% to 40% of our daily

conversations communicate information about our

personal experiences. An greater percentage of what

we share using social media -- up to 80% -- is entirely

about ourselves.

• Self-Awareness: Consider future employment,

education or even personal relationships when your

share with social media.

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Becoming Big BrotherDisclosure vs. Diplomacy: A Slippery Slope?

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Social Media Experiment: http://youtu.be/5P_0s1TYpJU

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Concluding CommentsIntegrating Ideas and Experiences

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• What questions do you have about social

media and the law?

• What experiences, if any, have you had

with this subject?

• Are we better off watching ourselves

or being watched by others?

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BibliographyResources and References

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BA• http

://about.bloomberglaw.com/practitioner-contributions/social-media-policies-in-the-workplace-its-all-about-respect/

• http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/02/when-hr-decisions-become-socia/

• http://www.complianceweek.com/social-media-policy-management-without-the-social-media/article/321385/

• http://www.geekwire.com/2013/illegal-employers-social-media-passwords-washington/

• http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/employer-access-to-social-media-passwords-2013.aspx

• http://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/protected-concerted-activity

• http://personalweb.about.com/od/socialmediaaddiction/a/Self-Disclosure-Social-Media-Stimulate-Brains.htm

• http://socialmediatoday.com/jonathan-bernstein/1894441/social-media-stats-facts-2013

• http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html

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