Posts Tagged facebook
SEC Clears Social Media for Use: What does it mean?
Posted by SarahActiance in Actiance, eDiscovery, Enterprise 2.0, Facebook, Financial Services, Google, LinkedIn, personal v professional, Retail banking, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Networking, Trends on April 16, 2013
On April 2nd the SEC issued a press release, which has been widely reported in a number of ways, as to what this actually means for organizations. In this blog, lets take a look at what it actually means.
WHAT DOES THE SEC SAY?
Here’s what the SEC actually says “companies can use social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to announce key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD) so long as investors have been alerted about which social media will be used to disseminate such information”.
The exact text is on the SEC website: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-51.htm We’re pleased to see that the content was tweeted as well. Interestingly, it was in 2008 that the SEC actually cleared the use of websites for the dissemination of key information. It feels like its been a long five years to get the same clearance for social media. But perhaps not. On August 6th 1991, some 17 years earlier the first website was born, at CERN – the first URL for that website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html in case you want to check it out. So, it appears progress is being made. Our world is speeding up.
WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN?
- It means that, so long as a public company announces in advance, what social outlets they will use, that they are able to disseminate key information through these channels.
- In general, key information is usually mailed out or put on a wire service like Marketwire or PR Newswire and also onto the company website.
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY WILL NOW ALL BE ON SOCIAL?
- Not necessarily, it doesn’t meant that individuals in companies will necessary be all now posting content through their individual network updates.
- It does mean that firms will need to open up access to social media so that Financial Advisers, Relationship Managers and those assisting clients with investment information can access this information – it really IMO opens the floodgates for firms now saying, that if you have financial professionals who need to keep up to date with key publicly traded companies, then they need to see this information. If you don’t, then it would be like forbidding a professional to read the newspaper or watch TV.
- Usually when public companies distribute key information like this, they distribute it through a “corporate property” – in social terms this would be the company Facebook page, or the company Twitter account, or the company page on LinkedIn.
- Record retention requirements means that companies will have retain records of what they posted. i.e. LinkedIn company updates.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE DISTRIBUTED TEAM?
- It means that they will require access to social in order to conduct their work effectively.
- As a result of the SEC’s ruling, anyone that needs to keep an eye on key information from public companies will NEED to have access to social in order to remain competitive.
- The socially savvy public company will use individuals to push this content out, along with corporate brands. Take Reed Hastings of Netflix for instance – this whole thing started because it was HIS Facebook page, not the company page.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS and PUBLIC COMPANIES?
1) Archiving company updates for public companies will become a must have. Public companies will need to archive the company updates and any other updates that are related to Regulation FD.
2) Ensuring that the right person / people approved this content is key. They will need to prove that it was approved by the relevant individuals/groups in the organization.
3) Companies may choose to share content to a “Shareholders Group” on LinkedIn, a group on Facebook, or a private feed on Twitter, thus requiring that content is approved and archived, is again key.
4) Some companies might select individuals to share this key information – so ensuring that the content is again approved and archived is key. However, the SEC points out, that “The report of investigation explains that although every case must be evaluated on its own facts, disclosure of material, nonpublic information on the personal social media site of an individual corporate officer — without advance notice to investors that the site may be used for this purpose — is unlikely to qualify as an acceptable method of disclosure under the securities laws. Personal social media sites of individuals employed by a public company would not ordinarily be assumed to be channels through which the company would disclose material corporate information.” So ensure prior notification has been made – and that it is clear, which channels and which accounts will be used to disseminate this information.
5) Those firms that block social access for the wider team will not be evaluating their policies, in order to provide open access to at least view for instance LinkedIn news and company updates while on corporate machines.
6) Social networks outside of Facebook and Twitter should be lobbying the SEC – who referenced only Facebook and Twitter – but not LinkedIn as social channels. LinkedIn is the network that most business professionals feel comfortable with and with whom they connect with business colleagues on much more than Facebook and Twitter. It’s clear that the SEC needs to understand the company area of LinkedIn, but also the value of the personal network – using the Reed Hasting’s example – if he had used his LinkedIn network update to push this out, it would have had the same effect as he did with Facebook.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
1) Review your social policies, both for listening, and for distributing content. This great move by the SEC has opened the way for “no business reason for social” to be removed. Ensure that you’re including all the stakeholders into this review.
2) Ensure, if you are a public company, that any content you are sharing on social – goes through the same approvals that content for other mediums does. Archive it and retain it.
3) Embrace this new communications modality approval by the SEC. Those who disseminate key information in compliance with Regulation FD, through social channels, will certainly be in the forefront of the press and generate those softer elements of ROI, that we all strive for. So make sure you take this into consideration when you’re looking at the benefits of social.
Let me wrap up by asking a question. If you were to choose one social channel to share key information.. what would it be?
Without mobile where would you be?
Posted by SarahActiance in Employee Behavior, Social Networking, Trends on January 21, 2013
I’m on a train as I write this. From Montreal to Quebec and @via_rail is taking the strain as I head north. At the same time, my mum and I are messaging each other in real time on Facebook, I’m iMessaging a colleague, tweeting and also checking my email.
Every now and then I stop and think how much technology has adapted to,our mobile life and how lost we’d be without it. Certainly the lithium Batteries might be awning all lithium battery devic on planes, following a series of fires, caused a moments thought. I can’t take my cell phone or my laptop with me?? Wow, the providers of collaboration platforms will be rubbing their hands in glee if this one spreads. I can’t imagine that. I can’t even check my laptop or cell phone… That’s going one further than the travel restrictions after 911.
Mobile access to technology that we see for both our personal, and our professional lives has become ubiquitous. Who, for example watched, hero Felix Bumgartner’s Space Jump historic jump from space? My sister in law was visiting at the time. We don’t have a TV here in the USA, so we were watching on the Internet, from laptops. Until we decided that we needed to get a move on and head out – we wanted to catch the tide as we were planning an afternoon sailing in the bay.
No problem. As my husband drove, I watched the proceedings on my iPhone and the relies watched in the back seat of the car on the iPad as we drove to the marina.
There’s also news today that Bank of America is adding 10,000 mobile users a day. Wow. Time and money stand still for no one!!
Today happens to be a vacation for me, but my use of mobile continues, as the applications, the tools that I use in my professional and personal life morph into one, the devices that I carry for the business meetings I’ll be at later in the week, become my communications tools for catching up with the family, for checking out the hotel in Quebec and planning where I might eat a late lunch, or sharing the photos’s from the train and comparing my experiences with Via Rail and Amtrak (Amtrak increased my Klout by using my Amtrak from the California Zephyr on their Facebook page!!).
What would I miss the most if I didn’t have mobile? I think I’d miss the “share” – and that’s not just me sharing, it’s others sharing too.. I’d not see the updates from fellow travelers, or be getting real time suggestions as to what to see and do.
What about you? What would you miss the most if your mobile access was curtailed?
Selling Social Media to Your Organization
Posted by actiance in Actiance, New Internet, Social Networking, Trends on January 10, 2013
Today’s post is by David Oates, Vice President of International, Actiance.
At the recent FS Forum seminar on “Will your social media strategy get you fired?” one of the overwhelming themes from the audience was how to get sponsorship from senior management who have two questions upper most in their minds – “what’s the benefit?” and “what’s the risk?”
One of the key benefits of social is engaging with an audience that doesn’t regularly use traditional communications methods. Look at your target demographics. If it’s under 34 and you’re not on social, you’re not talking to your prospects and customers. In the UK for example, the largest and fastest growing age group on Facebook is 25-34 with nearly 9 million users, followed by 18-24 years olds (source Socialbakers). As most of them grew up using text and instant messaging not email, social is just another communication tool.
If you’re not talking to your audience, your competitors soon will be. Whilst a survey from Assetinum earlier in the year found that only half of the top 50 private banks actively replied to tweets despite nearly all of them having a Twitter account, it is not a trend likely to continue. Particularly as it starts to dawn just how much additional engagement Visa gained with its Olympic social media campaign.
Depending on how you deploy social media usage, engaging with customers leads to an increase in revenue, reduces contact centre calls and potentially lowers customer acquisition costs. Some organisations have even found it useful as a general employee communication tool in times where other methods are too slow. During the London riots, BNP Paribas used it to help staff move safely around the capital.
The benefits aren’t just related to increased sales and improved customer service either. Over time, engaging directly with your customers, prospects and even your aggressors provides the type of in-depth data that can be used to enhance and develop future products and services.
The risks for any organisation engaging in social media shouldn’t be ignored, but neither should it be an inhibitor. Letting staff “loose” on social media doesn’t mean giving up an organisation’s hard won reputation or its squeaky clean compliance record. Understand the threat landscape from data leakage, malware and user behaviour and how it fits into compliance concerns is key to mitigating the risk. Once you have a better understanding about the risks, it’s easier to see the steps required to ensure your organisation remains safe.
But as my colleague Victor Gaxiola says – it’s not “why’ we should be using social senior management need to ask, it’s how.
On Social? Be Authentic!
Posted by Victor Gaxiola in Financial Services, LinkedIn, Social Networking, Trends, Uncategorized on January 10, 2013
Today’s post comes from Victor Gaxiola, Social Media Subject Matter Expert at Actiance.
Now that three of my colleagues have weighed in on the question of Facebook pervasiveness and use for business, as well as the blurred lines between personal and professional use, I thought I’d weigh in with my own thoughts on the matter.
I started using Facebook in April 2007 after it had become available to non-university students. At the time there were 20 Million people on Facebook (compared to over a Billion today), and MySpace was the leading social network (a record they held till April 2008). Using Facebook it was easy to connect with friends and family that were already on the network, and I was quickly able to re-connect with people who had been part of my life in the past. Status updates allowed me to participate in the lives of so many that had either gone by the way side or forgotten through time and miles. The social network made sharing a daily affair and I enjoyed connecting on common values, likes and ideas.
When I went into financial services, the use of Facebook for personal connections with clients and prospects was not allowed. As a result my attentions shifted to LinkedIn for professional connections and network development keeping Facebook as a personal network with friends and family. This continued until I left the business and was no longer a registered representative. Despite the new found freedom, I still maintained my Facebook as a more personal network and when I started working at Actiance I too approached the invitation from work colleagues to connect on Facebook on a personal level with trepidation. Facebook was MY personal network, and I was initially a little nervous to share that part of my life. Mind you, it wasn’t that I had anything to hide, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted people at work to know me THAT well. However, I did and continue to do so today, and like Joanna I enjoy the discovery of common interests we share, and learning more about their likes, dislikes and passions. It has enriched the experience of working at Actiance and allowed me to know the people I collaborate with on a more personal level. On Monday mornings water cooler talk doesn’t require us to ask each other what happened over the weekend- because we know. Instead, we can ask about the experience. How did it feel? How much fun was it? Instead of what did you do?
I think we’d all prefer to present our true self…. our authentic self. “Be Yourself” was a rally cry of our youth and the reality is there is not point in denying who you are, quirks and all (people will find out eventually anyway).
Back in 2011 I wrote about this when I encouraged financial advisors entering the world of social media to avoid losing their voice and replacing it with corporate canned messages. I still believe this today and caution financial institutions to avoid forcing their language and messages through their networked employees and allow them an opportunity to provide their own voice. People want to work with people who work at brands, not the other way around. Here is the message I shared, and continue to share today.
BE AUTHENTIC! 
A message to new social media users in Financial Services:
Welcome to the world of social media networking! As an early adopter and advocate of social networking in financial services, I look forward to the new voices and thought leaders that will emerge In the months and years to come.
Before you get started, let me share some simple advice: BE AUTHENTIC!
I know this may be a new world for you, and that learning how to use social media may seem like learning a foreign language. It’s not. If necessary, get help to learn HOW to use the tools, but resist the urge to have others speak on your behalf.
Don’t rely or use the “canned” messages created for you by your public relations, corporate communications, or compliance departments. Instead exercise the voice that has led you all along and has built the business you own today. Let your unique voice communicate who you are and what you represent in social networking circles. You know why people work with you-tell us!
Trust that the amplified nature of social media networking will reveal the thought leader that you are, and value you add each day.
Your audience is out there listening- it’s time to engage!
For more, check out these two blog posts on authenticity:
“Why Authenticity Matters” by Brian Solis
“Five Ways to Maintain Authenticity with Social Media” by Patricio Robles
What do you think? How important is it to have an authentic voice when it comes to social media?
NOTE: If you are worried about exposing too much of yourself on Facebook, you can always use groups to create your own private circles of trust within Facebook. I did this by setting up a Gaxiola Family Group that is secret (until now) and cannot be found on search. In this group we share personal stories, photos and videos and all comments, shares, likes, etc. are limited to the members of the group.
Facebook Blue is Spreading
Posted by Jae Kim in Collaboration, Social Networking, Trends on January 7, 2013
Today’s post comes from Jae Kim, Director of Social Media Products at Actiance.
Facebook Blue is spreading.
Check out Vincos Blog tracking world map of social networks. It shows a trend over the past few years that Facebook is becoming THE de facto social network globally. The only countries where Facebook is not the number one social network by activity are places where geo-political issues prevent the open network access like China, Iran, and Russia.
Another exception? South Korea. Will South Korea be the harbinger of life after Facebook?
What does this mean to the enterprise?
It means that the enterprise must get ready to provide Facebook-like collaboration networks. Thanks to how Facebook has educated 1 billion social networking users, friending to subscribe to status updates, liking a page to keep up with product updates, and commenting on a post in real-time have all become the fabric of how we network with our friends all over the world.
Unlike previous generations trained to work with email, tomorrow’s workers will demand a way to collaborate in real-time while on the move, just as they have come to expect from the Facebook user experience. They know what it feels like to use the right tool to communicate without getting bogged down by multiple copies of the same data.
But I don’t see Facebook replacing other forms of communication like email or IM, especially for professional communication. Why? That’s because Facebook is primarily used as a personal social network.
Although Facebook would like to maximize users’ sharing of their updates, people still think of Facebook as a personal messaging network. Even though Facebook offers features that can be used for business purposes, social norms influence how users are actually using Facebook. People just don’t use it for professional networking and business collaboration. I am sure Facebook is well aware of this, and think Facebook has an option to branch into the a lucrative enterprise collaboration space under another brand.
Another point to ponder is whether or not Facebook is at its peak. It’s difficult to imagine the geo-political situation changing in China, Iran, or Russia anytime soon. That means Facebook has claimed the number one spot in most countries. This leaves only one possibility for Facebook: a diminishing active user base.
If you look at the Vincos’ world map of social networks, you’ll notice that there is one notable exception to the increasing influence of Facebook. It is South Korea, where Facebook ceded its number one spot to QZone. (I can’t explain why Chinese QZone will generate the most activity; perhaps some South Korean readers can shed some light on this?) So Facebook may have to battle other social networks to stay relevant.
Would I lie to you?
Posted by doates in Electronically Stored Information (ESI), Privacy, Social Networking on November 5, 2012
Last week the head of internet security at the Cabinet Office, Andy Smith, was quoted as having said that users should give fake details to websites to protect their identity. Putting aside the fact that this violates sites such as Facebook’s usage policy, it demonstrates a lack of understanding about how these identities will evolve in the future and how social media functionality and privacy settings should be used to control misuse.
As social becomes more interwoven into our everyday lives, it starts to make sense to use real information in interactions. Most people don’t pretend to be someone else when they’re out on a Friday night meeting new people face to face, so why should it be any different online?
However, offline we are more careful with what information we tell people and question what we are told in return. It’s that instinct that needs to be developed when using social and that’s where privacy settings can help. As Actiance’s Chris Mannon says in Social Media Scammers – New Frontiers of Aggravation – The goal should be to make sure that your information is not accessible without your explicit knowledge.
Ironically for Andy Smith, the UK Government is soon to launch its ID Assurance scheme that enables people to interact with Government services using login from third parties, one of which is rumoured to be a social network as I mentioned in a recent blog post. Whether this will happen is yet to be seen, but it is expected that companies such as Paypal will sit alongside the Post Office and BT.
But using third parties does give people a choice as to who they trust with their identify and force those organisations that don’t come up to scratch or offer the right privacy settings out of the picture or to up their game.
What is required is an education programme in the same way that we were all advised to shred or burn personal information such as credit card bills that we no longer require to keep. Helping people understand the implications of different privacy settings and the best use of features such as Facebook’s lists and Google+’s circles, will do far more for everyone’s protection than fake identities.
Whilst one could argue that trusting Facebook et al with your date of birth and mobile phone number sounds alarming, when you consider the vast number of data loss and theft incidents incurred by the UK Government in the last year alone it doesn’t seem that bad.
UK Government to “Like” Third Party Logins
Posted by doates in Social Networking, Trends on October 17, 2012
Today’s post comes from David Oates, Vice President, International.
Later this month the Department for Work and Pensions will be revealing the first suppliers of the UK Government’s proposed Identity Assurance programme (IDA), which will allow people to access public services using third party logins. Described on a gov.uk blog as being less about identity and more about trust, this could well prove to be right if rumours of Facebook being included prove to be true.
As more and more services go online the Government wants to make it simpler and more user friendly for us to login. They haven’t mentioned that one of the largest expenditures in customer service support is often over password management and outsourcing it will save them money too, but as tax payer you won’t hear me complain about it in principle.
It’s not a new idea and is already used in Europe. In Sweden for example citizens can apply for an e-Identity online via their own bank, which enables them to alter their tax forms. This makes sense, the strict regulation around anti-money laundering etc means that banks have to know their customers.
But the rumoured inclusion of using social networking sites has me concerned. Using Facebook logins as a passport to other applications and services is becoming very popular, particularly with comment sections on websites. One of the reasons for this is its self policing and cuts down dramatically on the comment spam that many website owners have to deal with it. However, whilst Facebook strongly advocates real identities, it doesn’t have the same incentive as financial institutions to ensure you are who you claim to be.
Single sign-ons have always been looked upon with dubious eyes by security professionals. It provides a single point of failure and general advice has always been to use a different password for every login. This of course has led to password fatigue, but the point has become moot anyway. With so many sites offering the ability to login with third party identities all a criminal needs is one social media id to access any number of sites to impersonate you.
First in line for the IDA treatment is Universal Credit, a replacement for the current benefits system that will be launched next April. The Government has said that there will be “Levels of Assurance” that third party id providers must reach depending on the critical level of the government service being accessed. One can only hope, given that benefits is an enormous target for fraud, that the proposed IDA providers will be able to offer more of a guarantee of identity than a valid email address.
Sandra Bullock’s loss of identity in The Net always used to seem impossible. But now imagining your whole government identity circled around a Facebook login I’m not so sure – unless of course Facebook is about to reveal a new facet in its service.
Belbey Blogs: Social: Personal Meets Professional – your top questions answered!
Posted by belbey in Compliance, FINRA, Social Networking on August 2, 2012
Today’s post comes from Joanna Belbey, Social Media and Compliance Specialist at Actiance.
Microsoft recently announced integration within Outlook with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Live Messenger. What does that mean exactly?
When you send an email, you will see a detailed history of your interaction with your contacts, plus their photos and status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn. In other words, rather than the two-step process of looking at someone’s profile on LinkedIn or reading their Tweets, and then sending an email or a meeting notice, everything’s right within Outlook.
In short, Microsoft has just made it easier to understand and relate to our clients and colleagues. And for them to get to know us better. They’ve accelerated the movement of the integration between the personal and professional.
Did you just say, “cool!”? or did you cringe?
As a Social Media and Compliance Specialist at Actiance, I speak at industry events and meet face to face with professionals within the financial services industry. My mission is to help enable the effective use of social media within the enterprise while complying with the rules and regulations. Every day, I see firms moving away from their original stance of “No!” to social media to beginning to puzzle out the “How?”. They are collaborating across departments like Marketing, Legal, Compliance, Investor Relations, Human Resources, IT and Security to develop social media policies. They are working through the compliance issues and selecting vendors like Actiance to help them enable their financial advisors to use social media while protecting their firm’s brand and staying compliant.
But what do the end users, the Financial Advisors, think about what’s coming?
I recently spoke in Boston and New York at “Social Media Marketing: Don’t Forget the Sex” conducted by WealthManagement.com and Actiance. Although the events had a provocative title, the sessions took a serious look at the demographics of adoption of social media. According to a study by WealthManagement.com, Financial Advisors under 35 are more likely to use social media for business purposes than those 55 or older (68% vs. 45%). No surprise there. But, what was surprising is that with a bit of prodding and some training on Best Practices, advisors over 55 tend to get better engagement. Once they learn the tools, they recognize that social media is just another way to interact with prospects and clients.
In both cities, I found financial advisers who were nervous about using social media. They asked me the same questions:
Q: “How do I separate business and personal?”
A: Unless your firm has a special arrangement with LinkedIn, you can only have one account. On Twitter, you may set up separate accounts (e.g., @Belbey and @Belbey_Actiance) and even make them private. And for now, you can only have one identity on Facebook, so depending on your firm’s polices, from your personal profile you create a business page and direct your clients there. Or, if you don’t already have a Facebook account, you can set up just a professional page. However, these workarounds miss the point. Instead of thinking about how to shield your personal life from your clients and colleagues, think about how to let your personality shine through. Remember, with Microsoft’s announcement, true integration between personal and professional is coming…. If you have a passion for Bruce Springsteen, movies, golf, sailing, your alma mater or just couch surfing, let your connections know it.
Q: How much of my personal life do I need to reveal?
A: If you are using social media primarily for business, Jason Seiden (@Seiden), Co-Founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media suggests making 20% of your updates personal, in order to be authentic. After all, we buy from people with similar interests and who we like, right?
Q: “How can I protect my clients from being poached by other financial advisors?”
A: On LinkedIn, you can make your connections private by changing the settings, on Facebook you can change the privacy settings and control who can see what, and you can even make Twitter private. But, again, this question misses the point. Rather than “defense,” think “offense.” If you are helpful and engage with your prospects and clients on social media, you will strengthen the relationship, not lose it to some stranger.
Q “How much time will this take?”
A. If your firm provides a library of pre-approved content and technology to schedule updates, posting content and interacting on social media won’t take much time at all. Perhaps an hour once a week to schedule your updates, and then 30 minutes a day to interact with your connections / followers / friends.
Q. “How do I start?” And “What do I say?” and the biggest unspoken question, “How do I avoid looking foolish?
A. Good questions. Before you begin to use social media, be sure to read your firm’s social media policy for direction. Hopefully, they will provide training on Best Practices and how to comply with the communications regulations. And it’s always a good idea to listen for awhile to begin to understand how it works before you jump in. And of course, use common sense. This is a public forum. Bottom line: approach social media through the lens of being helpful to your connections. Think about your clients. You might specialize in working with entrepreneurs, or small businesses, women, or perhaps ultra-high net worth individuals. Share content that they might find useful or interesting. To help you, many firms create a library of pre-approved content that you can tap.
The true integration of business and professional through Microsoft and Social Media won’t be implemented at your firm overnight. But, once it does, will you be ready?
Enterprise Collaboration: Debunking Common Misperceptions
Posted by nleong in Collaboration, Compliance, eDiscovery, Electronically Stored Information (ESI), Enterprise IM, FINRA, Social Networking on August 1, 2012
Today’s post comes from Norv Leong, Director of Product Marketing at Actiance.
As social software becomes entrenched on the enterprise scene, now would be a good time to put to rest some common misperceptions and myths that have hung ominously over the space. The Jive IPO and Microsoft’s acquisition of Yammer speak to the validation and adoption of social software as a viable means to enhance productivity and foster engagement.
So, with that as a backdrop, let’s take a look at some common misperceptions and see how we can’t allay these concerns:
Myth #1: Social software isn’t subject to regulatory guidelines
Social media and social software may be new forms of communication, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be logged and archived for regulatory compliance purposes. In the eyes of the regulatory bodies (think SEC, FINRA, FERC, and similar), social software is just another form of electronic communication to be treated no differently than email. That means that content posted to social software platforms needs to be supervised, logged, and archived to ensure compliance with applicable recordkeeping and monitoring provisions. Since social software greatly facilitates collaboration, it’s very easy for individuals to bounce ideas (sometimes sensitive or unauthorized information) off each other and exchange files. That’s why the regulators are interested.
Myth #2: No one cares about social software eDiscovery
Anyone who’s lived in the US for any length of time will quickly and vigorously nod their head when asked, “Do you think the US is a litigious society?” That’s like asking the Pope if he’s religious. People do care about social software eDiscovery, and over the last few years, we’ve begun to see several cases emerge involving social. Lester v Allied and Crispin v Audigier come to mind as particularly relevant cases involving social media eDiscovery.
In fact, Duke University conducted a comprehensive study and found that the number of eDiscovery cases jumped from 7 in 2003 to 111 in 2009. The study cited that the #1 reason for courts issuing sanctions was a failure to produce electronic evidence (social software included). And, like litigation in general, there seems to be no end in sight.
Myth #3: Corporate governance has nothing to do with social software
Au contraire. Social software has everything to do with corporate governance, especially in an era where news travels lightning fast via social channels. You needn’t look further than the Arab Spring to see the speed and power of social in action.
Good corporate governance entails having the appropriate policies and procedures in place for records retention, information governance, and conflict management. It’s wide-ranging with the objective of instilling a sense of accountability throughout the company. And this includes social software communications. People use social software to brainstorm, debate, and even vent. Say or write the wrong thing, and all of a sudden, it becomes a corporate governance issue.
Myth #4: Plain ol’ capture is sufficient
Well, not exactly. Following on from the discussion above, responding in a timely fashion to discovery requests sounds easy but comes with some challenges. When you think about the volume of data floating around out there (emails, social software content, Facebook posts, Skype IMs, etc.), you’ll get a headache right quick. Those headaches are compounded by the manner in which this content is logged and archived.
Many of today’s archiving systems just capture the content without regard to context. We all know that people like to respond to blogs or other posts on social media. When you’ve got a couple dozen people chiming in with their thoughts, feedback, even deleted comments, it’s easy to see the importance of capturing conversations in context. There are just too many regulatory, legal, and corporate governance issues at stake to risk a substantial sanction or fine.
Off my soapbox now…
So there you have it – this author’s version of Mythbusters. Like with most things social, it’s all quite fluid and dynamic. What I just wrote today may be old hat tomorrow. But, given that old-school concepts such as law and compliance still hold valid today, I gotta believe that the myths debunked above has some legs.
What kinds of myths are you seeing in your enterprise?
Suck it up and take the good with the bad
Posted by nleong in Privacy, Social Networking on August 13, 2012
Today’s post comes from Norv Leong, Director of Product Marketing at Actiance.
Reading the smart-ass comments to online articles, blogs, Facebook posts, and the like is often more enjoyable than reading the actual article, blog, or Facebook post itself. Everyone wants to be a David Letterman or Rush Limbaugh, quick with the wit or politically charged rant. Tempers flare, folks get offended, or others just plain embarrassed. At the end of the day though, most all of what’s “out there” is deemed free speech.
That’s the beauty of the First Amendment. You can say what you want (most of the time) without reprisal. The US government – author, guardian, and object of the First Amendment – knows it’s in a pickle. Loads of federal agencies have their own Facebook pages and they’re very wary of the fact that the public can and will use these pages as a sounding board for all kinds of commentary and preaching.
Exactly when those comments cross the line and become, say, threats to national security, that’s when things get murky. Where does that line get drawn? When is a comment “libelous”? When does a comment lose its First Amendment protection? I think you get the idea.
Having a comment policy in place is a good start. Making it very clear what is acceptable behavior for comments sets boundaries that apply to anyone and everyone. There’s no singling out one person over another. Doesn’t matter what color skin you’ve got; what your sexual preference is; what religion you practice; what football team you follow. The policy applies to everyone. If you violate it, your comment will be removed. Simple as that.
Even better is utilizing technology to assist in the enforcement of these types of policies. I’m not saying to take down every comment that drops an f-bomb or some other derogatory comment, but you can use technology as the helping hand in flagging potentially libelous or incendiary material and, if need be, remove it from the system.
Think these guys would be Facebook friends?
I mean, c’mon, I’m sure our Founding Fathers bickered amongst themselves when they were laying the groundwork for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Just think what it would’ve been like had they had Facebook at their disposal!?!? One of their Facebook conversations might’ve gone like this:
George Washington (GW): What do you think fellas… just make me the emperor and call it a day. No term limits. I’ll just pass the torch when I’m dead.
Benjamin Franklin (BF): Georgie baby, methinks you’ve been hittin’ the herbal remedy a bit too hard. How bout a ten-year max limit so you can spend some time with Martha and work on your garden?
James Madison (JM): Nah, I think George would get bored of ten years of emperor-ing. The guy’s got too many side interests. I think four years is just the right amount of time. Any longer than that and we’ll have another riot, like what happened in Boston a few years back….over tea fer crissakes!
BF: Yeah, good point. This land seems to have a bunch of rabble rousers. Which brings up another point. We better come up with a system that deals with these hooligan punks should they act up. Maybe some kind of judicial or trial system where we can put the hammer down on them, if they do something bad.
GW: Y’all crack me up. I was just kidding about the emperor bit. Let’s go with four years and call ‘em President. Well, I’m spent, fellas. Anyone fancy a beer….or 5?
And a country was born…
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