In This Issue:

A Supervisor’s Guide to Social Media, Part One By John Donovan (Atlanta)

Over the past couple of years, we have seen hundreds of articles extolling the virtues and benefits of “social media” for every kind of business. We’re told that Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and other electronic resources will help our businesses reach more potential customers, improve the public’s impression of the business, bond existing customers to the company, and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Unfortunately, little has been written to alert managers to the legal issues they may face in dealing with their employees’ social media posts, particularly when the post involves provocative or insulting material related to the job, the managers or their employer. The following rules are designed to provide managers with some practical guidance about how to analyze their employees’ social media posts and communications and how to avoid the legal pitfalls associated with them.

Space prevents us from including all ten rules, so we’ll begin with four of the most important ones and conclude the article in our next issue.