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Social Media Training for Employees
Practical Law Legal Update 5-536-5389 (Approx. 4 pages)
Social Media Training for Employees
by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 24 Feb 2015 • USA (National/Federal) |
A Legal Update discussing training employees on compliance with the company's social media policy, both when representing the company and for personal social media use.
Companies take advantage of social media in a variety of ways to promote brand awareness and to interact and communicate with customers. Although using social media provides many business benefits, companies should identify and prepare for the risks associated with social media's informal nature and instant and widespread public dissemination of information, including:
- Potential unauthorized disclosure of the company's confidential and proprietary information.
- Infringement of third-party intellectual property rights.
- Employee harassment and privacy violations.
- For public companies, potential violations of securities and disclosure laws.
Setting up a clear and enforceable social media policy is a first step. Training company employees on how to comply with the company's social media policy and appropriate social media use is also a key measure companies can take to minimize risk around employee use of social media. For a starting point in preparing a presentation for training purposes, counsel can use Standard Documents, Social Media Training (Privately Held Company): Presentation Materials and Social Media Training (US Public Company): Presentation Materials. These customizable PowerPoint training templates address:
- The advantages and risks associated with a company's use of social media.
- Business use of social media, including:
- how to represent the company on social media;
- preventing the disclosure of the company's confidential information; and
- protecting customers, suppliers and investors.
- Employees' personal use of social media in the workplace.
- Best practices for using social media in advertising, marketing and promotions, including endorsements and testimonials, user-generated content, and contests and sweepstakes.
- The advantages and risks associated with a company's use of social media.
Social Media Training (US Public Company): Presentation Materials also addresses compliance with securities and disclosure laws for employees using social media to disseminate corporate information.
Counsel should customize the training to specifically address:
- Information, legal issues or corporate requirements specific to the company and its business.
- The requirements of the company's own social media policy and, if applicable, other related policies (for example a code of business conduct or code of ethics).
- Examples of types of confidential or proprietary information that are specific to the company or industry that need protection.
For additional social media resources, including social media policies and guidelines with drafting tips, see Social Media Usage Toolkit.