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Risks of Social Media

+This Session

The Risks of using Social Media

Personal Use

Break

Business Use

+Social Media

We have covered a lot of social media within the course, but it would be irresponsible not to cover the risks associated with using these platforms.

This is particularly important if you have children who use the internet, or you know of vulnerable adults who may access social media.

It’s easy to forget that social media is public – even if we have shared something with a limited range of people through Facebook, the content is still online to be viewed.

Tomorrow we’ll cover using social media for job seeking so hopefully all of this will help!

+The Main Risks

Disclosure of private information.

Bullying.

Cyber-stalking.

Access to age-inappropriate content and online grooming.

Prosecution or recrimination from posting offensive or inappropriate comments.

Phishing emails.

Hacking and viruses.

+Social Media

Seeing these risks, it would be easy to panic and delete all of your accounts, but when used correctly, the platforms can be fun and easy to use.

This session will consider the risks associated with social media, and how to avoid them.

We will also look at the differences between social media for personal use, and social media for business use.

+Risks – Personal Use

Disclosure of private information

Don’t advertise when you are going on holiday if your house will be empty. Wait until you come back to talk about it.

Don’t put your whole date of birth in your profile.

Also be aware that you can sometimes accidentally give away the answer to your ‘secret question’ to reset your password through the information on your profile.

Also be aware about posting your phone number, or address, in your profile, even if it’s set to be viewed by ‘friends only’.

+Risks – Personal Use

Bullying

Bullying can take many forms, and happens to adults as well as teenagers and children.

If someone on your friends list is posting unpleasant comments, then simply unfriend them.

Report users for bullying, and get your friends and family to report the user as well if they also have profiles on the platform where the bullying is happening.

+Risks – Personal Use

Cyber-stalking

People often post phone numbers, addresses, or social plans online, making it easier for strangers to stalk them. Only share specific details with individuals who need them.

Turn the ‘location’ off on your updates, and take advantage of Facebook’s ‘friends only’ or Google + circles features to prevent your statuses being hugely public.

Also be aware of posting photos that look like passport photos – this makes it a lot easier to replicate your online presence for identity theft purposes.

+Risks – Personal Use

Age-inappropriate content and online grooming

If you have children or teenagers, investigate adding parental controls to your internet security in order to restrict access to content. Place PCs in family areas.

Teach your children not to give away their personal details online – they’re also YOUR personal details.

Encourage them to talk to you about who they’re talking to online and never let them meet anyone on their own.

Google Hangouts lets you have chats via webcam, which is a great way to ‘see’ that someone is who they say they are.

+Risks – Personal Use

Prosecution or recrimination from posting offensive or inappropriate comments

Jurors are forbidden from discussing the contents of a trial, so it’s best to adopt the same practice – if in doubt, don’t talk about it!

Bear in mind what can be considered libel or defamation – if someone could suffer loss of earnings or reputation based on what you say, then don’t say it.

Also consider that not all jokes are universally considered funny and some people may take offence. Others may also not be taken as a joke at all!

+Risks – Personal Use

Phishing emails

If you get an email from a company that warns you of a problem with your account, and asks you to visit a link embedded in the email, don’t click the link.

Type the address of the company into the address bar of your browser and log in that way.

In addition, emails that begin “Dear Customer” are probably fraudulent.

If in doubt, check with the company themselves. They’ll be only to happy to help.

+Risks – Personal Use

Hacking and viruses

Many of the social media profiles come with options to allow you to turn on log-in controls.

Try to use a different password on every site so if one of them is compromised, they can’t all be hacked.

Use a combination of symbols, letters and numbers in passwords.

Don’t click on links in emails that ask you to log in – go directly to the website and log in there.

Don’t open attachments unless you know what they are.

+TASK

Create a new blog post.

Write ‘Risks of using Social Media for Personal Use’ as a heading within the post.

Using bullet points, identify risks associated with using social media for personal use.

+Other Risks – Personal Use

Be careful not to over promote on a personal profile.

Try to keep the negativity to a minimum.

Be aware what photos or statuses you’re being tagged in.

Be mindful when posting opinions about politics, religion, or sexuality. Arguments can quickly get out of hand.

A polished, well-balanced profile will recommend you to employers far better than something disorganised or full of swearing.

+Privacy Controls

Remember when posting

Now we’re going to have a look at the privacy controls on Google +, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

There are a range of security and privacy settings that you can change.

Luckily they’re very easy to change.

+Risks – Business Use

While social media can bring benefits to businesses, namely in the realm of marketing exposure, access to social media can also be problematic to use and regulate.

Some businesses ban access to social media on their premises, essentially to prevent time wasting, but this does not stop employees using social media on mobile devices, or at home.

Freelancers must also be aware of their usage of social media, and employ the same level of privacy and security settings as personal users.

+Risks – Business Use

Businesses may suffer from problematic social media usage in different ways, including;

Damage to brand reputation through negative updates, or links between bad employees and a company

Disclosure of proprietary and/or confidential information

Corporate identity theft

Legal, regulatory and compliance violations

+Risks – Business Use

Damage to brand reputation through negative updates, or links between bad employees and a company

Other users of social media may use the platforms to highlight bad customer service, poor quality work or products, or other issues. Even if a business responds, there’s no guarantee it will fix the ‘damage’ that is done.

In addition, employees may behave poorly and their behaviour casts the organisation for which they work in a negative light.

Reputation is key, so positive use of social media by both the company and its employees can only be a good thing.

+Risks – Business Use

Disclosure of proprietary and/or confidential information

A social media manager posting information on behalf of the company is unlikely to post something problematic, but an employee might.

This includes rumours about potential deals with other companies, or information regarding specific transactions or contracts.

It’s best if employees refrain from talking about the company at all, unless they work within its marketing or PR office.

+Risks – Business Use

Corporate identity theft

There is very little to stop an individual setting up an online social media account, purporting to represent a brand or company.

If a company has already set itself up on social media, this can lessen the impact of this, as the correct names will have already been claimed.

In addition, Twitter allows companies and individuals to verify their identity so that other users know they are dealing with the genuine article.

+Risks – Business Use

Legal, regulatory and compliance violations

Few people outside of the legal profession are well versed in the minutiae of the law, meaning other users can violate regulations without thinking.

Again, if employees refrain from talking about the company, and the company ensures that only a trained professional handles their social media, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Freelancers can attend training sessions, or just simply refrain from making comments that could potentially cause problems.

If you’re not sure if you should post it, then don’t.

+Risks – Business Use

It’s not advisable to outright ban employees’ access to social media – employees will always find ways around bans, which could compromise security and cause even bigger problems in future.

Employees need some kind of guidelines regarding social media. They need to know how to use it properly, and what NOT to do when using it.

The number of networks in use should be limited. There are hundreds available, and some of them are not so innocent or less secure.

Keep security updated. A business network always needs to be up to date with its security.

+Risks – Business Use

Settings should be locked down; most social networks do provide privacy settings and these should be managed. This will also benefit employees so make sure they know how to use them properly.

Employees should never click on a shortened URL without first decoding it to see where it leads to. Shortened URLs can be pasted into an URL lengthening service.

IT personnel, or those in charge of managing technology, need to be fully geared up with the risks of social media.

The same goes for those in charge of managing the social media accounts for the business.

+TASK

Write a subheading ‘Risks of using Social Media for Business Use’ as a heading within the post.

Using bullet points, identify risks associated with using social media for business use.

+Social Media Policies

In 2013, a survey reported that 71% of the executives polled said their company was concerned about possible risks, but only 36% reported having social media training.

Only 33% of companies currently have a social media policy.

Bigger brands may face a different set of problems, but small businesses or freelancers are more likely to face criticism from unhappy customers.

Having a social media policy in place ensures that everyone knows what to do and how to react if a problem occurs.

It should also help to avoid more commonplace errors to happen in the first place.

+Social Media Policies

Businesses and freelancers need to be aware that efforts to engage on social media sites can backfire.

In November 2013, the bank JP Morgan asked people on Twitter to send questions for a senior executive. Instead, thousands of users replied to complain about how it conducts its business.

A social media policy would set out what a business can use as content on any of the chosen platforms, and it would also set out how those in charge of the accounts should use them to engage with others.

This sets out in writing what is permissible, and encouraged.

+Social Media Policies

A policy or strategy would also help a business to know what they hoped to achieve by using social media, as well as outlining who is in charge of the platforms for the company.

It should also detail how usage should be monitored, as well as how feedback should be handled – much like a complaints procedure.

In addition, a social media policy should also let other employees know what they can and can’t post, both on company time and on their own time.

Acceptance of the policy should be a requirement of acceptance of employment, and employees should also receive training where possible.

+TASK

BLOG Postupdate

Write a subheading ‘Social Media Policies’ as a heading within the post.

Using bullet points, explain why a business should have a social media policy.

+TASK

Go back to your blog post.

Write a short paragraph detailing how you feel about social media now, compared to when you started the course.

Publish!