Social Media Dilemma – A Question of Ownership

In this day and age of social media, many organisations encourage their employees to set up social media accounts with personal elements built in.  Particularly for those employees who work in marketing or PR, this can be part of their job to build up a presence on Twitter or Facebook and develop their LinkedIn contacts.

Over a period of time these contacts have been built up and a lot of time has been invested by the employee.  However, what happens to these accounts or contacts when the employee moves on and changes jobs?  Can an employee take their followers and contacts with them and presumably use them for competitors?

These issues arise when an organisation attempts to assert ownership rights believing that since the employee was paid to build up the accounts and contacts, they belong to the organisation.  However, it may not be so clear cut and can depend on a number of things.  It is, however, a difficult, challenging and evolving legal issue.  Existing law is limited where social media is concerned and there are very few cases that provide any real clarity.

Things for businesses to consider:

• Many leaders don’t understand social media so it is important to ensure leaders are educated about the opportunities and risks of social media before deciding how to utilise and manage it
• Businesses needs to develop social media policies suitable to their culture, values and industry
• Policies need to be stated in employment contracts
• Training and education of staff about social media policies is essential
• Set up accounts that belong to the role rather than the individual
• Work as a team as this will provide the best outcomes

These are just some of the things businesses need to consider where social media is concerned.  As social media technology and law is at its infancy, these issues are harder to tackle right now.  Employers need to deal with the implications of a complex digital footprint to manage the risks to their business.  There are no simple answers; however, business must be proactive.

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Tags: Social Media Content • Social Media in hte Workplace • Social Media Ownership • Social Media Risk • Social Network Sites