Slippery slope: be careful when mixing social networking and business.

• Author: Weiler, Todd
• Position: Legal Brief

Are your company policies in need of an extreme makeover? Are your employees tweeting on Twitter, blogging, Facebooking or texting about you or your company? Social media is loosely defined as a variety of web-based technologies that enable people to interact with one another online. It transforms ordinary consumers into content "producers" and empowers people like never before. Popular forms include blogs, Facebook, Linkedln and Twitter--and they are the fastest-growing segment on the Internet.

Utah is on the forefront of emerging issues as new technology confronts the workplace. On February 26, 2002, Salt Lake City resident Heather Armstrong became the first well-known person ever fired for what she wrote on her blog, www.dooce.com. The incident inadvertently spawned a new verb: getting "dooced," or being fired for blogging. Since that incident, there have been thousands of employees disciplined for what they posted on Facebook or announced on Twitter.

In September 2010, an employee for KTVX's Channel 4 was fired for sending an errant tweet that was posted on ABC4's corporate account. The employee, who confused his personal Twitter account with the corporate one, texted, "I'm downtown eating. Surrounded by Mormons and repressed sexual energy." The message was quickly deleted but not before it was re-tweeted and commented on by other users. The station issued an apology more than two hours later that said, "A personal tweet went out that in no way is consistent with the station's views. This issue has been addressed and we apologize for the tweet."

Draw the Lines

It is no longer unusual for a company to sponsor a blog or a corporate Twitter account. Even if your company is not officially using social media, you can rest assured that your employees are. Every organization should adopt a social media policy that addresses hiring issues, vicarious liability, regulation of social media in and about the workplace, and termination issues.

Companies should review their current policies and employee handbooks to bring them in compliance with this emerging technology. For instance, trade secret protection is based on reasonable efforts to keep information confidential. Accordingly, employers need to have a policy that is enforced. Here are a few tips to make sure your company is fully protected when, your employees are using company-provided communications devices:

Avoid a Complete Ban

Don't fear this new technology. Chances are your employees...