WEEK ELEVEN - AND NOW THE END IS HERE.....

This weeks lecture is a continuation from last weeks which looks at Management of Social Media - Implementations and Control.

We continued where we had left off with Social Media Control and the risks involved. I don't think the list was exhaustive and could have been added to however it was nicely split between personal use and from a work perspective. It certainly highlighted weaknesses and many have been discussed in my earlier blogs such as the implications of the information you disclose with regards to people losing their jobs and harassment through the use of social media sites such as Facebook. A friend of mine is a midwife and within her contract of employment it states that she isn't allowed to use her phone on shift. A colleague of hers has been disciplined for posting on Facebook during a break that she couldn't wait for her shift to finish. I can see both sides of the argument; she was on a break however it's a paid break and her contract states she can't use her phone, but it certainly makes you think. Is this really an issue to be considered for disciplinary action?

Ethics and the issues of Social Media was next to be discussed and 5 main points were highlighted which was mostly common sense.

1. Digital Divide - this divide is not just who has access to digital technology but also who has the necessary skills and confidence to use them, World Bank Report claims this is narrowing,
2. Virtual Worlds - what behaviours is acceptable in the real world compared to the virtual work and can people separate them, this also can be referred to video games ie acceptable to shoot people in a game so would that be acceptable in the real world? Second Life is such a site which offers the opportunity to create a virtual world.
3. Cultural differences - there needs to be an appreciation for different cultures and people are easily offended. This has been drawn to my attention recently as I have family who live in Qatar, Doha and they often tell me tales of their shopping expeditions - Islamics have priority over Brits when waiting in shop queues! You can't even comment or complain as they may belong to a large influential family and if you offend them you can be given a fine or worse be exiled or deported!
4. Anonymity - asincronums between computers use IP address but should the information attached to this be private? Google are wrestling with this concept and think that users should reveal their real names. Now I can't help, why would anyone want to go by a fake name? Unless it was for nefarious purposes?
5. Privacy - this continue from the previous point, to what extent should people have access to our information and what should remain private?
6. On line surveillance - again to what extent should surveillance information be accessible and to whom. This is highlighted from BBC Panorama Documentary The Honey Moon Murder: A Panorama Special which has raised doubts over the case against Dewani and his involvement in his wife's murder assisted with the CCTV footage available. In cases like this how can you not think surveillance should be used?

We also discussed controlling Social Media and considerations for HR when recruiting people to work on Social Media. There is even a Social Media in Recruitment Conference to be held in Germany this year! I didn't really agree with the comment about how many people you should have working on Social Media to make it effective, (figures from The State of Corporate Social Media in 2011 suggests over 6 people is most popular) surely it should be how effective the employees are that will make it a success? Someone has to take responsibility for the authorship of social media, know what they are allowed to talk about and monitor the response, acting accordingly.

The answer: Social Media Policies. This led on to Social Media Policies which was split into staff personal use and staff working on social media. Like any task within a business it would be recommended that they use guidance or, policies and provide training on what they deem acceptable. We were fortunate enough to be given a copy of Intel's Social Media Guidelines who stipulate 3 rules of engagement:

1. Disclose: Your presence in social media must be transparent
2. Protect: Take extra care to protect both Intel and yourself
3. Use Common Sense: Remember that professional, straightforward and appropriate communication is best.

It was suggested by Margaret that we also look at Coca Cola Social Media Policy and although similar to Intel it offered 5 core values:

Transparency in every social media engagement.

1. Protection of our consumers' privacy.
2. Respect of copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity, and other third-party rights.
3. Responsibility in our use of technology.
4. Utilisation of best practises, listening to the on line community, and compliance with applicable regulations to ensure that these On line Social Media Principles remain current and reflect the most up-to-date and appropriate standards of behaviour.

It was clear that Coca Cola respects the rights of its employees to use blogs and social media to self express and to further advance the Company business but has made the employees fully aware of the implications of their actions with regards to the use of social media and that the Company could be held responsible for their behaviour.

This You Tube video shows how Starbucks has become successful in social media. Starbucks is thought to be one of the top companies of social media and as well as the usual sites (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube etc) Starbucks created its own version of a social network My Starbucks Idea where customers can share their ideas on anything related to Starbucks. They also have Starbucks Blog Ideas in Action which is written by various Starbucks employees and talks about how they are using customer ideas, a great way of increasing customer awareness and brand loyalty! Their social media strategy creates a social media plan which communicates with a wide range of fans and offers the opportunity for customers to respond.

After looking at a number of policies it is clear that the emphasis is on control if a business uses Social Media and putting communication with customers as a priority!

No seminar this week to allow time for our E-Activites and report, thank goodness I'm all organised and have completed the E-Activity task. Sunshine here I come!