Social Media Can Hurt Your Business

There once was a time when only some people were Internet savvy. Those days are long gone. We now live in an age when the word “Google” is a verb, and just about everyone, even your grandmother, knows what it means. If you’ve ever typed your name into Google, you’ve probably noticed that despite your many impressive accomplishments, your Facebook or other social network page appears on the first search page. If your pages fail to present your professionalism in a positive light, social networking can hurt your career and/or your business image.

From Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to customer review sites like Yelp & TripAdvisor, the internet and social media have transformed the way that businesses market themselves. We’ve been hearing more and more success stories accredited to social media marketing recently. But it also presents potential problems and liabilities for businesses that don’t take the time to manage their risks. Here are three ways that social media can hurt you, if you’re not careful:

1) An Employee Discloses the confidential company information or a trade secret on the social media site

This might happen innocently enough — an employee tells a friend what he’s been doing at work, and next thing you know, your great new idea has been stolen. Employees should sign confidentiality agreements, and you should consider explicitly discussing social media disclosures in those agreements, as well as in your company social media policy.

2) Your company gets negative review on a customer review site like Yelp and TripAdvisor

These sites are gaining in popularity, and they’re a blessing if your business gets positive reviews, but a possible disaster if the reviews are negative. Smart business owners are proactive in managing their online reputation. Set up a Google Alert for your company name, so you’ll be notified whenever it shows up in a Google search. And pay attention to what’s being said about you. If it’s negative, take steps to repair the damage and improve your online profile.

3)Your employees tweet or blog something negative about a competitor

It may not seem like a big deal to you, but your competitor could sue you for unfair competition, interference with contract, business disparagement or defamation. One way to manage this risk is through a written social networking policy. If you’re sued, this will help establish that your company should not be held liable because the employee’s actions were outside the scope of his work.