Running head: SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS ALLOW SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE WORK PLACE?

Should Organizations Allow Social Media in the Work Place?
Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines

Abstract
The growth of social media is astonishing. Organizations question if to allow social media in the workplace. The paper contains information beneficial to an organization when making the decision to allow social media in the work place. Topics included are social policies and procedures, benefits, risks, legal impacts, media interpretation, legal cases and methods of improvement. The information is intended to convey that it is beneficial to allow social media in the workplace if only a well written social media policy exist.

Should Organizations allow Social Media in the Work Place?
Social media continues to grow. The rapid growth has Organizations facing a decision whether to allow the use of social media in the workplace. Social media today is widely popular due to its advancements in collaboration and communication which can benefit business. In order to make a decision such as allowing social media in the work place it is important for an organization to be knowledgeable about the following information: * Social Policies and Procedures * Benefits and Risk * The legal impacts to the organization * How to minimize the risks but maximizing the market * How media interpret the impact * Recent legal cases and outcomes * Methods of improvement
Organizations can benefit by allowing employees access social media in the workplace as long as it is implemented properly.

Social media provides a wide spread and limitless communication by allowing interactions among users in which they create, share and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.

Social Policies and Procedures Strict social policies and procedures are necessary in order to avoid legal issues. An Organization must not, “wait for a social media disaster to strike’’ (Flynn, 2012). Organizations face lawsuits due to failure of implementing a social media policy. A strategic social media policy and d compliance management program must be put together immediately to help reduce disasters triggered by employees business and personal use of online communication and collaboration tools ( Flynn, 2012 ). According to author Nancy Flynn (2012) the following list of rules should be incorporated in to social media policies. * No violations of regulators’ content rules. * No illegal content. * No harassment or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other status protected by law. * No disclosure of confidential company, executive, or employee data. * No exposure of customers’ personal financial data to outside parties. * No disclosure of patients’ electronic protected health information to third parties. * No rumors, gossip, or defamatory comments—about anyone. * No whining or complaining about the company, customers, or business. * No external distribution of internal email messages or other eyes-only data. * No disclosure of company financials to outside parties. * No “funny” jokes, cartoons, videos, photos, files, or art. * No obscene, off-color, pornographic, sexually charged, or otherwise inappropriate and offensive language, art, or other content. * No netiquette (electronic etiquette) breaches.
The implementation of these rules will result in a well written policy for employees to avoid legal treats that can cause a lot of harm to an organization.
Benefits and Risks
Prior to making a decision to allow social media in the workplace, it is important to compare the risk and benefits. Two benifits involved are productivity and security risks (Reh, 2010). Organizations lean toward not allowing social media in the work place due to loss of productivity. “Employees who have access to the Internet and social media sites can be tempted to spend significant amounts of time on these sites” (Reh, 2010). A security risk involves Hackers who are attracted to social networking sites. Which is why “[b]oth incoming and outgoing messages introduce risk” (Reh, 2010), resulting in viruses and Malware. A few benefits to social media include building relationships and saving money. “Social networks have fans, followers, and friends who participate in discussions. They become more attached – hopefully leading to stronger and deeper commitments and relationships with [customers]…” (Reh, 2010). The use of social media is also a money saver. A business is able to save money commonly used for advertising in order to gain new customers. “Depending upon the industry … social media and networking sites can send quality traffic to [a] business site” (Wallace, 2012).
How to minimize the risk but maximizing the market?
A clear understanding must be implemented in every employee in an organization through training to minimize the risks of social media threats.
As social media sites continue to grow in popularity, organizations should embrace them, not block them. But companies that want to succeed at social media governance need to look beyond technology controls and empower employees to reduce risk by getting smart about threats (Straut, 2010).
The outcomes of empowering employees with such knowledge will allow an organization to run smoothly without legal issues, this will result in business growth.
Legal impacts to the organization
Organization must be aware of new laws that emerge. “Thorough the use of social media poses legal risks for all companies; regulated entities are subjected to additional and more stringent rules” (Elefant, 2011). The possibility of discriminating in recruitment and employment ads are greater through social media.
How media interprets the impact(s)
Successes and failures of organizations are broadcasted immediately through the channels of media. Media will interpret the impact of an organization by providing information in detail to the public. “News travels instantly, including the thoughts of disgruntled customer” (Managing Online Reputation).The organization can be implemented by losing business and hurting its reputation.
Identify legal cases and outcomes
An employee of American Medical Response Connecticut was fired for posting a negative comment on Facebook after work hours. “The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed; however, the ruling was a vote in favor of protecting speech, even when it’s critical of an employer, on social media websites” ( Bjork,2011).
In this case involves an employee departing from an employer but taking a large amount of customer with him through social media. A previous employee from “Phone Dog Company was sued for taking 17,000 twitter followers with him when he left. Phone Dog is asking for 2.50 per month, or $340, 000 for eight months” (Newman, 2011). The outcome is unknown.
Identify methods of improvement
Organization must provide a strict social media policy. If a social media policy already exist then it is vital to keep improving the information to better communication the importance of social media violations that can result in lawsuits. An improvement that can be included is forming, “… a social media policy team to oversee the development and implementation of [the] organization’s formal rules , written policies, and ongoing compliance management program” (Flynn,2012).
Conclusion
An organization has the possibility of success while allowing employees access to social media in the workplace if only a strict social media policy exists. Educating employees about social media exposedness can minimize those risks. Social media will continue to grow, therefore, organizations must prepare. It is impossible to ignore the benefits of allowing social media in the workplace. An organization with a well written policy and implementation can be successful in allowing social media in the workplace.

References

Bjork, N. (2011). Company rules on social media can lead to lawsuits. Daily Journal of Commerce, Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/851906324?accountid=7109
Elefant, C. (2011). The "power" of social media: Legal issues & best practices for utilities engaging social media. Energy Law Journal, 32(1), 1-56. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/869071042?accountid=7109
Flynn, N (2012). The social media handbook. The social media handbook. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://library.uh.edu/record=b5761659~S14
Managing your online reputation. (2010).Professional Safety, SS (1), 52-53. Retrieved from https://exproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/200397943?accountid=7109
Newman, J. (2011, Dec 31). Tech and biotech: A lawsuit over twitter followers raises social media questions. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/913117252?accountid=7109
Reh, R. (2010). Social media risks and rewards. Credit Union Magazine, 76(12), 60-60. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/817732463?accountid=7109
Stroud, R. (2010). Reducing social media risks. Baseline, (107), 13-13. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/814872793?accountid=7109
Wallace, D. (2012). How small business can benefit from social Media/Networking sites. Agency Sales, 42(8), 16-20. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.uhd.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1151389378?accountid=7109
Wang, J. (2011). International Journal of Knowledge-Based Organizations (IJKBO). doi: 10.4018/IJKBO