Managing Social Media Risk

I've just come from a meeting with a new client and a big part of a new project they are starting revolves around social media.

Social media such as facebook, twitter, google plus (when google finally lets us try it out) etc, can be fantastic tools IF they are managed properly. I would not be at all suprised if future ISO9001 Standards contain a requirement for managing social media.

In order to minimise risk to your business you need to develop strong external communication policies and regularly monitor what is being sent out into the big wide world.

A few things to consider:

1.. Who is responsible for Managing your social media? How much authority to do they have to post on behalf of your business?

2. What guidelines have you set as to what can be spoken about in an open forum?

3. Who owns the social media account? 

4. What damage control procedures do you have in place?

5. Where do you draw the line between personal and business?

Here's an example of what I mean. If I hire a consultant and they have a blog similar to mine, have a private facebook page and have a twitter account I need to set some guidelines straight off the bat. Personally I don't want my business referenced anywhere in personal blog posts, twitter posts etc without my approval. The consultant may set up an 80:20 facebook page and 80:20 twitter account but in the end I own those accounts and have full access to them.

As social media grows and develops, the need for guidelines and policies governing their use will become more and more critical. It is well worth building their control into your Quality Management System.