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Social Media and Compliance Inspire Ethical Questions at ITEXPO West 2011

By Juliana Kenny
TMCnet Managing Editor

The boundaries between corporation communication tools and social media have become increasingly blurred in conjunction with the growth of unified communications and collaboration. Organizations today have to deal with the security problems that arise with the rapid uptake of social media usage as today’s social collaboration tools do not provide the security and compliance that most companies require.

Without these secure features, or without taking measures to provide secure communication, many organizations are finding themselves at risk for being targets of malware, leakage, and libel – all problems that are costly to address once discovered.

I had the opportunity to conduct a session titled “Securing Social Media for Compliant Collaboration” at ITEXPO (News - Alert) West 2011 yesterday during the SocialCRM event in Austin, TX, and these issues surrounding compliance and security were just two of many ethical, philosophical, educational, moral, and even personal issues discussed with the esteemed speakers.

Sarah Carter, VP of marketing at Actiance, brought up the idea that education is the most important way to “regulate” how companies protect themselves from the branding issues associated with the proliferation of social media in the workplace. While Greg Gunn, VP of business development for HootSuite, abhors any notion of social media regulation, he did agree that education is key in the progression of social media from a legal standpoint.

Ronan Keane (News - Alert), social media strategist for XO Communications, joined the discussion as well, and made particular note of the fact that there should be a distinct difference between personal use of social media and professional use. He brought up this point in reaction to a concerned audience member who raised the question about identity and social media.

The panel discussion then explored the more ethical questions around the use of social media and how it should be regulated. Keane was of the opinion that a commercial solution will come forward, and all agreed that the waters are still murky when it comes to implementing policy for employees’ use of social networks in the office and on company equipment.

The talk shifted to brand philosophy as the speakers discussed the notion that an employee becomes part of the company brand when he or she signs on to work and tweets company news. Each employee becomes an extension of the brand the moment social media enters the equation.

The discussion continues today at the SocialCRM Expo. Stay tuned for developments in the social media realm.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place NOW, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Juliana Kenny graduated from the University of Connecticut with a double degree in English and French. After managing a small company for two years, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web Editor for TMCnet. Juliana currently focuses on the call center and CRM industries, but she also writes about cloud telephony and network gear including softswitches.

Edited by Rich Steeves