| With the growing importance of social media activity to | | | | To protect yourself more carefully, it's a good idea to |
| a brand's online reputation, it is becoming more and | | | | monitor major streams of communication, such as |
| more imperative, especially for larger businesses, to | | | | Facebook updates and Twitter, for your brand or |
| watch what your employees are doing on Twitter, | | | | phrases related to your brand. This is a good idea |
| Facebook, and other channels of public communication. | | | | generally, to see the buzz that's out there, but it will |
| Of course, this is not to suggest that you should spy | | | | also catch comments employees might make, which |
| on your employees, or watch their private | | | | you can more directly deal with. Many businesses set |
| correspondence – all that needs be watched are | | | | up special RSS feeds to track their employees' public |
| those communications that are publicly available, as | | | | updates, so that they can scan them throughout the |
| these are the messages that can be syndicated in | | | | day and make sure nothing critical is getting out, or hire |
| real-time search and find their way out into the world in | | | | specialized reputation monitoring professionals to insure |
| a way that can damage your brand. | | | | that they know who and what is being said about their |
| Social media has become such an integral part of | | | | brand. |
| many people's daily lives that they hardly even think | | | | Integrated software, such as Social Sentry, will |
| about what they're posting. Status updates complaining | | | | automate the process of following employees and |
| about something a boss did, tweets about a new | | | | tracking their updates for anything relating to your |
| product launch that hasn't yet been announced, or | | | | brand. This helps filter through the white noise, and |
| venting about a product that isn't working and is running | | | | makes it less of a direct invasion of your employee |
| behind schedule can all cause serious damage to your | | | | privacy, only notifying you when a status update has |
| brand, with no malicious intent on the part of your | | | | raised a flag according to pre-determined conditions. In |
| employees. | | | | addition to statements directly about your brand, many |
| Having a Social Networking Agreement for your | | | | businesses also find it useful to monitor their public |
| employees to sign is a good first step to managing | | | | employees, to ensure that their behavior in social |
| your messaging. In it, spell out exactly what is and is | | | | networks reflect well on their business. The last thing a |
| not acceptable behavior in terms of discussing their | | | | good brand needs is for a VP of marketing to release |
| work and your brand. If there are any gray areas, | | | | a series of drunken ramblings on Twitter days before |
| delineate these carefully, and set aside someone in | | | | meeting with an important client. By taking a proactive |
| your organization who employees can contact to | | | | approach in screening your employees' activity, you put |
| check with to make sure something is appropriate. | | | | yourself in a position to intervene quickly and mitigate |
| This simple step can help employees be more | | | | any damage that might be done by casual tweets or |
| conscious of how they discuss their work online, and | | | | updates. |
| can save you a lot of grief down the line. | | | | |