Social networking is no longer a new concept in business operations. It’s invaluable for marketing or customer engagement and plays a major role in attracting and retaining clients. The unique element of social, the one that makes it stand out among many other efforts to interact with clients, is the two-way nature of communication. However, this openness and interactivity of social media make it unique in terms of regulatory needs. Many rules, laws and regulations mandating the compliant storage of electronic information now apply to conversations, post and messages on social networks.

This is one of the reasons why companies still have serious concerns about the risks of using social media for business. However, there are systems and solutions that minimize these risks and empower businesses to use social media effectively and securely.

Social media for business entails risks.

You surely know a business or a brand that’s thriving on social media. They engage with their audience in Facebook comments. They constantly post on Instagram and Twitter. There’s an ongoing conversation, a buzz, a revolution.

And then there are some companies that are still reluctant to use social media for business purposes. And they’re not entirely wrong.

For highly regulated industries like finance, government, education or healthcare, social media can be a legal minefield. Here are the four main reasons behind their hesitation:

1. Reputational risk and the potential to sully a company’s name

What if an employee goes on a viral Twitter rant?

2. Regulatory and legal concerns

There’s always potential for divulging information before laws and regulations allow it. Sparta Police Dept. shared details of a couple’s arrest on Facebook, which clearly breached privacy laws. The price they had to pay ‒ $500,000.

3. The loss of intellectual property

Excited employees could take a photo of official documents or a freshly-signed deal, post it on social media with an announcement and inadvertently share important internal communications or trade secrets.

4. Fear of unknown and complicated systems that lack internal control

Any post on social media can be edited and deleted at any time. How do you prove somebody’s guilt if they deleted the incriminating evidence?

You can neutralize all these risks by using archiving technology.

It would be an absolute waste to completely avoid social media due to reputational and regulatory concerns when you can actually be in control of everything that is said and done on your company’s social media accounts.

Automating the archiving process by using a dedicated archiving solution will allow you to:

Capture and archive social media messages, posts, comments, photos and everything else, just like you do with email

Stop unauthorized access and limit liability through access control and identity management

Define keywords and get notifications and alerts about profanity or inadequate content published on your pages

Access all content from various social media channels using a single interface and

Get valuable insight on how social media is used across your organization

Nothing compares to social media when it comes to customer engagement and online marketing. Instead of avoiding it for fear of risks that it entails, you can implement a simple archiving solution that will keep you in compliance and eDiscovery-ready.

To learn how Jatheon can help you archive social media, contact us or schedule a personal demo.