Written on January 31st, 2012 by tasha
In our on-going series on social media policies, I’m turning my attention to a policy for handling negative comments. This seems to be the number one fear, after HIPAA, that I hear from leadership. If you have a policy in place, it will help everyone to feel more prepared should someone say something disparaging about your business.
Let’s start with a few acknowledgements:
- People may be saying bad things about your business on the Web already, you just don’t know about it. This is not as likely for elder care providers as it is for Comcast, AT&T or Microsoft, but still… Have you done a Google search lately? You may be surprised. To borrow a line from the Godfather, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Better to have people post negatives about you where you can easily find them (on your own Web presence) and respond than to have negative comments floating out there on the Internet with no redress at all.
- When you do a public presentation, you risk someone publicly saying something negative. Part of live interaction with the public is taking the risk that you may have to deal with an uncomfortable bit of criticism. No one would say you shouldn’t do presentations, or shouldn’t be interviewed on a radio call-in show. Why run away from social media for this reason? The solution is to be prepared with a reasonable way to respond.
- In elder care, the overwhelming amount of comments are positive. I have taught workshops where some of the early adopters of social media were in attendance. After several YEARS of blogging and doing Facebook, one said that she literally had 300 positive comments before anyone posted a negative comment. I’ll take those odds!
- You do have the ability to delete negative comments. While it is not in the spirit of the open dialogue and engagement inherent in social media, it is always your prerogative to get rid of a posting that you think is completely off-base or inappropriate.
What are the comments you can/should just delete?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: HIPAA, Social Media and Hospice, Social Media Policies
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter, YouTube
Written on January 17th, 2012 by tasha
I am continuing my series on social media policies. The last post was on intellectual property laws and thoughts on how to guide your employees so they don’t inadvertently trigger a copyright infringement suit. The social media policy post before that looked mostly at HIPAA and employee social media policies you need to have even if you aren’t publishing on Facebook, Twitter or a blog.
For this entry, we’re going to look at defamation, libel and false light. To be honest, when I started researching this, I didn’t think it was much of an issue for elder care professionals.
- But then I started thinking about the comments followers leave. Are we liable for their libel?
- And then I learned about “false light,” an easy mistake to make.
- I also started thinking about advocacy roles. I realized that there may be times when we need to speak up, against unfair laws or dangerous or abusive practices.
Hmmm.
And even if you don’t define yourself as an advocate (not that you should), the weird thing about the Internet is that even one obscure little blogpost could end up being seen by millions. Double hmmm. That puts the stakes a little higher than your average brochure or flyer and makes it wise to understand how to say what you need to say AND protect yourself.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized
Written on January 3rd, 2012 by tasha
In a previous post, we wrote about Social Media Policies even if you don’t do social media. While your business may not be involved in social networking, odds are, your employees are engaging in Facebook or Twitter, YouTube or writing a blog.
You need to be sure they do not violate HIPAA nor say things even in their personal posts that reflect poorly on your company.
In the next few blog entries, I am turning my attention to the legal risks of publishing online. After HIPAA, I would say the next most likely transgression has to do with intellectual property violations.
Intellectual property rights apply to anything you publish (in print, or on your website, blog or Facebook page). Many companies, rightfully so, encourage employees to Like, Share and Comment on the company Facebook page or blog. And certainly your official “post-ers” are employees. In that light, be sure you are clear with everyone about what can and can’t be posted from a legal point of view. You don’t want a lawsuit!
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter, YouTube
Written on December 23rd, 2011 by tasha
So thankful for a wonderful 2011 with all my great clients. Whatever you celebrate, may joy warm your hearts. See you next year!
Posted in Uncategorized
Written on December 13th, 2011 by tasha
I’m guest blogging this week on the Stanford Journal of Palliative Medicine. Today’s post is about Social Media and Family Caregivers. Given Pew Internet data on demographics of social media, I wonder whether Facebook is a mature enough medium for reaching family caregivers. Not many seem to use it to get health information. But there are other realistic goals for a Facebook presence.
According to Idealware, software reviewers for non-profits, Facebook is a great way to:
- get people to subscribe to your e-newsletter
- drive traffic to your company site
- promote events
What’s your experience been?
Posted in Facebook, Family Caregivers, Research Results, Social Networking
