What every employee and employer must know about social media

While social media continues to evolve—and much will change in the years to come—every employer and employee should understand a few simple things. Being ignorant of social media risks, best practices, and laws is no excuse for employees’ making career-ending mistakes or employers’ stumbling into costly legal and brand reputation errors.

Here are three things employers should know about social media:

1. Training and communication about corporate social media policies are essential: Some companies have no social media policy, but most have come to recognize that existing communication policies are insufficient to protect employers and employees from the nuances and unique risks of social media. Other organizations have a policy but fail to educate employees on the risks and ramifications of their actions in social media; this is almost as dangerous as having no policy at all.