Companies need 'acceptable use policy' for social media

06/07/2010

Companies without an acceptable use policy in place for those going on social media websites at work are putting themselves at risk, it has been suggested.

By 2014, social networks are expected to replace email as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for around one-fifth of business users, IT research and advisory company Gartner revealed last week.

Doug Miles, UK managing director of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) Europe, said: "Collaboration without governance is a recipe for disaster."

He suggested companies adopt a policy protecting themselves from any affiliation with non-company websites and stating that the views do not necessarily reflect the company's opinions or attitudes.

This protects the company as well as allowing it to deal with any "indiscreet" employees.

"If you don't have a policy, when you discipline that member of staff, what are you disciplining them against?" queried Mr Miles.

In spite of this, companies still have to understand the benefits of social networking, he added.

When allowing staff to use social networking sites, companies should be aware of the risks they pose in terms of data protection and to network security too.

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