It’s Not “Just” Social Media

In reading about yet another use for social media research, I came across a statement that a college student said in reaction to learning that more and more colleges are looking at applicants’ social media content during the application process. He said:

 

“It’s social media — it should be used between people who are social,” “I don’t think admissions officers should look at that because it might not be a good representation of their [an applicant’s] life, what they do and their accomplishments.”

 

But here’s the thing……while it may not be a complete representation of a person, it is an accurate representation of who that person is socially, in an informal, social setting. That’s just as important as knowing what grades you’ve gotten, what jobs you’ve held, and how well you can write an essay.

Social media conversations are becoming more and more relevant in many uses, from the college application process to the hiring process to litigation. While it’s “just” social media, it’s also another definition of who you are – think of it as your social side.

Why do people care so much about social media conversations? As more and more conversations happen online, there is the realization that this public facing data can be used in a myriad of ways. As mentioned above, monitoring for college applicants and their social content can give the admissions officers another glimpse into who the applicant is outside of the “paper version” of that person. There are also many other industries and companies that are finding a wealth of data in social sites:

1. Litigation: some states allow for potential juror information to be disclosed prior to jury selection. Using a social media monitoring platform to learn more about potential jurors makes the process more efficient. The brevity of time taken to employ social monitoring is well worth it in the long run. Expand that capability to learning more about witnesses and others who may testify at a trial and the benefit is multiplied. With real time, location based monitoring, lawyers can monitor for juror misconduct in an efficient, streamlined manner.

2. Legal/law enforcement: much like litigation, location based monitoring can be extremely useful in identifying witnesses to a crime, accident, or public incident, and can help determine facts in preparation for a trial.

3. Employment Application Process: much like college admissions officers, human resources staff are also using social monitoring to assist with the hiring process. By monitoring social activity of potential candidates, employers can get a better sense of who a person is and how well of a fit they will be if hired. With this aspect, there are federal regulations to adhere to, but this can be easily done with the right monitoring tools.

4. Marketing & Customer Service: as more and more customers talk about brands online, companies have taken note and worked to monitoring all conversations, not just those happening on their social sites. They are quickly learning that many customers talkabout them, not to them, and finding this additional conversation allows for deeper consumer insight and opportunities for positive customer service.

There are many businesses and industries that are realizing that a person’s social activities online are yet another representation of who they are; it’s time that more people realize this. Try telling a teenager this, and it will likely fall on deaf ears. However, this concept needs to be shared over and over again so people realize it’s not “just” social media – it is an extension of you and what you represent. When applying for a job, you want to present the best “you” possible – be sure your social side is also the best “social you” possible.

Insurance Fraud Caught With Social Media

Insurance companies are realizing the power of social media, especially when content that is damaging to their case is posted online.

Consider the following situation…..someone takes an insurance policy in the amount of two million dollars on their million dollar car. Suddenly the car is involved in an accident, and the owner files a claim. Unfortunately, one insurance company turned to the internet, and found damaging evidence against the owner, enough to deny the claim. The story was told by CBS news in February.

Because of a YouTube video, the insurance company had enough evidence that this was a fraudulent situation and there was, in fact, no accident as the driver claimed  – this was done purposefully and methodically.

Before social media, insurance companies would often times use private investigators to look into a person’s activities – for example, a workman’s comp claim for someone who is seen by a private investigator doing yard work or other similar activity. This task has gotten much easier now that people are inclined to share every detail of their personal lives. This is not always good news for those filing claims, but this social media development has been gold for insurance companies who are monitoring social media.

Social Media For Jury Selection

During the jury selection process, there’s not a lot of time to determine which potential jurors would be best for your upcoming trial. Some states allow firms to receive a list of potential jurors prior to voir dire – wphen this happens, using social media research can truly prepare lawyers for the process and give them insight to make the most of their time in evaluating potential jurors.

Social media research is invaluable in this respect; by utilizing a social monitoring service, lawyers can easily look to social media conversations to learn more about a potential juror’s prejudices, connections, and knowledge of the trial details. As people have become more inclined to share their thoughts on social sites, this unstructured public data has become useful for more than simply generalized research.

Of course, any social media monitoring program can only capture public facing content; that is, if a user’s Facebook page is only set to show content to “friends”, then what they post will not be able to be collected. However, when people participate in open message boards and forums, respond to blog posts, or have their privacy settings to “public” then gaining insight into their social activities can be effective.

How is this done? A strong social media monitoring program uses a suite of software platforms to provide the most thorough, comprehensive social scan possible. When provided with basic information about potential jurors, social media monitoring scans are set and the following data is collected:

1. A listing of all public facing social sites a potential juror owns

2. A collection of content posted in a public facing social setting over a two-year period; in some cases, accounts that were public and deleted can be picked up when social monitoring tools provide archiving capabilities

3. Alert notification when items are found that may indicate a specific prejudice, connection to a defendant, law enforcement, or plaintiff in the case

Of course, not everyone has a social media footprint, and many are careful with their privacy settings. There are also times in which a person simply won’t have any social content readily available. However, when something significant is uncovered, the importance of using social media data as part of the jury selection process becomes clear.

 

 

 

Social Media Conduct of Your Employees

Does your company have a social media policy in place yet? If not you may want to consider creating one sooner rather than later. More and more employees are losing their jobs, getting reprimanded for their public social media posts. So where do you start?

A great article from Entrepreneur online discusses “Writing  Social Media Guidelines” makes some excellent suggestions and begins with a legal point of view.  Some highlights include:

    • Freedom of speech: Be aware of the National Labor Relations Act’s rules protecting employees’ freedom-of-speech rights. The act protects the rights of all employees (not just those in unions) to enjoy freedom of speech in relation to collective bargaining or other discussions of mutual aid.
    • Do your research according to your state.
    • Check out how other companies in your industry handles social media among employees. Often that is a good place to start.
    • Council your employees to use common sense. While it is a great thing for an employee to show loyalty to their company by posting a picture from a trade show, office party or staff meeting caution needs to be exercised. Many companies monitor their own social media and also that of their competitors. An innocent post could give your competition some information you would rather they not know.

Does your company have a social media policy in place? Do you need one? While most policies are more of a guideline it is important for ALL businesses to have something in writing for their employees to reference. Join the discussion by leaving your comments and learn from others!