The Wendy Bell debacle: Employers need clear, consistent social-media policies; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/24/16

Beverly A. Block, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; The Wendy Bell debacle: Employers need clear, consistent social-media policies:

"I do not mean to minimize the importance of the dialogue about privilege and bias that has stemmed from Ms. Bell’s Facebook post, which offered her speculation as to the race and family situations of the Wilkinsburg killers. But, strictly from a business and legal perspective, this situation presents us with a teachable moment.

And the lesson is: Any organization with a social-media presence — which is just about every organization these days — needs to ensure that its employees understand that anything publicized in the public domain (either within the scope of their employment or that is reasonably attributable to their employer) must be aligned with the organization’s social-media policy.

Employers should have a formal policy and require employees to read and sign it. Employers should require employees to undergo social-media training before authorizing them to represent the organization in the public domain. And employers should have a protocol in place to address violations of social-media policy in a formal and uniform manner."