Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Is your financial institution contemplating marketing via social media? Or are you concerned about opening yourself up to criticism, or worse, litigation?
Lawyer Kevin Funnell has this to say on his Bank Lawyer's Blog:
I think that much, perhaps most, of the concern about the legal risks of social media marketing by financial institutions arises from the understandable fear of the unknown. The media is relatively new, banks are traditionally conservative, and lawyers are risk mitigators, not risk takers. Thus far, banks are experimenting with the media, and 'the jury is still out.' In other words, many banks don't yet 'get it.'
Nevertheless, social media is the way through which much of the world is relating to one another, especially among Gen Y, and banks are going to have to learn to embrace the media if they want to effectively reach those who use it. It's a huge group of human beings (larger than the Boomers) who are coming of age using social media as second nature.
Legal risks or no legal risks, banks will have to come to terms with it.
Perhaps you don't have to be a hare to be in this race, but you sure won't be able to win it as a tortoise.
Although Mr. Funnell says he finds the legal risks of the use of social media to be overblown, there are other issues, to be certain, that must be considered. Who at your company will be your social media "voice"? On which sites will you concentrate your efforts? How will you respond if someone impersonates your company?
Mr. Funnell offers these checklists of the legal and human resources issues surrounding social media.
