Baker & Daniels Establishes Policy to Address Use of Social Media

Baker & Daniels' social media policy was recognized as one of the 10 best policies uploaded to the Knowledge Network, according to ITBusinessEdge.com in its story, "The Top 10 Knowledge Network Policies in 2009."

Knowledge Network (www.itbe.com) is a professional community providing users with high quality, useful information, tools and templates to support business success. It gathered almost 500 tools and resources for readers to use in the workplace. Here is what Knowledge Network said about Baker & Daniels' social media policy:

"Like many businesses, Baker & Daniels' employees use social media both professionally and personally. Therefore, it's important to have a solid social media policy in place to address appropriate use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter. This 14-point policy gives Baker & Daniels employees a firm guide for using social media outlets."

Following is Baker & Daniels' 14-point social media policy:

1. Remember that the Internet is not anonymous, nor does it forget.

Everything written on the Web can be traced back to its author one way or another and very easily. Information is backed up often and repeatedly and posts in one forum are usually replicated in others

through trackbacks and reposts or references.

2. There is no clear line between your work life and your personal life. Always be honest and respectful in both capacities.

With the ease of tracing authors back from their posts and the amount of information online, finding the actual identity of a poster from a few posts and a screen name is not impossible. This creates an avenue for outside parties to link your personal writings to those you've done in a professional capacity. Always write as if everyone knows you. Never write anything you wouldn't say out loud to all parties involved.

3. Avoid hazardous materials.

Do not post or link to any materials that are defamatory, harassing or indecent.

4. Don't promote other brands with the firm's brand.

Do not promote personal projects or endorse other brands, causes or opinions. Be sure to respect third party copyrights. If a personal opinion must be posted, clearly state to all readers this does not represent the opinions of the firm.

5. Keep confidentiality.

Do not post any confidential or proprietary information in regards to the firm or its clients.

6. Don't pad your own stats.

Do not create anonymous or pseudonym online profiles in order to pad link or page view stats. Also, do not comment on your own or another's posts in order to create a false sense of support.

7. Always trackback.

When reposting or referencing a post on one of the firm's online sites, provide a link to the original post or story.

8. Identify yourself.

When relevant, identify your affiliation with the firm and your area of concentration.

9. Do not pat yourself on the back.

Do not post self-laudatory statements regarding your work nor the firm's.

10. Do not qualify your work.

Do not post statements regarding the quality of your work nor the firm's.

11. Do not approve recommendations or testimonials.

Recommendations and testimonials violate the ethics rules under which the firm operates. Individuals with the firm do not need to discourage others from posting promotional materials about the firm, however, the firm cannot link to them or have them posted on the firm's sites.

12. Do not promote successes.

Don't report firm results or outcomes or use words like "successfully," "favorably," "won" or "prevailed" in describing the firm's representations. The promotion of successes is prohibited for law firms. It also violates the ethics rules under which the firm operates.

13. Do not return fire.

If a negative post or comment is found online about the firm or yourself, do not counter with another negative post. Instead, publicly offer to remedy the situation through positive action. Seek help from the Client Services Department in defusing these types of situations.

14. Do not offer or appear to offer legal advice.

Individuals with the firm should not give legal advice or otherwise form attorney-client relationships in using social media. Formation of these relationships must be done only through the firm's regular procedures to avoid conflicts and other ethical problems.