Social Media

Since 2000, social media use by businesses has grown and is now standard fare for many organizations. Others just don't want anything to do with it, fearing the risks it presents. But social media can play a critical role in business continuity, and this week's articles discuss that role and how to manage and/or mitigate the risks prevented.

Social media can now affect business continuity planning in countless ways. (Item #1)     Social media can save lives, keeping communities in touch during disasters, as well as managing corporate reputations during a crisis. (Item #2)     You will find yourself doing social media crisis management sooner rather than later. (Item #3)    

There are many ways business continuity managers can leverage social media in a crisis, but to be effective requires forethought and training. (Item #4)     It stands to reason that if companies do not have a broad enough understanding of social media risks, they are likely not to have in place a broad enough approach to managing social media risks. (Item #5)     Firms need to identify the risks of social media, develop comprehensive governance policies to mitigate risk and then deploy the right technology to reinforce those policies. (Item #6)    

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Social Media and Business Continuity Planning

For years, news was shared through sound bites, reporter stand-ups and anchor chatter. The editorial process behind the business of news-gathering dictated a certain pace and also ensured a certain level of reliability and objective accuracy. Today, that approach has been replaced by one that is 140 characters long, and social media websites like Twitter and Facebook have become the most active and volatile method of dispersing information in a crisis.
http://www.rmmagazine.com/2013/05/08/social-media-and-business-continuity-planning/

2. Social media and mobile convergence: new paradigms for incident communication

Social media usage has exploded across the globe and now connects billions of people across the world. For many it is now their preferred means of communication, offering spontaneity and the ability to share information and experiences using a wide variety of media. Social media has provided a vast community of individuals with the capability to chat and exchange information with friends, family and associates. Outside of personal relationships, businesses have seen the potential of using social media to stay close to their customers and many high profile personalities use the tools to stay in touch with their fan base.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature1108.html

3. Tips for Social Media Crisis Management Success

By now pretty much everyone will admit the need to be prepared for social media crisis management, but far fewer can honestly say they're ready to cope with a breaking situation. In a nice infographic, 360 Public Relations shared eight vital ingredients to success when planning for and managing a social media crisis.
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/tips-social-media-crisis-management-success/

4. Readiness Best Practices: Leveraging Social Media in a Crisis

Social media can be a powerful tool in a business continuity management program arsenal, however, according to a PwC survey of business continuity managers, 57% of respondents are not systematically leveraging social media in their programs, and only 8% believe that social media has helped their organization better identify and respond to crisis events.
http://www.missionmode.com/readiness-best-practices-leveraging-social-media-in-a-crisis/

5. A Comprehensive Approach to Managing Social Media Risk and Compliance

At issue here is the fact that traditional risk management policies and procedures were not designed for, quite literally, minute-by-minute monitoring of social media chatter to identify brand, strategy, compliance, legal and market risks. Those risks are considerable. This paper helps identify and explore many of the potential negative consequences posed by social media in terms of brand, strategy, regulatory, legal and market risks. More important, it outlines a holistic approach to identifying, assessing and managing those risks.
https://www.accenture.com/t20150527T205420__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/DotCom/Documents/Global/PDF/Dualpub_8/Accenture-Comprehensive-Approach-To-Managing-Social-Media-Risk-Compliance-A4-LR-Final-Sept22.pdf

6. Protect Your Firm from the 12 Risks of Social Media

In light of these risks, your firm can get the most out of social media "through good governance and risk management. Governance is really all about how you operate social media, your policies and procedures...And being aware of the risks and how to manage those." Work out how your firms is going to comply with various local and industry rules and regulations, including data privacy and protection, advertising, record keeping and supervision.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2015/05/21/protect-your-firm-from-the-13-risks-of-social-media/#3721d7ed5439