PITFALLS OF S.N.S.

The use of social networking is rising dramatically, and its scope has expanded far beyond the personal realm. Although there are clear benefits to increasing communications there are also pitfalls to it.

1. Disclosure of personal information. Companies regularly search MySpace, Classmates.com, LinkedIn and other social networking sites to glean information about potential hires and competitors, but postings should always be taken with a grain of salt.

2. Potential legal liability. Students at Canterbury's University of Kent created a Facebook group named "For Those Who Hate the Little Fat Library Man," to harass a librarian they disliked. In the U.S., if employees were to use corporate IT resources for similar purposes, the company could be held responsible in any ensuing litigation.

3. Exposure to malware. Social networks are designed to be open, with few restrictions on content or links. In most cases, security was not a primary design criterion. Thus, these networks are potential vehicles for introducing viruses, worms and spyware.

4. Risk of leaking corporate secrets. Companies often sanction social networking for the purpose of exchanging professional information. But take great care to protect corporate secrets. Definitions of secret may vary or be misunderstood, and critical information may inadvertently be revealed. Provide clear guidelines across the company, as well as to your suppliers and outsourcers.

Even when networking is used for business purposes, corporations may want to limit the number of networks employees use. Monitoring many networks can become incredibly time-consuming. Moreover, interfaces among current networks don't support robust information-sharing. Unfortunately, unless all interested parties use the same network, many benefits are lost. Consider designating specific networks for companywide communications.

Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=311395