image based social media applications

1. +
Risks of Social Media

2. +
This Session
 The Risks of using Social Media
 Personal Use
 Break
 Business Use

3. +
Social Media
 We have covered a lot of social media within the course, but
it would be irresponsible not to cover the risks associated
with using these platforms.
 This is particularly important if you have children who use
the internet, or you know of vulnerable adults who may
access social media.
 It’s easy to forget that social media is public – even if we have
shared something with a limited range of people through
Facebook, the content is still online to be viewed.
 Tomorrow we’ll cover using social media for job seeking so
hopefully all of this will help!

4. +
The Main Risks
 Disclosure of private information.
 Bullying.
 Cyber-stalking.
 Access to age-inappropriate content and online grooming.
 Prosecution or recrimination from posting offensive or
inappropriate comments.
 Phishing emails.
 Hacking and viruses.

5. +
Social Media
 Seeing these risks, it would be easy to panic and delete all of
your accounts, but when used correctly, the platforms can be
fun and easy to use.
 This session will consider the risks associated with social
media, and how to avoid them.
 We will also look at the differences between social media for
personal use, and social media for business use.

6. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Disclosure of private information
 Don’t advertise when you are going on holiday if your house
will be empty.Wait until you come back to talk about it.
 Don’t put your whole date of birth in your profile.
 Also be aware that you can sometimes accidentally give
away the answer to your ‘secret question’ to reset your
password through the information on your profile.
 Also be aware about posting your phone number, or address,
in your profile, even if it’s set to be viewed by ‘friends only’.

7. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Bullying
 Bullying can take many forms, and happens to adults as well
as teenagers and children.
 If someone on your friends list is posting unpleasant
comments, then simply unfriend them.
 Report users for bullying, and get your friends and family to
report the user as well if they also have profiles on the
platform where the bullying is happening.

8. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Cyber-stalking
 People often post phone numbers, addresses, or social plans
online, making it easier for strangers to stalk them. Only
share specific details with individuals who need them.
 Turn the ‘location’ off on your updates, and take advantage of
Facebook’s ‘friends only’ or Google + circles features to
prevent your statuses being hugely public.
 Also be aware of posting photos that look like passport
photos – this makes it a lot easier to replicate your online
presence for identity theft purposes.

9. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Age-inappropriate content and online grooming
 If you have children or teenagers, investigate adding
parental controls to your internet security in order to restrict
access to content. Place PCs in family areas.
 Teach your children not to give away their personal details
online – they’re also YOUR personal details.
 Encourage them to talk to you about who they’re talking to
online and never let them meet anyone on their own.
 Google Hangouts lets you have chats via webcam, which is a
great way to ‘see’ that someone is who they say they are.

10. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Prosecution or recrimination from posting offensive or
inappropriate comments
 Jurors are forbidden from discussing the contents of a trial,
so it’s best to adopt the same practice – if in doubt, don’t talk
about it!
 Bear in mind what can be considered libel or defamation – if
someone could suffer loss of earnings or reputation based
on what you say, then don’t say it.
 Also consider that not all jokes are universally considered
funny and some people may take offence. Others may also
not be taken as a joke at all!

11. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Phishing emails
 If you get an email from a company that warns you of a
problem with your account, and asks you to visit a link
embedded in the email, don’t click the link.
 Type the address of the company into the address bar of
your browser and log in that way.
 In addition, emails that begin “Dear Customer” are probably
fraudulent.
 If in doubt, check with the company themselves.They’ll be
only to happy to help.

12. +
Risks – Personal Use
 Hacking and viruses
 Many of the social media profiles come with options to allow
you to turn on log-in controls.
 Try to use a different password on every site so if one of
them is compromised, they can’t all be hacked.
 Use a combination of symbols, letters and numbers in
passwords.
 Don’t click on links in emails that ask you to log in – go
directly to the website and log in there.
 Don’t open attachments unless you know what they are.

13. +
TASK
 Create a new blog post.
 Write ‘Risks of using Social Media for Personal Use’ as a
heading within the post.
 Using bullet points, identify risks associated with using social
media for personal use.

14. +
Other Risks – Personal Use
 Be careful not to over promote on a personal profile.
 Try to keep the negativity to a minimum.
 Be aware what photos or statuses you’re being tagged in.
 Be mindful when posting opinions about politics, religion, or
sexuality. Arguments can quickly get out of hand.
 A polished, well-balanced profile will recommend you to
employers far better than something disorganised or full of
swearing.

15. +
Privacy Controls
 Remember when posting
 Now we’re going to have a look at the privacy controls on
Google +, LinkedIn,Twitter and Facebook.
 There are a range of security and privacy settings that you
can change.
 Luckily they’re very easy to change.

16. +
Risks – Business Use
 While social media can bring benefits to businesses, namely
in the realm of marketing exposure, access to social media
can also be problematic to use and regulate.
 Some businesses ban access to social media on their
premises, essentially to prevent time wasting, but this does
not stop employees using social media on mobile devices, or
at home.
 Freelancers must also be aware of their usage of social
media, and employ the same level of privacy and security
settings as personal users.

17. +
Risks – Business Use
 Businesses may suffer from problematic social media
usage in different ways, including;
 Damage to brand reputation through negative updates, or
links between bad employees and a company
 Disclosure of proprietary and/or confidential information
 Corporate identity theft
 Legal, regulatory and compliance violations

18. +
Risks – Business Use
 Damage to brand reputation through negative updates, or
links between bad employees and a company
 Other users of social media may use the platforms to
highlight bad customer service, poor quality work or
products, or other issues. Even if a business responds, there’s
no guarantee it will fix the ‘damage’ that is done.
 In addition, employees may behave poorly and their
behaviour casts the organisation for which they work in a
negative light.
 Reputation is key, so positive use of social media by both the
company and its employees can only be a good thing.

19. +
Risks – Business Use
 Disclosure of proprietary and/or confidential
information
 A social media manager posting information on behalf of the
company is unlikely to post something problematic, but an
employee might.
 This includes rumours about potential deals with other
companies, or information regarding specific transactions or
contracts.
 It’s best if employees refrain from talking about the company
at all, unless they work within its marketing or PR office.

20. +
Risks – Business Use
 Corporate identity theft
 There is very little to stop an individual setting up an online
social media account, purporting to represent a brand or
company.
 If a company has already set itself up on social media, this
can lessen the impact of this, as the correct names will have
already been claimed.
 In addition,Twitter allows companies and individuals to
verify their identity so that other users know they are dealing
with the genuine article.

21. +
Risks – Business Use
 Legal, regulatory and compliance violations
 Few people outside of the legal profession are well versed in
the minutiae of the law, meaning other users can violate
regulations without thinking.
 Again, if employees refrain from talking about the company,
and the company ensures that only a trained professional
handles their social media, this shouldn’t be a problem.
 Freelancers can attend training sessions, or just simply
refrain from making comments that could potentially cause
problems.
 If you’re not sure if you should post it, then don’t.

22. +
Risks – Business Use
 It’s not advisable to outright ban employees’ access to social
media – employees will always find ways around bans, which
could compromise security and cause even bigger problems
in future.
 Employees need some kind of guidelines regarding social
media.They need to know how to use it properly, and what
NOT to do when using it.
 The number of networks in use should be limited.There are
hundreds available, and some of them are not so innocent or
less secure.
 Keep security updated. A business network always needs to
be up to date with its security.

23. +
Risks – Business Use
 Settings should be locked down; most social networks do
provide privacy settings and these should be managed.This
will also benefit employees so make sure they know how to
use them properly.
 Employees should never click on a shortened URL without
first decoding it to see where it leads to. Shortened URLs can
be pasted into an URL lengthening service.
 IT personnel, or those in charge of managing technology,
need to be fully geared up with the risks of social media.
 The same goes for those in charge of managing the social
media accounts for the business.

24. +
TASK
 Write a subheading ‘Risks of using Social Media for
Business Use’ as a heading within the post.
 Using bullet points, identify risks associated with using social
media for business use.

25. +
Social Media Policies
 In 2013, a survey reported that 71% of the executives polled
said their company was concerned about possible risks, but
only 36% reported having social media training.
 Only 33% of companies currently have a social media policy.
 Bigger brands may face a different set of problems, but small
businesses or freelancers are more likely to face criticism
from unhappy customers.
 Having a social media policy in place ensures that everyone
knows what to do and how to react if a problem occurs.
 It should also help to avoid more commonplace errors to
happen in the first place.

26. +
Social Media Policies
 Businesses and freelancers need to be aware that efforts to
engage on social media sites can backfire.
 In November 2013, the bank JP Morgan asked people on
Twitter to send questions for a senior executive. Instead,
thousands of users replied to complain about how it conducts
its business.
 A social media policy would set out what a business can use
as content on any of the chosen platforms, and it would also
set out how those in charge of the accounts should use them
to engage with others.
 This sets out in writing what is permissible, and encouraged.

27. +
Social Media Policies
 A policy or strategy would also help a business to know what
they hoped to achieve by using social media, as well as
outlining who is in charge of the platforms for the company.
 It should also detail how usage should be monitored, as well
as how feedback should be handled – much like a
complaints procedure.
 In addition, a social media policy should also let other
employees know what they can and can’t post, both on
company time and on their own time.
 Acceptance of the policy should be a requirement of
acceptance of employment, and employees should also
receive training where possible.

28. +
TASK
BLOG Postupdate
 Write a subheading ‘Social Media Policies’ as a heading
within the post.
 Using bullet points, explain why a business should have a
social media policy.

29. +
TASK
 Go back to your blog post.
 Write a short paragraph detailing how you feel about
social media now, compared to when you started the
course.
 Publish!