Thanks to the Internet, everybody’s connected and with that comes risk of damaging your reputation. Mistakes on social media (insensitive comments, false claims, inappropriate jokes, etc.) are easily magnified. As quickly as you can gain attention from social media, you can also gain notoriety. Social media requires some form of risk management.
The most effective way to avoid the pitfalls of social media is implementing a formal risk management strategy. I highly suggest you screen employees with authorization to post content for your organization. If you just let your interns post to Facebook for you – you’re bound to run into some trouble.
Because of the intimate nature of social media and the immediacy of the channel, mistakes are bound to happen and when they do, you need a recovery plan. The best thing to do is respond quickly and own your mistake. Show that your brand is human. Another great tactic is to have a review process. If you do have an intern posting to your social media channels, set up a way for them to send the proposed content to you prior to posting it. (use email, or Google Docs)
Don’t forget, everybody who uses your brand’s social media is acting as a spokesperson. If an intern posts something on your social channels and it doesn’t have to be something wildly inappropriate (it rarely is), it can just be content that is inconsistent with your brand strategy, it’s not just that intern who will be held accountable, it’s you too.
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