There’s no doubt about it: Social media monitoring and screening (SMM/S) is a hot topic. More than that, though, it’s a burgeoning industry — and a field of activity that hasn’t yet established a rigid set of norms and best practices. For enterprises just getting their feet wet with SMM/S, this new era presents ample opportunities to do social media screening right. But, like any new area of study, there are just as many opportunities to make mistakes.
The Do’s And Don’ts
In this article, we’ll explore some of the dos and don’ts related to social media screening, and dig into practices that have proven useful for brands already experienced with SMM/S.
Understand what you’re screening for
When building out a social media monitoring and screening practice, it can be tempting to simply impose a zero-tolerance policy for any questionable social media content and leave it at that. But in reality, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to social screening can cause more problems than it solves. Genuinely good employees, candidates, or talent hires may find themselves inaccurately identified as purveyors of offensive content by overzealous SMM/S practices—when in fact the humor or nuance of their colorful language or tongue-in-cheek reference may have simply evaded the understanding of those screening their content. This is why it’s so important to have granular control (and human oversight) of the automated systems that apply social media screening rules. Advanced social media screening solutions like Viral Nation Secure™ provide organizations with the ability to tightly control which kinds of social content they are comfortable with, and which have no place in the posts of their representatives. Which brings us to our next tip:
Use tools that give you control over how you screen social media
When it comes to monitoring and screening social media accounts, not all tools are created equal. Some do not offer the granular level of control over content guidelines that is essential for effective screening, or are unable to deliver the functionality needed to meet goals. Viral Nation Secure™ gives organizations the ability to design the precise social media screening and monitoring specifications they need to achieve their objectives. Whether running background checks on potential hires, vetting talent or supporting PR and communications, Viral Nation Secure™’s advanced functionality makes it easy to control exactly how, when, and why social accounts are screened.
Be sure you’re compliant with applicable laws
Organizations need to be prudent when screening the social media of individuals in the context of employment or other contractual relationships. In some cases, it is only legal to screen or monitor someone’s social accounts if they have given explicit consent to do so.
