Social notworking - the dark side of social networking

Social networking presents modern challenges for employers. Here lawyer Gillian Mair gives legal advice on forming a social media and networking policy in your workplace.

The ever-growing popularity of the use of the internet as a way of keeping in touch with friends has led to the rapid rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, MySpace and Linkedin. Facebook currently has more than 350 million users and its contemporaries have equally staggering membership numbers.

Despite (or perhaps because of) their popularity, these social networking sites and the virtual channels of communication which they create pose challenges for employers. The temptation has never been greater for employees to log onto Facebook at work, check their profile and engage in some banter with colleagues or friends or to try to re-acquaint themselves with long-lost school friends.