Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/43390
THE SOCIAL SIDE OF INFORMATION GOVERNANCE media like audio and video), use of language, and the nature of the communication (e.g., standard English or slang). Getting by with traditional methods of managing this data, such as manual review and monitoring, is too labor-intensive and is not reliable. Volumes have been written on the limitations of keyword search and the benefits of concept search and contextual analysis to help provide an understanding. A vital part of any comprehensive social media governance plan will take into account all types of managed content and the range of mobile access methods. Information is shifting from static documents to interactive content, and users are connecting via devices such as smartphones, tablets and mobile devices. In the past, business interactions between parties were not easily recorded. Today's technology not only has the means to memorialize these interactions in real time, but can do so without awareness by participants. The ability to understand the meaning of these new interactions — occurring via multiple channels of communication — is the only way to effectively govern them. FROM EMAIL TO CHAT TO WALLS A decade ago, email and instant messages were the primary form of electronic communication. These forms were largely limited to a few individuals in direct communication (think of an email with a few people copied). Online forums and message boards allowed people to communicate and share information more broadly, still keeping things limited to a subset of people. Today, social media encompasses all of these examples, bringing together email, chat, status updates and "walls," as with Facebook. Just around the corner, communications via audio and video will likely take hold in ways we have not yet contemplated. The most common communication forms can be broken into two major categories: • Private email or messaging services (including instant message/chat) • Methods to post content, links or comments for others to see In each instance, the assumption is that these interactions are in some way limited to a group of specified or approved individuals, versus openly available to the general public. As organizations begin evaluating different mechanisms to capture and monitor social media, some might either be tempted to capture personal interactions in combination with business interactions, or deploy models that have the same effect. Doing so will present organizations with new forms of risk, with little added value. SOCIAL MEDIA GOVERNANCE BEST PRACTICES Interactions with social media might not always occur on a corporate network or controlled device and, more important, the content itself is likely to be stored with a third party, such as Facebook or Twitter. This means current corporate policies might not extend to social media — a dynamic that leads to the first recommended best practice: Employ solutions that have the ability to capture additional approval on a site-by- site basis, to verify assent for capturing and monitoring. Since individuals can interact with www.iltanet.org Corporate Law Departments 15