PSNH is not an Internet start up or a Web-based business. When an electric utility company starts using social media tools to communicate and interact with customers it's evidence of how quickly organizations are adopting Web 2.0 tools and why students need to develop these skills.
PSNH is using Twitter (a micro blogging site that limits posts to 140 characters), Flickr and YouTube, especially during the massive ice storm in December. However, with 400,000 customers without power, Web 2.0 tools have limitations during a power outage but people with power can call friends and family with updates and Twitter messages can be sent by PSNH to your cell phone.
Twitter in Plain English
Power Restoration After Massive December 2008 Ice Storm
PSNH Service Center
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Very relaxing............nice to see the lyrics too. Thanks. And now......PSNH must be on edge as yet another heavy snow is upon us. Flashlights are out, candles and matches ready, Nintendo DS's and Portable DVD's and computers raring and ready to go, cell phones charged! I feel like I'm on the spaceship Enterprise! Hope at least the dishwasher and laundry finishes. Weather always happens when I sit down to get serious about homework. Oh well, better get to it! Think I'll give a listen to Home on the Range one more time, since it's how I feel right now!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura...glad to hear you appreciate Home on the Range too. More snow....at this point...I'm exhausted with the whole winter and am beyond being discouraged by it. I am watching the Great Race in the Munich, Germany area..what glorious scenery. Germany looks so nice. I bet power failures are rare there.
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the PSNH video about the ice storm. We didn't get much coverage of it. You guys were really hit hard.
Glad everyone's back.
Carl
Interesting to see that PSNH is attempting to leap in to the 21st century. Now, only if their customer service call in center could speed up their repsonse time ;)
ReplyDeleteBusinesses have become increasingly aware of the power of interactive social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, online community forums, blogs, vblogs and wikis. Social media let businesses target and develop new markets, generate interest in new products and/or services, and allow for a level of interaction with customers that advertising or other forms of static media have never afforded.
ReplyDeleteA host of legal pitfalls, however, comes with employees' use of these powerful tools. Unless businesses are conscious of the legal implications associated with social media use, they may be vulnerable to liability for claims arising from the unlawful or otherwise wrongful conduct of their employees.
Such claims could include defamation, online disparagement, infringement of privacy or publicity rights, interference with advantageous economic relations, misrepresentation, infringement of intellectual property rights, false advertisement or unfair competition. After all, online conduct is subject to the same or similar laws that apply to offline conduct.
In general, an employer is vicariously liable for the conduct of its employees, at least when such conduct occurs within the scope of their employment. Employers, therefore, are potentially subject to liability for their employees' misuse of Internet resources, including social media networks.
ReplyDeleteThe posting of an individual's photograph or video without his/her permission may also result in liability for infringement of that individual's privacy or publicity rights. The potential for such liability is increased where, as it is often the case, a business gives its marketing or public relations division free reign to make use of social media networks without providing guidance, auditing or monitoring what content is being posted and how it is being used.
Since employees are using company resources, conducting their activities during working hours, and are subject to employer control, employers can find themselves subject to vicarious liability for its employees' conduct, particularly where the employer has an obvious and direct financial interest in the infringing activity. Further, if after learning that its employees are engaging in infringing activities an employer does nothing, the employer also may be deemed liable under a theory of contributory infringement.
Employers can also be held vicariously liable for the publication of defamatory statements by its employees through social media. The defamatory comments need not be insulting. They could be suggestions, for example, that a competitor is in financial difficulties, or is unprofessional in the conduct of its business. The potential for defamatory statements being made is greater where employees are given access to Internet news groups or discussion groups and/or are otherwise encouraged to participate in social media networks, including a company-sponsored page on one or more social media sites, where their statements are effectively published to the world-at-large.
In an effort to minimize their exposure to liability arising from the use of social media sites, businesses should adopt a written, clear and detailed social media use policy. Such a policy can aid in ensuring that social media resources are used effectively by the business, and educate employees about acceptable conduct when utilizing social media networks, thereby minimizing the employer's potential exposure to liability.The mere development and implementation of a social media policy helps businesses and their employees increase awareness of important legal issues to consider.
A clear social media policy, combined with a regular audit procedure, will substantially limit a business' exposure to liability. When it comes to educating employees about how to make proper and effective use of social media networks for business purposes, the best strategy is to educate employees about the legal boundaries attendant to such uses, and to take appropriate action to regularly audit and properly address improper activities.
Employers should have a well-defined written policy, and should ensure that it is effectively communicated and understood by all of its employees. More than simply informing employees that the social media policy exists and leaving the burden on them to comply with it, employers should conduct staff training and also ensure that existing policies and practices support and are consistent with such policy.
Finally, to ensure the policy's continuing effectiveness, businesses should periodically review it and reconsider it in view of legal and technological developments, and distribute reminders and updated policies to employees regularly.