Social Media in and out of the Workplace: Old Laws Learn New Tricks

AuthorAndrea York and Karinne Coombes
Pages45-73

Social Media in and
outoftheWorkplace
OLDLAWSLEARNNEWTRICKS
AndreaYorkandKarinneCoombes*
Without a doubt Canadians have embraced the Internet and social
mediawithopenarmsConsiderthatasofAprilanestimatedf-
teenmillionCanadianshadanactiveFacebookaccountwithanesti-
mated nine million loggi ngonto t he siteevery dayAnd as rece ntly
reportedCanadiansspendmoretimeonlinethancitizensofanyother
countryandareincreasinglyengagedinsocialmediaactivitiesinclud-
ingwatchingandsharingonlinevideos
Eager to tap into multiple business opportunities organizations
havealsoembracedsocialmediaFromlawrmswithTwieraccounts
* BothofBlakeCasselsGraydonLLPTorontooceAndreaYorkisapartner
andKarinneCoombesisanassociateintheLabourEmploymentandPrivacy
GroupsTheauthorswouldliketothankKateMacartneywhosepriorworkonthis
subjectwasofassistanceindraftingthischapter
 SeeChrisBreikssMindBlowingCanadianFacebookUsageStatisticsS
Marke ting BlogMayonlineSMarketingwwwsmarketingcomSeealso
AlexMonkWhatstheBigDealwithFacebookAStudyoftheSocialMediaUseof
CanadiansJanuaryonlineAbacusDatahpabacusdatacawpcontent
uploadsFacebookreportnalpdf
 SteveLadurantayeCanadaTopsGlobeinInternetUsageTheGlobeandMail
MarchonlineTheGlobeandMailwwwtheglobeandmailcomtechnology
technewscanadatopsglobeininternetusagearticle
 SeeforexampleBlakeCasselsGraydonLLPonTwierBlakesLawonline
hptwiercomblakeslaw
AYKC
to manufacturers with soc ial networking sites many organizations
nowhaveaninteractivepresenceonlineInmanycasestheuseofsocial
mediaisdirectlyorindirectlyrelatedtotheworkplaceAsaresultem-
ployersmuststayinformedaboutsocialmediaanditsimplicationsfor
workplaceandbusinessrelationships
Withthisrushintotheinteractiveonlineworldbyemployeesand
employersquestionsariseastowhetherthelawhaskeptpaceIsthere
agapinthelawThelawisexibleandchangesovertimethoughper-
hapsnotasfastastechnologychangesAssetoutbelowoldlegalprinci-
pleshavebeenappliedtotheuseofsocialmediawithminoradaptation
wherethenatureofthesocialmediarequiresLikeWebwemay
beinthemidstoftheevolutionintoWorkplaceRulesAlthough
thefullextentofhowsocialmediawillaectthelawhasyettobeseen
sometrendscanbeidentiedInparticularsocialmediapromisesto
haveimplicationsforanemployersabilitytodisciplineemployeesfor
odutyconductandemployerliabilityfortheactionsoftheiremployees
This paper will begi n with a discussion of social media a nd the
risksitmayposeforemployersItwillthenexaminerecenttrendsinthe
caselawwithaviewofidentifyinghowoldruleshavebeenadaptedto
addressnewissuesrelatedtosocialmediaFinallythepaperwillpro-
viderecommendationsforemployerstoensurethattheycanharnessthe
benetspromisedbysocialmediawhileminimizingitsrisks
ASOCIALMEDIAANDEMPLOYMENT
Socialmediaencompassesthewiderangeofmediathatpermitindi-
vidualstoconnectwithothersandthepublicatlargeonlineSocial
mediaismarkedbyusergeneratedcontentasindividualscreatetheir
ownonlinecontentandshareinformationwithothersThisinforma-
tionmayrangefromupdatesonpersonallivestosharingthepossibly
copyrightedworksofothersTheevolutionofInternetusersfromapas-
siveaudienceintoactivecontributorsandpublishershascreatedwhatis
commonlyreferredtoasWeb
 SeeforexampleJohnsonJohnsonNetworksFacebookpageonlinewww
facebookcomjnj
 AlthoughWebimpliesanewversionoftheInternettherealchangehasbeen
inhowpeopleusecertainsitesontheInternettocreatetheirowncontentSeeTim
OReillyWhatIsWebDesignPaernsandBusinessModelsfortheNextGeneration
ofSoftwareSeptemberonlineOReillyhporeillycomwebarchive
whatiswebhtml

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