WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
Internet based applications That depend on creation and exchange of usergenerated content Different types and uses
Used
by students and employees for personal entertainment and enrichment Used by higher education for recruitment, development, publicity, admissions, teaching, etc.
TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Blogging/microblogging (wordpress, twitter) Social networking (facebook, linkedin) Multimedia (video, podcasting, photo) Wiki/Bulletin Boards (wikipedia, collegeacb) Presence Applications (foursquare, yelp) Virtual worlds and games
PREVALENCE AND IMPACT
Technology moves at a lightning pace Institutional processes and approaches have a very difficult time keeping up with each new technology
Advice:
develop consistent approaches which are not media specific
LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES
Who owns and controls user-created content? Who can be responsible for liabilities related to user-created or provided content?
copyrighted defamation
information
nonlegal
risks (public relations, hate speech)
WHO OWNS AND CONTROLS USER-GENERATED CONTENT?
Understand the terms of use (which often change!)
Great
variance (example, Twitter) Institution does NOT control social media
Communication is immediate and broad
Train
employees regarding what can be communicated and just how broad the communication is
TWITTER TERMS OF USE
You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). Tip: This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same. But what’s yours is yours – you own your content.
LIABILITY
Copyright Infringement
Poster-liable Site
Host-not liable
Terms
of use prohibit Maintain reporting mechanism Section 512(c) of the DMCA
IIED, CYBERBULLYING, INVASION OF PRIVACY
Liability of user who generates content Social media site hosting content
Section
230 of the CDA immunizes websites from liability resulting from the publication of information provided by another
Recent
case relying on Section 230: Finkel v. Facebook But see, Roommates.com case
Foreign
law (e.g., Google criminal case in Italy regarding video of autistic child)
DEFAMATION AND OTHER TORTS
Common law defamation concepts
False
statement of fact made or published of or concerning another
Terms of use typically prohibit defamatory content from being posted Application of Section 230 of the CDA should protect host site
“users”