Showing posts with label Social Media Mistakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media Mistakes. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2026

How To Avoid Social Media Legal Conflicts?


Avoiding social media conflicts..

Law firms devote significant resources to identifying and resolving conflicts of interest.

Increasingly, attorneys also work on their professional social media presence to help promote their practices, connect with others in the field, and participate in discourse about their area of expertise.



However, there can be risks for attorneys when using social media in their personal capacity that can create potential conflicts of interest, separate and sometimes more complicated than traditional issues.

An ethics opinion from the District of Columbia bar, which received significant attention, posited that social networking sites, and social media in general, make it easier to blur the distinctions between communications that are business and those that are personal.” D.C. Ethics Opinion 370. This is especially true where an attorney intends to use social media for personal purposes but nonetheless identifies the name of her or his law firm (e.g., in a Facebook profile or Twitter biography).

The risk, of course, is that it can be difficult for members of the public to distinguish between when an attorney is acting in a solely “personal” capacity and when that attorney is acting as an attorney. Even if the attorney tries to stay anonymous or just uses their name without identifying their profession or firm, it often is not difficult for members of the public to identify the attorney and the attorney’s firm. Because of this, it can be hard for attorneys to disassociate from their profession on social media, even for “personal” accounts.



One issue implicated by the pervasive use of social media is the possibility that the attorney’s social media posts will create a “positional” conflict.

A positional conflict is one that may exist, for example, if an attorney argues for a certain interpretation of a statute in one lawsuit because it is in the best interests of one client, but then at the same time argues for the opposite interpretation of the same statute in another lawsuit on behalf of a different client. Typically, such conflicting representations are not per se inappropriate unless one representation has an adverse impact on the other.

While the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, in the comments to Rule 1.06, recognize this type of positional conflict (including that it may be a conflict for an attorney to simultaneously take opposite legal positions in cases on appeal), they do not specifically address the situation where the attorney takes one position on behalf of a client but separately argues or expresses support for an opposing position in a personal capacity, which today most commonly could occur on social media.

Such an event may be informed by Comment 5 to Rule 1.06, which provides that a lawyer’s “own interests should not be permitted to have adverse effect on [the] representation of a client.” Interpreting a similar rule, the District of Columbia Bar became one of the first bar associations to address the potential conflicts created by the use of social media and suggested that there could be additional risks for social media-savvy attorneys.



In Ethics Opinion 370, the District of Columbia Bar stated that attorneys sharing information on social media sites should exercise caution “when stating positions on issues, as those stated positions could be adverse to an interest of a client, thus inadvertently creating a conflict.”

Indeed, the District of Columbia Bar warned that “[c]ontent of social media posts made by attorneys may contain evidence” of conflicts.

Thus, seemingly innocent social media posts made in a personal capacity may create serious ethical issues for attorneys. Attorneys providing their personal opinions on matters may not even be aware that they are making comments that are potentially adverse to other clients of their firms. Although some commentators have suggested that the D.C. bar’s opinion goes too far in limiting attorneys, social media posts can also create sticky client-relation issues (even if the posts do not create a traditional conflict of interest) and, as a result, headaches for attorneys.

Before creating any unintended consequences, attorneys can consider the following three tips.



Avoid Taking Sides

Social media is generally not a place for balanced, well-reasoned assessments of issues, but is used by many to express visceral reactions to news events. Thus, if attorneys feel the need to comment on a pressing legal issue of the day, it may behoove the attorney to write about the potential legal issues, precedent, and possible outcomes, instead of taking a position on which party or side “should prevail.” This could help avoid the possibility that the attorney—or the attorney’s firm—is viewed as taking a position that could be contrary to the interests of the firm’s clients.

Take a Breath

The most obvious tip can often be the hardest in practice. Before posting on any substantive issue (e.g., legal or political issues), attorneys can stop and think practically about the post and the possible response from their firms, clients and potential clients. The risk comes when attorneys let their emotions take over and fire off a post without giving sufficient consideration as to the implications.

As a precaution, it may be a good idea to first run the posting by a colleague or firm leadership to ensure that it does not create any unintended conflicts or client issues. While social media can be a valuable marketing tool, careless attorneys can undermine the benefits of social media in the time it takes to tweet.



Be Professional

In practice, attorneys generally communicate through carefully crafted correspondence and briefs that are consistent with the level of decorum expected of attorneys. Social media, on the other hand, has little, if any, such decorum. Most attorneys recognize, however, that social media is not a free zone for unprofessional conduct.

As recognized in Opinion 671 from the Professional Ethics Committee, if an attorney cannot do something in person under the ethics rules, the attorney generally cannot do it online (or designate a deputy to do the same online).

Some attorneys in considering whether to post will ask whether the social media comment would be appropriate if standing outside a courtroom or at a dinner party. Comments on social media are in some respects more risky than face-to-face conversations, as they are generally broadcast to the world and preserved for posterity. Further, courts and bars are increasingly recognizing that online content is subject to the same bar rules as traditional legal correspondence.

Guest Authord By Shari L. Klevens & Allana Clair. Shari L Klevens is a partner at Dentons and serves on the firm’s U.S. board of directors. She represents and advises lawyers and insurers on complex claims and is co-chairwoman of Dentons’ global insurance sector team. Alanna Clair is a partner at Dentons and focuses on professional liability defense. Klevens and Clair are co-authors of “The Lawyer’s Handbook: Ethics Compliance and Claim Avoidance.”





Some attorneys in considering whether to post will ask whether the social media comment would be appropriate if standing outside a courtroom or at a dinner party.

Comments on social media are in some respects more risky than face-to-face conversations, as they are generally broadcast to the world and preserved for posterity. Further, courts and bars are increasingly recognizing that online content is subject to the same bar rules as traditional legal correspondence..
  • Post Crafted By:
    Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Scottsdale, AZ. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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Monday, July 7, 2025

Social Media Mistakes YOUR Company Makes?


Over 90% of medium and large businesses have used social media in their marketing for five years or longer. Yet the CMO Survey reveals that nearly half of marketers are unable to show the impact of their social media investments..



That’s why, no matter what your social media strategy is, it’s always a good idea to go back and make sure you have the basics covered. Your company may discover that it needs a strategic do-over.

Philip Kotler once said, “You should never go to battle before you’ve won the war on paper.” But countless businesses have done just that with social media. Although 97% of Fortune 500 corporations are on LinkedIn, 84% are on Facebook, and 86% are on Twitter, many brands entered the social media front lines without a clear strategy. Social was an add-on to existing plans —- another outlet to deliver the marketing message. Later, marketers found themselves working backward to connect their social strategy to business strategy, as managers demanded greater proof of ROI.

There are a few common mistakes that marketers make with social media. The first is to start with social media objectives. Marketers take a channel such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, and then set goals for raising their numbers of likes, comments, and shares. This approach sounds like it makes sense, but it can trap you in a social media–only perspective. After all, how much is that like, comment, or share actually worth to your business? Unless you connect your social media actions to broader business goals from the beginning, ROI can be elusive, and social media becomes an end unto itself.



The second mistake is to limit your brand presence to the most popular social media channels.

Success often depends on having a multichannel social media strategy. Yet only two-thirds of the Fortune 500 (66%) are using YouTube, under half are on Instagram (45%), just over one-third (36%) have corporate blogs, and one-third (33%) are on Pinterest. If you are not using these or other platforms, you could be missing out on valuable business opportunities.

For example, research has found that 93% of Pinterest users plan purchases on the platform and 87% have made a purchase after seeing a product they liked. Other platforms, such as Snapchat, may be the ideal place to reach certain demographics (say, Millennials). Instagram has played an integral role in helping to lift sales for brands including Gatorade. And businesses that have prioritized blogging are 13 times more likely to receive positive ROI.

So how do you ensure that your social media efforts are aligned with what matters to your company — and that you are positively contributing to the bottom line? Start by basing your social strategy on business objectives, then follow that by thinking about target market, social media platforms, tools, and metrics.



Different organizational objectives and target markets may require very different channels and tools.

Don’t simply set goals for higher follower or engagement metrics in the brand’s current social media accounts. Those platforms may be wrong for your business objectives; channels you aren’t on may be better for what you’re trying to accomplish.

To identify the most meaningful business objectives, ask some questions: What numbers must you hit? How will you know you are successful? How does your boss judge success? What has changed recently that is challenging you? What do stakeholders care about most? Business objectives can vary wildly, from increasing sales, generating leads, or improving customer satisfaction to raising awareness, soliciting donations, or gaining volunteers. Thus your objectives should not be social media–focused, such as “Within six months, we should grow our number of fans and increase engagement on Facebook by posting a minimum of five times a week.” That’s a tactic, not a clear goal. A good objective could be “Increase awareness of the brand by 20% for people ages 18–24 within six months.” Hootsuite suggests that real business goals often come from business conversions, brand awareness, and customer experience.



When considering platforms, think carefully about which you should be on — and which you shouldn’t.

Remember that simply increasing your activity on current platforms may not bring you closer to meeting business objectives. Achieving a better ROI may require closing social accounts that are not aligned with business objectives, or even decreasing social action to focus on posts of more substance. Buffer Social, for example, recently got better results by posting less, not more, on Facebook.

Once you’ve identified your objectives and selected the right platforms, you have to create content that the audience will value. Solve a problem they’re facing, deliver a timely message, or just put a smile on their face. Stories that evoke emotion tend to perform better than straight sales messages. Even paid social media posts merely buy reach; the content itself must be engaging enough to draw action beyond a view. Plus, valuable content often gets shared, increasing your reach even further. And don’t simply post the same content to all your social accounts — customizing the content and scheduling for each channel will get better results.



Yet content only gets you so far. Much of social media ROI is earned in responding to customers.

Sprout Social has found that brands reply to only one in 10 social messages that require a response. This is a huge missed opportunity, since helpful replies to even negative comments can improve your brand image, reach new customers, and increase the likelihood that customers will buy again. Depending on your industry, you may need the customer service department to get involved. Don’t forget, social is a two-way medium.

Next, ensure you have the right tools in place to manage your social media efforts. To measure success, brands need tools that can monitor, publish, and track the appropriate analytics. They also need to integrate social media across departments, since it is an increasingly important part of the strategies of many areas of the business. F

or efficiency, you may need tools that can bring together multidisciplinary social teams across department silos.



It’s worth considering tools like Google Analytics, which can break down social traffic to see which efforts are working, ranging from website conversions from a direct sale to email subscription, event registration, or quote requests. Setting up goals with dollar values per conversion can help determine where to focus your time and money beyond followers and likes — connecting social media to the bottom line. Monitoring tools can also track analytics such as sentiment. Too many corporations have seen crisis situations where negative comments in social media led to sales declines and drops in stock price. There are numerous social media analytics software options. Spend some time researching which ones are right for your organization.

Once the right tools are in place, identify and track the metrics that will show the returns on your social media investment. Only when you have done the hard work ahead of time — connecting social action to business objectives — do vanity metrics such as likes and followers become more meaningful. Obviously, you can’t directly connect every social action to a business objective, such as an in-store sale. But you can get close by estimating values. For example, if you know that a percentage of customers who request information on your website purchase a certain product, you can trace the connections by looking at related social media posts and the number of visitors being driven to that call to action page.

Guest Authored By Keith A. Quesenberry. Keith is Assistant Professor at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA. An expert in social media and digital marketing, he is author of Social Media Strategy: Marketing and Advertising in the Consumer Revolution. Follow Keith on X..




If you are struggling to link your company’s social media presence to business goals, you are not alone.

But it is never too late to (re)start at the beginning. Take a step back to ensure you are considering broader business goals and the target market.

Check that you are using the right platforms and are engaging in the right ways. Then make sure you have the necessary tools and metrics in place. It is a lot easier to prove ROI when you have a clear plan for meeting the business’s objectives — and are not simply increasing social action as an end in itself..

    • Authored by:
      Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBr@nd.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Scottsdale, AZ. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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    Tuesday, June 24, 2025

    YOUR Business Killing Inspirational Quotes?


    If you're a leader or trying to become one, some degree of ongoing "personal branding" activity is inevitable..

    Related Article: Mistakes To Avoid When Posting To Social Media?


    That often creates pressure to post something new to your social channels on a regular basis -- and therein lies the risk.

    The easiest thing to do might be to share pithy slogans purporting to deliver quick hits of inspiration. After all, it's your job as a leader or aspiring leader to motivate others, right? Right!

    But your #MotivationalMonday tweet or Instagram post with a Gandhi quotation might be backfiring without you realizing it. Here's why, and how to avoid those fluffy expressions.

    Lack Of Clarity Fails To Motivate

    It's hard to be profound on a daily or weekly basis. It's even harder to be profound in just a few quick words.



    Consider this gem from an Instagram account dedicated to motivation:

    Buried beneath that double-negative statement are a few unanswered questions: What does it mean for quotes to "work"? How exactly should you "apply" them?

    Related Article: Mistakes To Avoid When Posting To Social Media?


    Here's another ambiguous one from the same account:



    Who could argue with that? It would be great to learn from every mistake!

    But even the slightly lengthier caption -- instructing you you to "study ways to avoid repeating [mistakes" -- doesn't tell you how to go about doing that.

    Vague statements like these may earn likes from other busy professionals idly scrolling their social feeds, but they won't earn you attention from the people best positioned to help you advance your career.

    Leaders do need to inspire and motivate, but they never succeed by spouting unclear generalities. Powerful communication spurs others to take action through clarity and precision. One reason people don't act is because they're confused or uncertain about what to actually do You can't motivate anyone -- let alone everyone -- to take productive, mission-driven action if you stick to vague platitudes.

    Related Article: Lessons For YOUR Brand On Social Media?


    Superficial Comments Obscure Your Best Ideas

    In order to attract career opportunities or win support for your ideas, you need to offer an original insight or propose a compelling solution to a problem. Shallow, superficial remarks do neither. Take this tweet for example:



    Is this even true?

    If it is, it's great news anyone who's lost a friend, a family member, or even a pet. Does that mean you'll get a better dog next time? Or if you've blown a client opportunity, you'll invariably ace the next one? Obviously not.

    Yes, it's true that "there is nothing more certain than change," as the text of the tweet points out, but not every loss leads to a better opportunity than what came before. This baseless optimism suggests shallow, uncritical thinking -- never a great look when you're trying to advance professionally.

    Same goes for this post:


    "Magic"? "The Universe"? Are these really where effective leaders should place their hopes?

    If anything, the most successful people know how to minimize unnecessary risk, sidestep the sunk-cost fallacy, and cut their losses so they can redirect their energies wherever they'll be better served. Perhaps that's a less "inspirational" idea, but it suggests much more skill, intelligence, and strategy that will likely appeal to your coworkers, employers, and business partners much more than your "stubborn heart" ever will.

    Your best ideas will take more than a few words to lay out, and that's okay. The most difficult challenges out there -- the ones that take real leadership to surmount -- are complex. So while there's an art to speaking about complicated subjects without dumbing them down, your real goal should be to motivate others to engage with complexity, not shy away from it. Tossing out generic remarks that stick to the surface level doesn't help you do that. Worse, it suggests you aren't capable of diving any deeper.



    Rhetoric Should Sharpen Meaning, Not Dull It

    Many of the most commonly shared and liked "motivational" social media posts use snappy turns of phrase. They may sound clever, but more often than not, they bury meaning instead of heightening it. The rhetoric, in other words, hides the substance.

    An especially common device is "antimetabole," which simply means reversing the order of repeated words and phrases. John F. Kennedy used antimetabole in the most famous line of his inaugural address: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." In Kennedy's case, it was a rhetorically powerful way to express an idea about civic service. But if you aren't careful, your twist on this common device might do little more than set up a false opposition.

    Take this tweet for example:




    For one thing, are knowledge and caring mutually exclusive? After a moment's thought, it may strike you that the two are in fact intimately linked.

    After all, caring without knowledge suggests empty emotions; If you're ignorant about something, how can you be expected to care about it in the first place -- let alone know how best to show you care?

    Furthermore, is it even a good idea for people to desire others' empathy without their understanding? It's hard to agree or disagree with an idea that's based on such shaky premises.

    Rhetoric by itself is hollow. It's only effective when it's being used to compress and sharpen an underlying concept. Otherwise, it's just fluff that makes people suspect you don't know what you're talking about, and are trying to hide it.



    Quoting Great Thinkers Doesn't Mean You Understand Them

    Finally, there's a risk that in quoting influential leaders, you'll take their words out of context and diminish their original power -- making yourself look bad in the process.

    This professional quotes Alibaba founder Jack Ma in her LinkedIn headline: "Don't hire the most Qualified candidate. Hire the Craziest." This thought has deep roots in Ma's experience; having been rejected for 30 jobs he applied to after college, including one at KFC, Ma knows that on-paper credentials don't always tell the full story. But taken out of context, his statement doesn't make much sense. In fact, using this quote on your own social media channels might give the impression that you believe in making risky hires or in taking "crazy" risks yourself -- even if you don't.

    Guest Authored By Judith Humphrey. Judith is founder and Chief Creative Officer of The Humphrey Group, a premier leadership communications firm headquartered in Toronto. She is a communications expert whose business teaches global clients how to communicate as confident, compelling leaders. Judith is also the author of two books, Speaking As A Leader: How To Lead Everytime You Speak.(2012) and Taking The Stage: How Women Can Speak Up, Stand Out And Succeed(2014). Follow Judith on X.




    It's always in your better interest to be seen as someone of substance than as an armchair philosopher.

    When in doubt, stick to specifics rather than airy generalities. Ground your social media posts in your own thoughtful observations, drawn from firsthand experience.

    Real leadership rarely comes in greeting card sized bites.

      • Authored by:
        Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Scottsdale, AZ. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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