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A growing trend: Social media as legal evidence - MLive.com

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:43:14 -0700

From the page: "A growing trend: Social media as legal evidence
by Chris Wheelock | Michigan Business Review
Wednesday July 29, 2009, 12:30 PM

The Internet has evolved from casual browsing of shopping sites and one-way information portals to the current craving for interaction and a more personal connection.

Today, more people are using social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter than ever before.

In a report on the influence of social media sites released earlier this year, the Nielsen Company, a media research firm, found that not only are more people using the Internet and for longer periods of time, users are spending the most time on social networking sites and on video portals such as YouTube.

According to Nielsen, social network use in February exceeded Web-based e-mail use for the first time (in monthly visits).

As Internet use has exploded, so has the legal use of information mined from the Web and social media sites.

Investigators, divorce attorneys, prosecutors and employers are finding information, photos and videos online which can become evidence in civil and criminal cases or simply become a reason not to hire someone.

In 2006, Congress mandated changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, expanding the acceptance of electronically stored information, or ESI, as evidence.

Internet security experts say many users give little thought to what they post online or include in their online profiles. It's a decision that can lead to getting fired, reprimanded or even arrested for what's been posted.

That's where Daniel Estrada, president of D.C. Estrada of Grand Rapids, has built a niche for himself. His firm specializes in assessing the electronic information needs and risks of companies, managing electronic evidence when a company is sued and helping companies large and small establish policies for handling electronic data.

"It was a one-way medium in the early days," Estrada said. "It's now a more dynamic medium, where you have people creating content and adding content to the Web -- content that is available for anybody else to see."

Therein lies the problem, because much of what gets posted becomes a permanent record somewhere. Facebook, for example, retains all your information even if you close your account.

Photos contain a lot of embedded information that most users aren't aware of: GPS coordinates showing where the photo was taken and when, even the camera's serial number. Estrada says the embedded information can be read out of that photo and used as evidence.

The business world has also discovered social networking sites, which can be a powerful marketing tool. They can also become a receptacle for complaints about bad customer service or employee comments about the company -- two good reasons to make managing your online reputation a priority.

Business owners are struggling with how to come to terms with all this.

Estrada notes that when a business embraces social media as a marketing tool, some common issues crop up, including the loss of employee productivity and the important distinction of whether an employee is representing the company or themselves when they use social networking sites at work.

"That's where having a documented policy, a clear and concise policy that outlines acceptable use of social media tools, is really important," Estrada said.

Companies use social networking sites as part of the hiring process, including asking job candidates to log in to their Facebook account during an interview.

Estrada says employers are looking for information about a person's character, their social habits or anything that speaks to a person's integrity.

"Don't put anything on a social network page, blog, Web site or in an e-mail," he said, "that you don't want printed on the front page of the newspaper."

Estrada and others recommend businesses think through what kind of policy they want to put in place when it comes to social media sites. Managers should know the technology and what kinds of tools are being used by their organization, considerations that are evolving.

Contact Business Review at br@mbusinessreview.com, or follow our news on Twitter @BusinessReview."

003 Press Release Writing for SEO

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:37:02 -0700

For this episode, I got my friend Marc Harty of http://prtraffic.com and http://30minutePR.com to join me and talk about how you can make online PR work for you. Press Release Writing for SEO follows a formula for success, and Marc shares four key tips for effective PR in this program. This is a show you don't want to miss!

002 How to master local search placement

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:51:59 -0700

In this episode we're talking about local search. Be it a simple local search placement or if you're trying to master a local product search, these simple techniques will help you get started.

We'll cover Google Local at https://www.google.com/local/add
Yahoo Local at http://listings.local.yahoo.com
and MSN Live Search at https://ssl.search.live.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

Local search engine marketing is the hot new thing and many brick and mortar, as well as service businesses, are looking for a way to get out of the Yellow Pages and into the search engines. Step 1 is local search and in later episodes we'll cover how to build an authority presence online.

Stand Out: Harness The Power Of Your Personal Brand — Dave Saunders

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:20:03 -0700

Harness social media to build a strong personal brand requires that you bring value to the party.

How to get your local business found again — Dave Saunders

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:54:29 -0700

How to get your local business out of the Yellow Pages and back in front of people using free local search tools.

How to enhance your personal brand online — Dave Saunders

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:31:14 -0700

The video below steps you through the process used by any individual business or person to build up a trusted "authority" presence online. At the center of this entire model is content.

Sometime Change Really Isn&t Any Fun — Dave Saunders

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:44:19 -0700

Writing this blog really helped me through the weekend. Punkie has become such a fixture in my life.

The Secret to Being More Interesting To Almost Anyone — Dave Saunders

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:54:10 -0700

A very useful tip for social media marketing.

An Example of Using Authority Sites To Quickly Dominate "Amount of vitamin C in energy drinks" In the Search Engines — Dave Saunders

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:35:35 -0700

An example of how to do simple keyword research to gain search engine rankings and traffic to your website.

Facebook Readies Rival to Twitter Search

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:40:18 -0700

Facebook is testing a realtime search engine for users' news feeds that will challenge Twitter search, the company revealed on its blog today.