Happy Memorial Day. NuVisions is proud of all the men and women who serve in the armed forces. Thank you for all the work you do to keep us safe.

For several days now there have been a few articles floating around the internet about social media websites not deleting photos. Haven’t heard? http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/22/are-you-social-network-photos-really-being-deleted

These articles are a good reminder for one of the basic rules of the Internet, once you put something out on the internet, it is nearly impossible to fully eradicate it. Be careful what you put on your Facebook, blog, Twitter, and any other social media site you use. As a business your reputation can and will be altered by the photos and words you post.

Why doesn’t “delete” work? People copy and paste information and photos to send to others. People post the content you write on their social media site and you may not even know it’s there. It is nearly impossible to find all instances of the photo you posted and delete all of them. Many of the articles circulating right now cite that the servers where the information is stored may have a window of time from when a user clicked delete until it can delete the actual file.

So what does this mean for you? As a company you need to ensure the content you post is not libelous. What you post on your blog can be held up on court. You can lose money in wrongful termination suits, product returns/recalls, and in many other cases. Anything you post on the internet can be printed out and used a proof against you.

If you plan on posting any photos of people at the company picnic or headshots of executives, ensure you have the person sign a photo release. You never know who will have an issue with their photo posted online and a photo release will help clear you of any wrong doing. If you want to post photos of employee’s children from the company picnic, you will need a photo release from the parents of anyone under the age of 18.

A standard photo release form is not too hard to write. If you’d prefer, NuVisions can write one up for you. Upon hiring, have the employee read it and sign it. Allow for them to customize the release as needed, ensuring you’ll have the largest collection of photos for the website and your social media pages.

NuVisions wants you to embrace blogging, facebook, twitter and other sites, not scare you or second guess your content. We just want you to be aware of the ripple effect of what your actions can cost you. Just be smart about your company’s online presence and you’ll be fine.

Please be advised, NuVisions is not a legal service and does not dispense legal advice. If you are unsure about the legal implications of posting on the internet, NuVisions encourages you to seek a qualified lawyer. Any legal advice NuVisions gives is a suggestion based on our professional experience and research.

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