Some 85% of US and UK corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies fear social media could push a minor problem into a major crisis.
However, these concerns do not necessarily translate into action.
The lawyers believe social media poses a risk to what 91% of them described as their company’s greatest asset, its reputation, but do not believe there is a legal risk and tend not to become heavily involved in planning for mitigation and response.
That’s according to a report by media managers Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, Social Media’s Role in Crisis Management: A Call for Greater Legal Vigilance. It is based on a survey of 100 senior and mid-level corporate counsel (50 in the US and 50 in the UK) who advise on risk, reputation and brand protection.
“Our research suggests that in-house lawyers are underestimating an important area of risk,” says Rod Clayton, co-head of global crisis and issues at Weber Shandwick.
“Social media has its own set of challenges, and legal counsel should ask themselves if they’re ready to address what can be powerful threats to reputation.”
Only one in five counsel have experienced a social media crisis, and those who have reported that the outcome was a decline in employee morale and retention rather than a specific legal issue. Only half the lawyers had undergone training on the impact social media has on their company. Only one in five counsel said the legal department was “very” involved in social media crisis planning, and counsel spent an average of 2.4% of their own time on the topic. Less than half said their company would be “excellent” or “very good” at responding to a social media problem.
The report offers guidelines for in-house counsel to more effectively engage in social media crisis preparation and response in order to safeguard corporate reputations from digital attacks.
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