WE ALL KNOW THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS A FANTASTIC TOOL FOR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES. WE MAY HAVE SEPARATE PERSONAL AND CORPORATE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS, BUT IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO MAKE AND KEEP THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO.
Building a unique brand presence, making connections and being personable is important, but how personal should you be and what kind of content is appropriate to share?
It’s so important to be mindful of the content you’re sharing and interacting with because if you don’t, it can have serious consequences. Here are some real-life examples:
CASE STUDIES
Back in November 2020, Edinson Cavani’s racist language on Instagram landed him a three-game ban and a £100,000 fine from the Football Association.
Earlier this year, Ollie Robinson was suspended for past racist and sexist tweets that he posted on Twitter in 2012 and 2013. The England and Wales Cricket Board launched a social media review, Ollie could not play for England whilst the investigation took place.
More recently Andrew Bone, commercial building manager at Savills, posted tweets with racial slurs after the penalty shootout of England’s Euro 2020 finals match against Italy. Savills confirmed that they have launched an investigation and that the individual has been suspended from duty whilst this takes place. It has not been confirmed whether Bone is still employed by Savills but, at the time of writing, his profile no longer appears on the company’s employee page.
TOP TIPS
- When posting on social media, behave in the same way you would offline.
- Ensure that your professional accounts and posts make it clear that you are sharing your opinions and they are not representative of your organisation.
- When posting content on corporate accounts, remember that you are representing your business and upholding their reputation and values.
- The Financial Promotions team ask firms to refrain from posting any content they think could be deemed to be offensive to anyone at all. The team’s guidance states:
“Offensive or negative comments about the Network, its ARs, or any lender or provider supplier will be a breach of this guidance and may result in the Network taking disciplinary action against the AR.”
For guidance on social media content, please contact the Financial Promotions team at financial.promotions@primis.co.uk.
