Corporate Leaks and Social Media
“The leaked memo helped me comprehend the enormous sea change occurring in how information was flowing as well as what was being communicated. Technology was redefining the nature of relationships and how people spend their time.”
(Schultz, 31- 32)
The advent of the Internet and later social media has dramatically changed how people interact with each other and people’s perception of corporations. If, for a moment, we were to disregard cyber-attacks on companies by competitors or hackers and consider only damage caused by corporate secrets being leaked on social media site and in turn its impact on a company, the possibilities become endless. Yes, the Internet and social media has allowed people to make business contacts far and wide, however at the same time it has also become a Pandora’s Box for corporations. A simple status update might leak a company secret, and with few swipes over the keyboard a disgruntled employee can cause mayhem for a company. In the instance referred to above, it was an internal memo originating at Starbucks Headquarters and sent by Howard Schultz to his senior executive directors, and was then leaked to media outlets and picked up on social media. It is not just internal memos companies need to fear being leaked out; employees often accidentally let upcoming launches or change in power slip on social media with a status update. This can, and has given corporations the proverbial “black eye.”
We now live in a society where people tend to believe what they see or hear with little regard for the source of information. Just as with libraries that want to maintain a Facebook, Twitter or other social media, a corporation would have to employ people and machines to search all forms of social media to know what was being said about them online. Not only would this be impossible, but at what point would this go beyond a corporation defending its corporate security and become censoring what people wrote?
Leaks of corporate secrets would not simply going to go away if the Internet or social media did not exist; rather its extent would be more limited. There is no way a corporation can avoid social media, and it would be virtually impossible to limit what people may write about on their own accounts. A company can have company policy regarding posting or discussing company information, but at what point are companies permitted to police their employees personal lives?
- Braga, M. (2011) Can’t stop the tweet: the peril—and promise—of social networking for IT. http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/10/cant-stop-the-tweet-the-periland-promiseof-social-networking-for-it/ (accessed 15 February 2013).
- Content Works. The risky business of mobile social media. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011006/the-risky-business-of-mobile-social-media.html (accessed 15February 2013).
- Corporate biz secrets getting leaked on social media websites. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/206344/corporate-biz-secrets-getting-leaked.html?goback=%2Egde_3917358_member_81476549 (accessed 15 February 2013).
- Schultz, H and Gordon, J. Onward. New York. Rodale; 2011.