Social media sites are developed as a tool to communicate with others by sharing personal information, photos, videos, comments and more. Community sites with user-generated content should be used responsibly. As is the case with this site, links to websites and other resources operated by third parties are provided solely as a convenience to the user.
Generally, when using social media, it is a common assumption that all users are solely responsible for their content – including posts, comments, likes, shares, tweets, re-tweets, follows and favorites. As a general rule, nothing on social media is private. All comments and postings by a user are subject to Florida’s broad public records laws and any comment, image, photograph or video posted by a user could be redistributed or copied. Keep in mind all content posted on social media is subject to lawful requests made by governmental and judicial authorities.
Practicing favorable online behavior is best achieved when adhering to these social media etiquette standards:
- Refrain from giving legal advice or legal commentary
- Do not post any comments, photos, videos, etc. that suggest or encourage illegal activity
- Avoid violating any laws and regulations, including intellectual property (IP) rights and others regarding content that you send or receive
- IP is divided into two categories:
- Industrial Property – patents, trademarks and industrial designs
- Copyright – includes works of art, literature, music and computer programs
- IP is divided into two categories:
- Never transmit any material in any manner that is disruptive, threatening, profane, abusive, harassing, embarrassing, tortuous, defamatory, obscene, libelous or is an invasion of another’s privacy
- Never transmit any material that is hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive
- Avoid sending unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials or any other form of solicitation
- Never upload any software that could breach cyber security, such as malware, viruses, key loggers, trojans, etc.
- If you affiliate your job with your personal social media profile, keep in mind you are representing both yourself and your employer
- Get acquainted with the unique privacy and security policies of each social media networking site and third party site you use