Some High-Profile Cases Should Have Driven

which always start with disclosure

Former Dallas newscaster Mike Snyder created fake online personas to push his client's agenda and damaged everyone connected with his work, especially himself.

John Mackey of Whole Foods Market used an online alias to trash a rival, leading to a federal investigation. A Los Angeles Times columnist used fake names to attack conservatives on his blog and had the platform yanked. A string of authors have used fake profiles to post flattering reviews of their books on Amazon, only to be humiliated when the ruse was exposed.

The first takeaway is that a moral compass matters, even in the online world. The next: Be vigilant in protecting it.

If zero tolerance for online deception seems too high a bar on the anonymous, free-for-all Internet, consider that some companies adopted that standard five years ago.

Snyder's mistake starts with him, but the fallout doesn't end there. He tried to sway public opinion in the battle between Museum Tower and the Nasher Sculpture Center, in part by concealing his connection. The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System owns the tower and paid for his services, yet he was posing and posting as an outsider.

Snyder lost his job and the pension lost credibility, with some calling for a change at the top. The scandal also blew a hole in the pension's best argument for keeping Museum Tower as is: that it did nothing wrong.

Snyder has apologized for poor judgment and accepted responsibility. He said he was hired by a law firm that was hired by the pension system and neither knew about his fake posts. Even if that's true -- and there's reason for doubt -- it's no defense in social media.

Companies are responsible for the online actions of their contractors and subcontractors, Andy Sernovitz of socialmedia.org said. They can't hire an agency that hires a firm that runs a boiler room to generate fake reviews and then claim the deception is not their fault.

"There's a legal obligation to monitor your employees and consultants," said Sernovitz, who has created ethics codes on social media and advised the Federal Trade Commission on current rules. "If you write the check, it's your problem."

Social media posts are considered advertising by the FTC if they meet certain conditions. The most clear-cut: The writer was paid for the online comments.

Such definitions are useful in understanding what's acceptable in social media, not just what's legal. Sernovitz has worked with Fortune 500 companies to develop best practices, which always start with disclosure. Identify yourself and employer, and, if relevant, that you're getting paid.

Last spring, the FTC reiterated those tenets, driving home their importance. Many companies have social media policies and training programs, and they act quickly to correct mistakes online. Attention is focused on employees and bloggers because professionals are supposed to know better.

Some high-profile cases should have driven home the message. In 2006, the PR firm Edelman created a blog about Wal-Mart without identifying the true authors. After being exposed, the company apologized and talked about openness, engagement and trust.

The next year, Mackey was outed for using an alias to post critical comments of a rival grocer on Yahoo. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched a 10-month investigation and concluded that no action needed to be taken. Mackey later apologized, not for using a screen name but for being so competitive.

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