Beware the Twitter Trap

Today's Hottest Form of Communication Can Become a Records Management Minefield

For those that may be unaware (or don’t have teenagers at home), Twitter is a free social networking and blogging service that enables users to read each others’ updates known as tweets. The tweets are text-based posts – limited to 140 characters -- and senders can restrict delivery to certain audiences or, by default, allow anybody to access them.

According to a November 2008 study, Twitter is estimated to have nearly 5 million users and ranks as the third most used social network behind Facebook and MySpace. Earlier this year, it was estimated that Twitter’s growth will continue to soar – nearly 1,382%.

And while Twitter’s usage mushrooms, so does your company’s risk exposure if you don’t stay ahead of the curve with your e-Discovery policies and procedures. While tweets may be a somewhat ‘unique’ form of communication, the prevailing attitude is that Twitter posts are like any other electronically stored information (ESI) – completely discoverable and eligible to be subpoenaed during litigation.

In a corporate environment, tweets have become the new “water cooler conversation.” However they have a greater risk because they are written and broadcast to many more than just those within earshot. More than just casual conversation that may just be lost afterwards, these statements now stay in existence – and as evidence.

Twitter can be viewed as a potential corporate minefield: employees can make libelous statements or disclose sensitive information. Twitter posts could even prompt workplace retaliation or wrongful termination claims – users may claim they were retaliated against or fired in response to a tweet.

What is even more interesting today is that many companies themselves are embracing Twitter as a marketing tool. This heightens the need (even more so) to be aware of all the potential risks of these new forms of communication.

From a legal perspective, while there has yet to be a case bringing a tweet into evidence, it is certainly only a matter of time.

Companies open themselves to much more risk if they allow their employees to use Twitter without governance. Ideally, their policies and procedures should also govern tweets and other forms of alternate communication, such as instant messaging.

It wasn’t too long ago that many finally realized that with the convenience of corporate email came the potential legal legal traps of its usage. And today, those seemingly innocuous tweets are winging their way down the same road.