There has been a flurry of discussion around social media and its implication in the last few months , So I thought it would be good to have some of these arguments laid out in one single post. Social Media has entered every business and industry even, inside the US Intelligence Community, who sorted out their knowledge-sharing problem and a problem with locating expertise—throughout the bureaucracy of 16 federal agencies—using simple tools like an intelligence community–wide Wiki and blogging environments among other things
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Social Media and Sales
“My sales people are wasting valuable time on Facebook and Linkedin when they should be selling”: that usual rhetoric many sales managers would say now a days. Does Social Networking help sales people sell I liked that statement especially since it came from Microsoft executive. As I have also faced the ire of top management for using social media in my career, . So this report is an eye opener for opponents of social media for sales. Read the Full Article.
LinkedIn insiders know that you can use the site’s information for more than job, sales, and partnering leads – you can find out what others are up to as well. There are downside to using Linkedin last fall an Apple employee revealed that he was managing a team developing a new chip for the iPhone while the information was still secret. . So be careful LinkedIn or any other social tools can bite you back if not used properly.
I would partly agree to the argument that social media and internet created a lot of distractions, but I dont think this is something new, we had distractions in our daily life and in office environments even before theadvent of internet. the only difference now it is easier not to do your job and indulge in something else while you are supposed to be at work when in office.
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Social Media and Influence on Decision Making
Second on my reading list was the study conducted by Don Bulmer (Vice President Global Communications- SAP ) with Society for New Communications Research. Take a look at this in his blogpost at Social Media’s Impact on Business and Decision Making Everyday Influence blog . Result of the study concludes that Top execs are influenced by social networks . The copy of the report is on SNRC website
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Social Media Investments
Third on the reading list was a New Study from Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research Indicates Despite the Recession, 94 Percent of Enterprises Continue to Invest in Online Communities & Social Media Full Article
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Then there was presentation by Steven Tylock, on Social networking meets sales , the presentation is on Microsoft website
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Compliance and Social Media
The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Health Care Compliance Association conducted a survey among compliance and ethics professionals in late August 2009 to see what employers are doing about the use of these sites by their employees.
They got back almost 800 responses from their members using an online survey tool.
- 50% of respondents reported that their company does not have a policy for employee online activity outside of the workplace
- Of those companies that do have a policy, 34% include it in a general policy on online usage
- Of those companies that do have a policy, just 10% specifically address the use of social network sites
It would be interesting to see How companies are going to include a clause on their information protection and compliance rules to define what information an employee can add to his linkedin profile during or after his tenure with the organization, especially information related to projects.
For example When an IA rep uses Twitter to send a link to an article from an online magazine, newspaper, or other site to clients and prospects “following” him, that communication is subject to SEC advertising rules. However, Bernstein says that merely sending a link is not advertising—as long as you don’t give your opinion.
A “recommendation” on your Linkedin profile by a client does indeed constitute a testimonial and, thus, violates SEC rules prohibiting RIAs from using client testimonials in advertising.
The SEC will be busy in coming months addressing the many issues posed by advisor use of social media. FDA has already release its framework on use of social media in Drug Marketing.
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Drugs, Heallthcare, FDA and Social Media
The FDA is currently considering how to handle social media, such as SideWiki, Facebook, etc. Companies such as Google, Sermo, and Twitter are playing an increasing role in marketing products to consumers and healthcare professionals, whether our customers like it or not. Technology and Life Sciences companies are pushing the FDA to come up with standards and templates. The following article has some great links to presentations from PhRMA, Google, and even from Pfizer’s Chief Medical Officer.
Read about Googles pitch to FDA for online Drug Advertisements from the wall street journal
An archived webcast and other details of the FDA Public Hearing on Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools is available at the FDA website
Here what emerged from this hearing
FDA explained in the Federal Register notice that “entities should review any Internet sites sponsored by them for Drug Adverse Event Information, but are not responsible for reviewing any Internet sites that they do not sponsor; however, if they become aware of an Adverse Drug Event on an Internet site that they do not sponsor, they should review the adverse experience and determine if it should be reported to FDA.”
Numerous speakers stated that drug manufacturers are hesitant to fully engage in online social media specifically because they want to avoid learning about potential AEs and the resulting reporting obligations, particularly because the guidance in this area is unclear
Pending further guidance, companies should prepare for further FDA scrutiny of this area by developing compliance
policies to address the challenges of involvement in Internet and social media tools, including but not limited to:
policies relating to employee involvement in social media, and in particular statements regarding company products;
company involvement in physician and patient-focused social media, including both company-sponsored sites and third-party sites run by third-party organizations (and particularly those receiving manufacturer support through grants or other funding);
addressing the challenge of Sidewiki and similar functions that make third-party generated information directly available in conjunction with company websites;
updating promotional review policies to ensure consistency with developing FDA approaches to risk communication on the Internet, including sponsored links;
policies regarding statements that company-affiliated parties (e.g., investigators, patients) may make on the Internet, which may constitute endorsements or testimonials requiring both review and specific disclosures; and
ensuring a consistent and compliant approach to pharmacovigilance with respect to Internet-reported adverse events of Drugs.
I know one company that provides Content Monitoring, Control & Recording across Web 2.0; User Behavior Reporting over Multiple Modalities, Regulatory Compliance for management and security of Web 2.0 applications such as social networking, blogs, wikis, webmail and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube instant messaging, and Unified Communications. But at a cost of $9,200, it would be out of reach for individual and SMEs. Still have a look at the recent press release by factime on its FaceTime’s Unified Security Gateway
Filed under: six degrees of separation, social Media | Tagged: compliance, facebook, FDA, health sciences global business unit, linkedin, oracle, Oracle health sciences global business unit, SAP, SEC, twitter | Leave a comment »