Often times, people will ask you and others to write a recommendation for them on the popular social media site, Linkedin. However, the July 13 & 20, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek (p. 072) has an article warning managers from writing recommendations about their employees on Linkedin as they could be later used by plaintiff's lawyers in "discrimination or termination cases that put an employee's performance at issue". The article predicts that sooner or later, attorney's will begin to mine social media sites for evidence or was to bolster their clients cases. In some cases, The PR Lawyer is aware of cases in which attorney's have set up Facebook accounts just so that they can gather evidence for their clients and use it to force a settlement or bolster their case should it go to trial. Companies should have a blanket policy for their managers to not use Linkedin to make recommendations. If someone is asking for a recommendation, chances are they are looking for a new job. Save the recommendations for their quarterly, bi-annual or yearly review. And always, when using the Internet and social media sites, exercise caution.
Can you write me a recommendation?
Daniel Cherrin
DANIEL CHERRIN |served the City of Detroit as its Communications Director and the Press Secretary to Detroit Mayor, Ken Cockrel, Jr. He is a public relations + affairs specialist who just happens to be a lawyer, with 20 years of experience providing senior public relations and government relations’ counsel to organizations on state and federal regulatory and legislative matters, as well as issues affecting corporate and individual reputation, crisis management and the media. Daniel is the founder of NORTH COAST STRATEGIES (Est. 2005) an independent public relations consultancy that combines the best of a big agency with hands-on executive-level experience and support. As a signatory company to the United Nations Global Compact, we are dedicated to addressing issues around human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. We are also focused on redefining your brand and changing the conversation to create an impact.