NEW YORK (January 11, 2012) – Morrison & Foerster today launched Socially Aware Blog (www.sociallyawareblog.com), to help companies understand the legal implications of social media use – including privacy protection for workers' Facebook musings, securities laws governing blog postings, or the confidentiality of instant messaging. The blog is an interactive companion to the firm's Burton Award-winning newsletter, Socially Aware, providing readers with more immediate content and an opportunity to comment on the expanding impact of social media on their businesses.
John Delaney, a founding editor of Socially Aware and co-chair of Morrison & Foerster's Social Media Practice Group, said, "Businesses ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mom-and-pop neighborhood stores are rushing to embrace social media, perhaps the greatest tool for reaching customers since the creation of the World Wide Web. Corporate users of social media need to be aware of emerging intellectual property, privacy, employment law and other legal risks associated with social networks. This is an area where implementing a few protective measures today will help a company avoid expensive legal headaches in the future."
Long known as a preeminent advisor to companies and financial institutions on technology matters of all types, Morrison & Foerster has been at the forefront of the still-emerging area of social media law. The firm's Social Media Practice Group advises companies across industry sectors on social media law, regulation and policy affecting privacy, data security, intellectual property, employment, securities, advertising, defamation, online contracting, user-generated content and use of social media in the workplace.
Since its launch in July 2010, Socially Aware's easy-to-read articles and news bites have drawn more than 15,000 subscribers. This summer Socially Aware featured a "Short History of Social Media," infographic that went viral and instantly trended on Twitter.