“For employers that choose to review social media as part of their hiring practices, it’s a better practice to wait until after they’ve met a candidate face to face,” says David Baffa, a partner at the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago.

Businesses do not have to be IT experts, just need to refer to an IT supplier on what their package needs their company to do. Many participants reported experiences of discrimination in employment. These reports are supported by research indicating that such discrimination is commonplace.

A new study by security firm AVG T surveyed 4000 adults in 10 countries, including 400 in Australia, as part of their Digital Diaries series and delved into cyber-bullying in the workplace and policies surrounding social media.

Australian adults are finding themselves to be the subject of gossip, distasteful photos and unwanted advances through social media.

The survey found 8% of Australian respondents had discovered secret discussions about themselves online had been initiated by colleagues. One out of 10 said they have had embarrassing photos or videos taken at a work event and uploaded on to social media sites.

AVG security advisor Michael McKinnon told SmartCompany cyber-bullying was not just an issue for teenagers.

“Cyber-bullying is often perceived as being an issue isolated to younger people, but clearly it’s not, and it’s not terribly surprising considering what it’s able to do. “Separating work and your private life is no longer possible,” he says.

At its most basic level, defamation is the publishing of something that is likely to cause harm to a person’s reputation by: having others think less of the person, causing others to shun and avoid the person, causing hatred, contempt or ridicule of the person, having the estimation of the person to be lowered by others, affecting the person’s private character and reputation, and also their business or professional life.

Social Media can help reduce marketing costs as it is free to use most social medias and can be broadcast to more people around the area or around the country. By using social media, the business can increase traffic to your website or page and increase sales for the company. This can improve customer engagement and allows customers to give feedback on your company. Social media is also an opportunity to conduct market research about your customer and improve networking opportunities with customers and other businesses.

Not having a clear marketing or social media strategy may result in reduced benefits for your business. Some of the possible disadvantages you should be aware of when using social media is that it needs constant daily monitoring because if you don't actively manage your social media presence, you may not see any real benefits. It could be a danger because greater exposure online has the potential to attract risks. Risks can include negative feedback, information leaks or hacking. Another risk is that unwanted or inappropriate behaviour on your site, including bullying and harassment could happen to co-workers, employees or even customers. Whatever the risk, having a social media strategy and preparing your policy and procedures carefully beforehand can help you manage the risks. False or misleading claims made on your social media channels by your business or by a customer can be subject to consumer law.

 

 Many small retail businesses are also using social media to gain leverage on other competitors. This is mainly due to the recent ability and affordability of easily accumulating and analysing important data that focuses key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs can then be measured against predefined goals to indicate the performance of key business objectives.

 

Name: Business in Vancouver, Author: Glen Korstrom, Published: 10/03/16, Title: Supreme Court of Canada to hear B.C. woman’s class action against Facebook, Accessed: 06/08/18, Website:  

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 08/04/13, Title: The positives and negatives of using social networking sites, Accessed: 08/08/18, Website:  

Name: The Guardian, Author: Bruno Teuber, Published: 25/07/12, Title: The rise of social media in retail, Accessed: 10/08/18, Website:  

Name: The Conversation, Author: Paul Harpur, Published: 07/11/14, Title: Oh, the irony! Retailers blind to discrimination and lost business, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

Name: Australian Government, Author: Unknown, Published: 09/07/18, Title: Pros 

and cons of using social media in a business, Accessed: 8/08/18, Website:  

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: Bruce Legal, Author: Unknown, Published: 22/07/18, Title: Social media and small businesses: Beware of defamation issues, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: Smart Company, Author: Yolanda Redrup, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: InfoSec Institute, Author: Unknown, Published: Unknown, Title: Social Media site privacy issues, Accessed: 10/08/18, Website:  

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 08/04/13, Title: The positives and negatives of using social networking sites, Accessed: 08/08/18, Website:  

Name: Retail Touch Points, Author: Alicia Fiorletta, Published: 13/05/14, Title: Connecting Social Media And The Store, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

Name: Australian Government, Author: Unknown, Published: 09/07/18, Title: Pros and cons of using social media in a business, Accessed: 8/08/18, Website:  

For retailers, social media provides one of the most effective two-way communication channels with customers, giving them the opportunity to receive information about their own business.

 

We’re consistently seeing higher engagement rates on these media types versus static photos or plain text.

 

If you want to focus on the lower and bottom parts of the funnel (website clicks and conversions) like Myer you’ll be posting more links, using carousel ads, lead ads and utilising custom audiences and lookalike audiences.

 

But if you’re more interested in the top or www.socialstatus.io mid-levels of the funnel like David Jones, you’ll be posting more rich media and encouraging Reactions, Comments and Shares.

Small and midsized businesses are behind but there has been an improvement this year, up from 31% to 40% among small businesses and from 36% to 43% for medium businesses according to the Social Media and Retail Sensis 2018 report.          

Consumers are particularly keen on discounts (54%) and give-aways (48%) from the brands or businesses they follow.

Consumers are increasingly accessing social media on their smartphone (up from 72% to 81%).

            

When used effectively, social media can help retailers generate buzz and even boost both online and in-store traffic. But retail executives, analysts and experts continue to debate social media’s impact on bottom-line results.

 

Recent industry research confirms that social media can influence sales both online and in the store: 40% of all social media users have purchased items online or in-store after sharing or “favouring” them on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, according to research from Vision Critical. The survey of 5,900 consumers concluded that social media drives approximately the same amount of sales both in-store and online.

Name: In Vigour Law Group, Author: Gideon Dionne, Published: Unknown, Title: Social Media Legal Issues: Copyright, Trademark, and other Intellectual Property (IP) issues, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

Name: Career Cast Diversity, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Being aware of social media discrimination, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

Name: The Guardian, Author: Bruno Teuber, Published: 25/07/12, Title: The rise of social media in retail, Accessed: 10/08/18, Website:  

Sky News, Addicts warned: Facebook groups are not anonymous: https://news.sky.com/story/addicts-warned-facebook-groups-are-not-anonymous-11197078

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 08/04/13, Title: The positives and negatives of using social networking sites, Accessed: 08/08/18, Website:  

Name: Australian Government, Author: Unknown, Published: 09/07/18, Title: Pros and cons of using social media in a business, Accessed: 8/08/18, Website:  

The transparency and immediacy of social media are valued by consumers, and should thus be valued by retail businesses as well. “The customer is always right” may be a maxim of years past, but when 80 percent of internet users between the ages of 18 and 50 use social media, retailers need to accept that the right course

of action is one that inevitably involves a social media strategy.

as they voice their opinion is the best way to learn and improve. It is also an easy way for a business to ease itself into the social space, and a prerequisite for meaningful engagement.

Name: Australian Human Right Commission, Author: Unknown, Published: 2011, Title: Stories of discrimination, vilification and harassment - Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination: Consultation Report (2011), Accessed: 13/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Business in Vancouver, Author: Glen Korstrom, Published: 10/03/16, Title: Supreme Court of Canada to hear B.C. woman’s class action against Facebook, Accessed: 06/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Sky News, Author: Jo Tidy, Published: 09/01/18, Title: Addicts warned; Facebook groups are not anonymous, Accessed: 08/08/18, Website:  

Sky News, Addicts warned: Facebook groups are not anonymous: https://news.sky.com/story/addicts-warned-facebook-groups-are-not-anonymous-11197078

 

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 08/04/13, Title: The positives and negatives of using social networking sites, Accessed: 08/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Australian Government, Author: Unknown, Published: 09/07/18, Title: Pros and cons of using social media in a business, Accessed: 8/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: BBC, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: The Guardian, Author: Bruno Teuber, Published: 25/07/12, Title: The rise of social media in retail, Accessed: 10/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: InfoSec Institute, Author: Unknown, Published: Unknown, Title: Social Media site privacy issues, Accessed: 10/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: In Vigour Law Group, Author: Gideon Dionne, Published: Unknown, Title: Social Media Legal Issues: Copyright, Trademark, and other Intellectual Property (IP) issues, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Career Cast Diversity, Author: Unknown, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Being aware of social media discrimination, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: The Conversation, Author: Paul Harpur, Published: 07/11/14, Title: Oh, the irony! Retailers blind to discrimination and lost business, Accessed: 09/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Australian Human Right Commission, Author: Unknown, Published: 2011, Title: Stories of discrimination, vilification and harassment - Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination: Consultation Report (2011), Accessed: 13/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Smart Company, Author: Yolanda Redrup, Published: 04/03/13, Title: Australian workers harassed, bullied over social media in the workplace: AVG study, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Bruce Legal, Author: Unknown, Published: 22/07/18, Title: Social media and small businesses: Beware of defamation issues, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Mumbrella, Author: Tim Hill, Published: 01/12/16, Title: How retail brands are using social media to improve performance, Accessed: 19/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Retail Touch Points, Author: Alicia Fiorletta, Published: 13/05/14, Title: Connecting Social Media And The Store, Accessed: 24/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Hootsuite, Author: Unknown, Published: 2018, Title: 8 social media tips for the retail industry, Accessed: 20/08/18, Website:  

 

Name: Sensis, Author: Unknown, Published: 03/06/18, Title: The must-know stats from the 2018 Yellow Social Media Report, Accessed: 22/08/18, Website:  

 

 

 

Sky News, Addicts warned: Facebook groups are not anonymous: https://news.sky.com/story/addicts-warned-facebook-groups-are-not-anonymous-11197078

 

Name: Sensis, Author: Unknown, Published: 03/06/18, Title: The must-know stats from the 2018 Yellow Social Media Report, Accessed: 22/08/18, Website:  

For those businesses that advertise on social Facebook remains easily the most preferred channel (90% small, 62% medium, 100% large). LinkedIn (20%) and Twitter (24%) are also common among large businesses, while the same is true for Instagram (23%) among medium size businesses.

 

The majority of businesses remain unlikely to offer incentives such as discounts and coupons via social media (29% small, 25% medium, 17% large), even though they have appeal to consumers.

Among businesses offering incentives, discounts are the most common offer from small businesses (84%), while it is give-aways for medium size businesses (70%) and discounts for large businesses (80%), (Bruce Legal, Unknown, 22/07/18).