It has a been a while since I’ve blogged. That’s because I’ve recently started a new job! I’m in charge of all things web and social media at a children’s rehabilitation hospital in Toronto (see my LinkedIn profile for details).

Part of my job involves assessing risk with whatever we do in social media. So I research everything from reading the terms of use to privacy policies. Not just “is it an appropriate tool for our audience?”

Risk management is vital in content marketing. Take yesterday’s example (and blundering) of Instagram announcing changes to their usage policy. The gist of it was “we can sell your photos to anyone without paying you”.

Big bru ha ha ensued all over the place and surprise, surprise, this morning it’s all “Oopsie! We unintentionally misworded our new terms. We didn’t mean what we wrote. Heh heh. It’s all good!” (was this all just a publicity stunt?).

Anyhoo, my unbelief aside, always remember that when working with third parities (read: social networks) who offer their services for free (read: social networks):

1. Your company’s data (your personal data, too) is their product for making money

2. Third parties can disappear along with your data

3. Terms of use can always change at the drop of a hat

4. Read! Read! Read those terms of use. If you have a legal department, use them! That’s why they are there.

And this is just one of the many, many, many variations of risk of which you must keep on top when working with content.