By Chris Hoole
Chris is a trainee solicitor at Walker Morris in Leeds.Before joining Walker Morris Chris studied English Law and European Law at University where he focused on cyberlaw and cybercrime as part of his dissertation. Since University, Chris has worked both in Dubai and Hong Kong.
The incessant rise in social media, and its use both in a personal and business related capacity to disseminate information, has forced employers to question the profitability, and potential value, attached to the followers of their employee’s accounts. As a result, employers are now looking at ways in which they could retain those followers once the employee has left the company.
Who owns my Twitter account?
Ask yourself: Do you use Twitter at work? Does your company name feature in your Twitter profile? If you answered yes to either of these questions has it ever occurred to you that your employer may, one day, take over your Twitter account? Following a recent US case, UK employers and employees are now compelled to address these difficult questions which in themselves raise some interesting, and complicated, points.
How much are your twitter followers worth to your employer?
Noah Kravitz was an employee at Phonedog in the US. While working for the company he set up and Tweeted under the name @Phonedog_Noah. By the time he left the company, taking his account with him, he had amassed a massive 17,000 followers. His ex-employer, Phonedog, subsequently claimed ownership of his account, and sued Kravitz for a hefty £1.60 per follower per month.
The Noah Kravitz case has fuelled significant debate in the UK regarding ownership of social media accounts by UK employers. Only last year, the Telegraph reported that "the BBC's chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg moved from the BBC to ITV and took her Twitter account - and its 58,000 followers - with her." In addition, LinkedIn has already seen its share of litigation: in 2008 an ex-employee of Hays was ordered to hand over his LinkedIn account; and, this year, an ex-human resources executive of BG Group brought a claim against the company for constructive dismissal after he uploaded his CV to LinkedIn. LinkedIn, however, is intrinsically different to Twitter; unlike LinkedIn, followers do not need to seek your permission to follow you or show any physical connection, whether present or historical.
Undoubtedly, employers are becoming ever increasingly aware of the financial and reputational benefits of social media. In light of the obvious financial benefit of employing a successful Tweeter, the question has therefore been raised: how can an employer in the UK own my Twitter account?
Contractual ownership of Twitter accounts
A potential approach which we may see taken by some employers, is the incorporation of proprietary ownership into the employment agreement, or social media policy. However, as these, potentially unsettled, waters are yet to be tested it is unclear how exactly this would be contractually defined. The Kravitz case may provide some guidance.
Kravitz created his Twitter account during his employment, and used his company name to amass many thousands of followers - indeed, he may have exploited the company's website to promote his account. This - the creation of an account during employment and incorporation of the corporate ID - could form a basic definition of employer ownership. But what if the account was created earlier? Whilst this may complicate matters an appropriate definition of "business use" may circumvent any get out the employee may have. Again, this could include the incorporation of corporate branding in the account bio and/or work related tweeting.
A counter-productive future for social media
Twitter, unlike the archaic black book, provides individuals and employers with the ability to reach out to millions of potential clients - all of whom can be put on notice, in 140 characters or less, that the Tweeter has moved on. But, and it's a significant but, if that employee knew that at some point in the future, the Twitter followers that he may have spent months, even years, accumulating would one day revert back to zero, would that employee bother Tweeting at all? This, of course, raises worrying questions for Twitter, and the forum for innovative and fast-moving discussion, both personal and educational, this networking medium provides. That, though, is another debate in itself.
What are your thoughts? This blog is open for debate so please feel free to share your comments below.
