We’ve heard of the dangers of social media platforms before. And a good lot of us have heard of that guy who was fired after he was caught spitting in a customer’s cheese burger in the kitchen at Burger King. Oh, he wasn’t caught in the kitchen. He was caught after he uploaded the video to YouTube. But did you know that employers face legal issues when it comes to social media as well?

Companies usually like jumping on the social media bandwagon. But besides promoting themselves and elaborating on their brand, they also tend to explore the shady side of their business like how their employees are discussing the company on their off days and how customers are talking about the company. However, this “exploration” can get legally dirty really fast.

In the article “Social Media’s Real Legal Issues” by Heather Bussing of HR Examiner, employees aren’t necessarily always at fault when there’s a legal issue on a social media. Indirectly, the source of the problem could be found in the hands of the employer. And what better way to correct this than for the employers to train the new guys about these legal issues? After all, it can’t be expected of the news guys to act accordingly to something they don’t know.

Of course, common sense should be a factor in decision-making, folks. Just because someone doesn’t blatantly say it’s wrong doesn’t make it right. That’s basic logic. Next time you think you have an inspiring revelation like the Burger King employee, take a step back and think about it. It could be the difference between your job and application hunting.

Check out the legal issues companies and employers have to be careful with here: http://www.hrexaminer.com/social-medias-real-legal-issues/