How your Facebook comment can land you in BIG trouble (Legal Road Map® Podcast S5E126)

If you’ve been paying attention to Facebook over the last couple of years, you’ll know that FB is making a big push for users to engage in groups. So, not surprisingly, FB groups have been popping up everywhere, whether they’re free and open to anyone, or private and part of a paid membership or online course.

But what happens if someone’s behavior in your FB group goes against your standards? And what happens when your group grows so large that you have to enlist some help in monitoring activity and enforcing your rules?

Plus, what are the consequences of bad-talking others in Facebook posts or comments?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• The rules two of the biggest names in online business use in their FB groups, and why
• The most common pitfalls in groups to be aware of and how you can avoid them by carefully crafting your group guidelines
• Why it’s a good idea for some of your guidelines (i.e., admin’s right to remove people from the group) to be open-ended, but not too open-ended
• What defamation, slander, and libel really are, and what can go wrong if you are bad-talking others in Facebook groups

BONUS: By now, you now know you need a Privacy Policy on your website or landing page to make sure your FB ad is approved, but what other documents do you need to include? Head to www.awbfirm.com/podcast126 to download our free website documents checklist to make sure your website or landing page isn’t missing anything that might cause your ad to be rejected. 

Resources:

Legal Road Map® Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/legalroadmap/

Get a Privacy Policy (and other website documents) in the AWB Firm Contract Template store: www.awbfirm.com/contract-templates

Dana Malstaff’s Facebook group guidelines for Boss Mom® : https://www.facebook.com/groups/BossMomGroup/about/

Marie Forleo’s Facebook group guidelines for B-School Alumni: https://www.facebook.com/groups/571503882933914/

Boss Mom® group  guidelines:

1. No Promotions or Spam

Give more than you take to this group. Self-promotion, sharing links to your personal page, spam, use of hashtags and irrelevant links aren't allowed.

2. Members may not go live, share videos of themselves or their friends without admin approval.

You may not go live in our group or share promotional content on behalf of your friends in the Boss Mom Facebook group.

3. No Unsolicited PMing of Members

Direct sellers or any other business may not personally message members unsolicited. Have value to share? Put it in the group. Posts that lead to: "I'll PM you" will be deleted

4. No sharing news stories or articles into the group

We do not allow members to share ANY news stories or articles into the group. Please ask questions and engage on relevant topics but no sharing articles.

5. No Hate Speech or Bullying

Make sure everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn't allowed, and degrading comments about things like race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated.

6. Be Kind and Courteous

We're all in this together to create a welcoming environment. Let's treat everyone with respect. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.

7. No Long Form Teach Posts

Posts should not sound like a blog post ora motivational speech. These kinds of posts are better for your Instagram feed or as a blog post.

8. No political, religious, or cultural posts

If your post talks about a particular event or situation you did not like and its sole purpose is for others to agree with your point of view then it may be removed from the feed.

9. No Motivational quotes

While we appreciate your desire to motivate others in the group, the best way to do that is by commeting on their posts.

10. No Prompts allowed

We love when you ask questions, but we do not allow you to ask prompt questions like (share wins, where are you from, raise your hand if)

B-School Alumni group guidelines:

1. Be Kind. Encourage and support your fellow B-Schoolers. Never make anyone feel unwelcome or judged; treat everyone with love and acceptance.
2. No venting. This is the place to lift others up. We don’t put anyone down — be it other programs, industries, teachers or people. Ie "I'm so upset this web designer did this" or "All coaches should be certified"
3. Be Generous. Give more than you ask. Share what you’re working on, but keep a larger emphasis on sharing support, wisdom, and encouragement. Think 3:1. Give 3X more support, insight, and encouragement than you ask for.
4. Don't Share Your Work or Services. All offerings of yours or someone else's, including free and beta, belong on one of our three sharing threads. All posts shared from an outside source (FB page, YouTube, blog) will be removed.
5. No massive "like parties." Don't ask people to “like” your FB page, follow your Instagram account or follow you on Twitter or LinkedIn. This also includes putting together social media “pods," blog shares & watch parties.
6. Be Ethical and Original. This is a safe place to share your work and get feedback, not a place to reuse or repurpose other member’s content.
7. Respect Each Other's Privacy. Always get permission to contact or direct message another member or add them to your newsletter list.
8. Do Your Due Diligence. If you choose to work with another B-Schooler, make sure you get a clear, written service agreement in place.
9. No asking for votes, likes or shares. Any post that asks someone to take an action outside of this page will be removed. Including asking folks to vote for you, like your page, share your work, or read an article.

This podcast is information, not legal advice specific to your situation.