2. What would you suggest Cynthia do to alleviate risk if she decides to proceed with Mike’s direction to do a review of Tyler through social media? What can she do to protect herself and the organization in the future While not the first social media platform on the Internet, the creation of the Six Degrees site in 1997 laid the foundations for what is known as social media today. Similar to Facebook, Six Degrees allowed users to create a profile and connect with other users. Followed by blogging sites that emerged in 1999, the appearance of Facebook and Twitter in 2006, and the development of smart phones, social media has now become a dominant force in how people and organizations around the world communicate and share information.

Today organizations use social media to promote their goods and services and to connect with their customers and stakeholders. For human resources professionals, social media has also provided opportunities to advertise job openings, promote their organizations as ‘employers of choice’, and to reach out to potential candidates through popular networking sites such as LinkedIn.