Social media has become a major part of how businesses interact with existing and potential consumers. This method of communication will continue to raise interesting questions about marketing, business and legal strategies. Questions relating to ownership of handles, content and followers are arising, and are likely to increase.

Most recently, PhoneDog Media has been in the news for an ongoing lawsuit against Noah Kravitz, a former employee, relating to the ownership of 17,000-plus Twitter followers gained while under a company-related handle: @Phonedog_Noah.

After leaving PhoneDog, Kravitz changed his Twitter handle to @NoahKravitz, and kept all the followers. The suit claims the followers of the original handle were owned by PhoneDog as company property (see PhoneDog v. Kravitz).

In a recent statement on the PhoneDog website, co-founder and President Tom Klein described the significant company resources invested to promote Noah Kravitz as a representative of the company, and to increase his followers.

It is yet to be determined whether the court will grant damages of $2.50 per month, per follower “taken” by Kravitz, as was spelled out in the amended complaint as the going value.

There are many businesses in Maine that have dipped their toe in — or even fully embraced — social media marketing.

Considering Maine’s small-business economy is so robust, and considering that many small businesses do not have the resources to outsource marketing and social media, many businesses may unknowingly be creating situations similar to the one PhoneDog found itself facing.

When used effectively, social media can be an excellent way to market a company and ensure great customer service.

However, due to the viral nature of the Internet, poor management and oversight of social media accounts can have disastrous effects on a company’s image.

The difference between effective and ineffective uses of social media can stem from how formally a company approaches the process.

Here are a few practical tips for designing a social media policy:

• Consider your purpose.

This is, by far, the most important first step, and unfortunately one that is often overlooked.

In fact, the Internet marketing news source Marketing Pilgrim recently reported that only 43 percent of businesses’ social media strategies were designed to meet business objectives.

If you dedicate resources to social media, it better be to help meet business objectives. Don’t dive in because everyone else is; an unplanned social media campaign can devastate your company.

• Before any user can post from the corporate account, require that they review and sign a clear policy of acceptable use.

You know your company and you know what information you work with that is just not appropriate for the public. Just because you can share everything quickly doesn’t mean you want to.

Maintain confidences regarding brand strategy, business information and client information, and act with common sense about everything else. Be responsible with your 140-character disclosures.

• Put someone in charge of your social media.

If your company is committed to social media, play it like you mean it.

This marketing method is not child’s play and should not be pushed off to a young associate with no further investment or guidance.

Regardless of who is put in charge of daily posts, make sure someone else is also involved, and that the company supports the team.

Whoever directs the marketing in your company should be involved, offering guidance and oversight for the administrator of the accounts to ensure consistency in branding and messaging.

• Be smart about passwords and administrative capabilities.

Make sure more than one person has access to your log-in and password information.

This mistake happens more often than you would think. At best, if a person who holds all your log-in information leaves, you will have no idea how to update your pages. At worst, you leave yourself vulnerable to attack posts, theft of your followers, and other damage that could be done by one unhappy employee.

You should know how to quickly take someone off the administrative role in all of the avenues of social media you use.

• Consider where your company’s name or brand appears — be strategic about placement.

Is it OK for your administrator and/or employees to add the company name to their personal profiles or share company information on their personal pages?

Mixing business with personal accounts can get messy, as we saw in the PhoneDog case. Draw clear lines, create a policy and monitor your employees’ personal and business uses. If the employee ever leaves the company, your policy should determine who owns what, and how to proceed. If it doesn’t, consider revising your policy.

In the end, social media can be an excellent instrument to get your company’s name out, to provide better customer service and to build a corporate community. Therefore, this powerful form of communication should be taken seriously.

Approach social media as you would any other business function: focus on your business’ goals, utilize policies that protect your company, engage, participate and commit. Otherwise, you may find your business name going viral — and not for news you want to share.