The Washington Post reports:

“The much awaited Social Media Amendment to the Sarbanes-Oxley act is expected to be ratified by Congress before the mid-term break later this week. The intent of the legislation is ‘to promote the global competitiveness of publicly held U.S. corporations by stimulating authentic conversation in our nation’s workplaces,’ said Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.

According to Cox, the current regulatory environment, while a fitting and proper reaction to corporate malfeasance earlier in this century, places unreasonable restrictions on corporations, and rank-and-file employees in particular, thereby inhibiting free conversation and commentary. Social media pundits applauded the legislation, which amends the original act with an exception that will free both corporate users and their corporations from legal liability for statements made on the company’s public web sites when such statements can reasonably be characterized as ‘critical commentary’ in a recognized social media environment such as blogs, podcasts and wikis.”

NOTICE: THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPHS ARE SATIRICAL. The idea that Sarbanes Oxley would be amended to exclude social media is fantasy. But unless Sarbanes-Oxley and dozens of other laws and regulations governing corporate compliance, accounting rules, truth in advertising, etc. are repealed, companies who throw wide open the doors of social media without regard for these regulatory and ethical realities, and sound corporate communications practice, are irresponsible and just plain stupid.

Many advocates of social media in the enterprise hold that large corporations who don’t embrace these technologies are run by Luddites or dinosaurs who “just don’t get it.” Authenticity and transparency are the new Gods of corporate communications, to hell with the regulators and shareholders. To be certain many companies have failed to adopt social media, and blogging in particular, because of a lack of understanding of the power of social media, or the fear of all things new, but many have been slow to do so because they’re rightfully concerned about the liability presented by what they see as uncontrolled communications. Smart companies will find a balance between a freer, less structured communications infrastructure and their obligations to shareholders and the government.

Even without considering legal liability, companies need to think about social media in the larger context of their communications and business strategy. Any communications medium should be evaluated in terms of how it can be used to help achieve the company’s business objectives. Not only is it OK to think about the message being conveyed in every medium, including social media, it’s exactly the right thing to do. This doesn’t mean a company needs onerous blogging policies, extensive social media oversight, or a legion of marketing people ghost-writing blog posts that are safe and “on message.” What is required though is a commonsense approach. Companies should choose bloggers who are intelligent and social-media savvy in the first place. If there are no such people in the company, then train the people you do have, hire people who understand social media or table the blogging plan for now.

Bloggers must also be reminded that the availability of an exciting new medium does not release them from the company’s standards of business conduct, obligations to shareholders, strict adherence to federal accounting standards, etc. Equally important is that corporate bloggers understand the company’s communications objectives, and what they can do to support them. This does not mean that an executive blog should be a shameless marketing vehicle. It also does not mean that a company should let bloggers repeatedly post comments that are derogatory to the company or that harm its reputation or business. To do so might be “authentic,” but it is also incredibly dumb.

Corporate communicators must always remember that they own their company’s communications vehicles, that they do not exist for amusement or celebrity, and that they should be implemented and managed accordingly.