What’s in a name? That would we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet…”

 Shakespeare aside, While Juliet assured Romeo that he would be her bestie no matter what he called himself, in the world of social media, Instagram, and texting, names matter. A lot!

Just ask George Papadopoulos, a fee-based financial planner from Michigan who shares the same name with a former foreign policy advisor to the Donald J. Trump presidential campaign who plead guilty to facilitating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to reporting by Mark Schoeff, Jr. in one of two, InvestmentNews social-media-related articles, while many financial advisors dream of building visibility on social media, for the non-government-related Papadopoulos, who is a prolific tweeter himself, maybe not so much.

“For the nth time,” he posted on Twitter, “I am NOT Trump’s foreign policy adviser!

I have NO association with the Trump camp! NONE!”

Everyone knows a chatterbox

In a follow-up story about how not to be one of those people purposely or inadvertently spreading misinformation on Twitter, LinkedIn, texting or other instant communications, Reporter Scott Kleinberg talked about how members of the financial community can better protect themselves from being the bearer and promoter of erroneous news.

Kleinberg cautioned against being one of those people everyone knows, “who knows the entire story before everyone else and isn’t shy about sharing those opinions on social media (and) they’re almost always wrong.” Confusing one George Papadopoulos for another George Papadopoulos was uncomfortable for at least one of the Georges, but could easily have been prevented had someone taken a moment to fact-check.

1. Share the right stuff

Err on the side of caution Kleinberg said. Look before you tweet. Consider before you text. And most of all, consider the source of the content you are retweeting, reposting, or emailing to your digital audience. Do you know the person whose content you’re sharing? Are they a trusted source? There’s a huge difference, he noted, between tweeting The New York Times, which has millions of followers (and fact-checkers), and some unknown, just-created account followed by 12.

2. Be responsible

Don’t retweet or repost everything that crosses your screen. You are responsible for everything you share, including retweets and reposts. Remember that retweeting something is the digital equivalent of saying it yourself, even if you didn’t actually say it (because you’re “just sharing”).

3. Approach over-enthusiasm with caution. This includes tweets/texts/posts published in ALL CAPS or incorporating multiple explanation marks!!!!!!! It’s a signal that the author is desperately trying to catch your attention in the hopes you’ll share a message RIGHT NOW!!!! without thoroughly vetting that it’s accurate.

4. Trust compliance. If your compliance department pre-vets your social media postings, chances are slim that you’ll end up as the inadvertent re-poster of fake news. But it could still happen. So think twice before you click too fast, because at the end of the day, Kleinberg says, YOU are responsible for what you post on your account.

5. Slow down. Being first is nice, but being right is priceless.

Better than being forced to issue corrections when you err:

• Check the source you are quoting or promoting;
• Do a quick Google search;
• Check com to see if it lists a myth that has been debunked or confirmed;
• Take a breath to organize your thoughts before you share. can make all the difference; and
• Be familiar with your company’s social media policy. Know where your company draws the line and act accordingly because remember.

 Be the bearer of correct news

Take a breath. Look (stuff) up before you tweet. Compliance has processes and procedures in place to help you protect your reputation and the reputation of your firm. Sound like extra work? Maybe. But bullet-proofing your organization while keeping it on the “straight and narrow” doesn’t have to be. Let’s talk (212-233-1155). Ask about Patrina’s cost-effective and comprehensive, 8-module compliance solution and compliant data capture, file storage, and records archiving specifically designed for the financial services community. Be smart. Be covered.