The other day, a party representative commented on this website, saying that she appreciated the availability calendar because it had simplified the process of scheduling our hearing. Other arbitrators, I’ve learned, don’t maintain their own website, and quite a few are leery of having an internet presence at all. In a gathering of arbitrators and would-be arbitrators, I found that very few people had even done an internet search of their name to learn that the parties might find out about them while doing internet research.
I’ve written before about the ethics of social media for neutrals, and you can read that article here, if you like. I also thought it would be helpful to let parties know my personal policy on social media, where I do maintain accounts on the most common social media sites. Here’s my personal policy for each of my social media accounts:
Facebook: I accept requests from or maintain Facebook connections to people I personally socialize with or have been employed with or volunteered with in the past. I don’t accept friend requests from unions, employers or their representatives, staff or members. I maintain a separate Facebook page for my arbitration practice that is publicly available to view.
LinkedIn: I accept all requests from people in the United States and Canada who are likely to have some nexus to my profession, such as HR and union professionals who I have not worked with but who may be looking for my current resume. I don’t have personal connections to very many of the people I am connected to on LinkedIn, and my connection to someone should not be taken as evidence of any personal connection or even knowledge of that person.
Instagram and Twitter: I follow very few people outside of my immediate family and friend groups (Instagram) or journalists, comedians and politicians (Twitter), but haven’t had an occasion to block any followers. Don’t bother following me there; it’s mostly pictures of my dog and my garden, or posts about my non-work writing and reposts of news articles I found interesting. Retweets are not endorsements.
I recognize that this is somewhat unorthodox and welcome feedback about it. Please submit any questions and comments you have. Thanks!