Social media is an excellent tool when you want to spread the good word about your business. Unfortunately, it’s also a minefield of potential security and reputation problems.

Over and over, we’ve seen cases of employers having to apologize for the Tweets made by impulsive employees. And I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen someone post a bit of company news only to delete it minutes later with an “oops” in its place. Legal departments around the globe have to be cursing the day social media was ever invented.

But it’s not just lawyers and CEO’s who are worried. A new infographic from Barracuda labs shows that 73% of those surveyed think employees share too much online. 1 in 5 said that they themselves have been negatively impacted by information exposed on social media and that number is likely to climb.

Ever since Google+ was rolled out in June people have been whining and crying that the service wasn’t available to those using Google Apps. You had to have an individual account with Google in order to have a Google+ profile.

Well now that Google Plus is available for Google Apps users there is new cry like this one from The Next Web

If you’re a user of Google+ with a corporate or education Google Apps account, your administrator can access and modify your Google+ account and its postings. This information is pointed out in a Google help center topic related to the new feature:

Because you’re signing up for Google+ with your corporate email address, your Google Apps administrator retains the right to access your Google+ data and modify or delete it at any time.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bob Ferguson of Oxfam America regarding their use of social media to help enact change in the world. Oxfam America’s vision and mission are pretty straightforward:

Our vision: A just world without poverty.

Our mission: To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice.

While we normally get caught up in and discuss the marketing aspects of the online space so we can sell more things, it’s important to remember there is other value as well. Some might argue convincingly that is the real value. The ability to reach people around the world in more ways than ever before also creates opportunities to help those most in need like never before. If you are not familiar with Oxfam hopefully this interview will serve as an introduction to their work. Enjoy.

Google+ pulled the wraps off three new features today and for the first time, I’m really starting to see the shift from same old to something new.

Two of the new features, What’s Hot and Ripples are all about expanding your social media world. For marketers, this is a big step away from the one-way conversation of Twitter and the me-centric world of Facebook.

What’s Hot

The title of this new feature couldn’t be any plainer. Google+ now provides a stream dedicated to the trending topics. The list will appear at the bottom of everyone’s profile stream, or it can be viewed as a stand alone stream by choosing that option from the sidebar.