In the past five years, social media use by businesses and consumers alike has grown exponentially, as have the platforms available for use. These social networking platforms have become popular household references, commonly relied on in all facets of consumers’ lives. The popularity of these platforms has attracted businesses of all types to social media. Social media platforms provide a cost-effective means for all businesses to reach a broad range of consumers, not just tech-savvy consumers. By way of example, at the end of 2011, Whole Foods reportedly had 2.1 million consumers following its Twitter feed.
Nonetheless, companies often enter the social media marketplace by simply spending the five minutes or less needed for creating a profile on a social media platform. Somehow, social media platforms, given the easy-to-use formats and casual style, easily lull businesses into abandoning standard legal principles applicable to advertising and marketing, let alone complying with the newer rules designed to address specifically misleading consumers on these new platforms, such as the FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertisings.
