Social Media, Email, and Digital Communications

What this video covers

• Why the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) treats a text message, email, or social post identically to printed correspondence, with no format exemption
• How static content (pre-written posts, bios, blog entries) differs from interactive content (live chat, comments, real-time replies), and which requires prior principal approval
• The 25-retail-investor threshold that triggers retail communication classification for static content, and why a platform like Facebook can host both types simultaneously
• Firm duties to supervise and retain every electronic channel, including text messages, instant messages, and social media posts used for securities business
• Adoption and entanglement: how sharing, liking, linking with commentary, or otherwise endorsing third-party content makes the firm responsible for its accuracy
• When a plain hyperlink for general reference avoids adoption, and when context turns it into an endorsement
• Website content as a communication with the public, including the mandatory BrokerCheck reference and hyperlink placement on the initial retail page and any profile page