IBM Corp. associate general counsel Teri Wilford Wood warned Wednesday that inconsistent or weak social media policies at companies could foster shoddy hiring practices and expose employers to discrimination claims.

“There are things that can go wrong with social media. Yet, it is omnipresent in what we do and see in the workplace today,” Wood said, speaking at the Practising Law Institute's Employment Law Institute.

The influence of social media in hiring is among the emerging issues that are presenting new questions for employers. Labor and employment attorneys on Wednesday discussed the pitfalls, benefits and gray areas stemming from technology and social media use by workers.

“Technology is racing way ahead of legal developments and the law is trying to keep up,” said Charles Fournier, a partner at Curley, Hurtgen & Johnsrud in New York.

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Fournier, previously senior vice president for employment law at NBCUniversal, said reigning in recruitment practices in certain industries can be difficult. In the entertainment arena, he said it's difficult to control “everyone who knows everybody” and stop rogue managers from mining social media.

Wood described IBM's recruitment practices as a “sophisticated approach,” and the review of social media sites—including LinkedIn, Indeed.com and Glassdoor—relate to job duties, professional experience and technical skills.

The lawyers said one best practice for crafting a social media practice is to remember that a one-size policy does not fill all scenarios, and that procedures should be customized to industries. Policies should cover all forms of online communication and conduct and they should include what, if any, social networking sites are permitted during working hours.

The policies should avoid restricting protected activities, such as employee speech related to working conditions. The National Labor Relations Board is currently weighing whether employees should be restricted from using company email for union activity. Any board ruling could confront all electronic communication.

Robert Kraus, founding and managing partner of New York's Kraus & Zuchlewski, said there is little case law surrounding employers' use of social media in hiring, but added, “From a legal perspective, you probably want to know less.”

Courts have grappled with cases about social media monitoring policies, and employers have faced challenges over termination or discipline of employees for social media use. Employees terminated for social media violations can present protected speech issues. “It's not often clear,” Kraus said.

Fournier said his training for new employees came with an admonition: “Don't believe that your personal Facebook page is truly personal. I'm sure I can link it to your employer.” He added: “When developing a social media policy, it needs to be clear the employee does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Bring-your-own-device policies at companies can also blur lines and create extensive issues in discovery in any lawsuit, the attorneys said Wednesday. “It is something that is the wave of the present,” Wood said. “With it comes a lot of issues.”

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