The SEC’s Division of Investment Management  issued guidance permitting advisers  greater use of social media while maintaining the  prohibition on testimonials.   See http://www.sec.gov/investment/im-guidance-2014-04.pdf.

IM indicated that advisers could link public commentary from a third social media party site, and it would not violate the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 so long as the adviser had no ability to influence any commentary published on a completely independent site.  Further, the adviser could also not restrict the commentary to only favorable comments, and the site had to permit all commentary on a real-time basis.  The adviser also could not supress any negative comments, but may refer clients to a third party social media site in advertising as well as include “friends” or other communities of users provided there was no favorable bias towards the adviser.  

In short, the SEC seems to be grudingly entering the modern era.  However, we suspect that the SEC will most likely review these postings in the future during  exams and inspections.