Coworkers and social media
by mward846 Posted on May 17th, 2010 in Uncategorized
Collette brought up an interesting topic regarding social media and coworkers. My company is in the process of developing a social media policy for this reason.
A common practice for some coworkers has been to post inappropriate pictures, messages, etc on their social media sites. Some posts may be pictures of themselves partying the night before, then mysteriously come down with a “cold” and call in sick from work the next day. Others make the mistake of posting disparaging messages regarding their current employer on their site.
But how do you monitor this and create a policy that discourages or even disciplines such behavior? Isn’t the internet a mecca for the free exchange of ideas and information?
Another touchy area in this respect in my company is the fact that there is a no fraternization policy between students and staff. I know on more than one occasion, a staff member had to be disciplined (up to termination) for violating the policy and the proof (picture) was on the internet on their social media site. There is not much a person can do to refute a photograph.
May 17th, 2010 2:18 pm
Marie, may be your company will allow you to share the policy with the class to get some feedback from individuals who are not directly involved in the issue and may have an emotional stake. Also, maybe by Wed you could do a quick Google search to see what other companies are doing with similar policies?
May 17th, 2010 7:58 pm
I spoke with the Director of HR and the policy has been written and approved. I should be able to bring in a copy of the policy on Wednesday.
May 18th, 2010 10:43 pm
Interesting topic. The can definitely be negative effects to social media. During my undergrad at the University of Pittsburgh I taught a class to freshman about several topics to help them adjust to the business school. For one class I facebooked (funny how that’s a verb now) everyone and found all kinds of pictures they probably wouldn’t want their grandmother to see. While the students found many pictures amusing, I ended explaining how future employers could see these pictures and how they could get passed over for an internship or job or even terminated from a current job based on what they had posted.
It hit home with them and really displayed some of the negative impacts of social media. I too would be interested in seeing a written policy that your company has established on this matter.