Don’t friend your boss on Facebook, and then complain about him or her, or your job. Ever.
The latest social media scandal is being reported by The Next Web. This gaffe is epic:
It’s simple to prevent these gaffes from happening:
- Don’t post anything in social media (Twitter, Facebook, your blog, Friendfeed, LinkedIn) that you would not want your parent, boss or an investigating police officer to read. Ever.
I was astounded to read a new report from Proofpoint:
- 17% of US Companies with more than 1000 workers reported problems with employees’ social media use.
- 8% have actually terminated employees because of their actions on social media sites.
- Comparatively, only 4% reported terminating an employee for social media gaffes last year.
The data does not explain if companies are becoming more vigilant or if employees are posting more inappropriately. That’s irrelevant, really.
The issue for business writers is clear: don’t write inappropriately in social media. Social media, by its structure, is viral and visible and permanent.
Certainly, the only way to “control” social networks is to consistently engage in them with openness, transparency, clarity and responsiveness. These tips on authenticity in social media will protect you.
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Good evidence for hiring what I call a Social Media-tor (like me) to handle online social media for a company instead of having employees use social media at the office.
Or…you could not have your social media accounts under your real name. Of all my online accounts only my facebook is under my real name, and I keep it separate from the rest of my accounts which all go by alias. I then have an additional layer of second accounts that don’t link to Canageek for stuff I would actively not like my boss to see. Yes, you probably can trace from my real name to my outer layer, but it won’t be easy and frankly if you have nothing better to do then snoop into employees private lives like that I probably want a new job anyway.
Canageek: I agree a new job is wise if an employer is searching out hidden social media accounts, by tracking a real account to any created under an alias. If an employer is snooping that much, it’s odd.
But, why bother engaging in social media under an alias?
To me, the point of social media (and any communication) is legitimate interaction. If you are hiding behind a fake persona, the interaction can never be real. Why waste your time? Why risk your credibility if your real identity were revealed to someone who believed you were actually your alias persona?