The Precarious Nature of Social Media
We all know how cool social media can be, especially when you’re using it to promote your blog or business. But, it has it’s downsides, too.
I was reading a story the other day about a woman who was fired because she called out sick, but then was later seen on Facebook. According to the details, this woman’s job was computer specific and she was unable to sit in front of a computer for the day, which is why she called in sick. However, she claims to have been on Facebook through her Blackberry, while she was lying in bed.
I see both sides of the story myself. On the one hand, it’s almost like the company is playing Big Brother and watching everything the employee’s do. On the other, if she was really sick because she couldn’t look at a computer screen all day, being on Facebook probably wasn’t the best idea. Either way, the social media craze cost this woman her job and in a down economy, that hurts the pocketbook quite a bit.
My question to you is: how personal are you really with your social media? Is it really a personal page?
Now on to my story.
I have a Facebook page for friends and family. I’ve limited the number of people at work that I allow to be friend’s on my page because I just don’t want to have to censor everything I do and say with friends and family. However, there are some work people on my page, so I’m very careful with how I word certain things.
Yesterday I had a particularly frustrating situation with a colleague, of which I won’t go into detail, and made a rather ambiguous statement about it on my Facebook page. It was really just a place to vent, but the statement didn’t say anything about who it involved specifically, about work, or even that it was a coworker. Honestly, if you read the statement, it could have been just as much about something else as it was about the actual situation I was referring to.
I am purposely careful about what I put on my page because I don’t want to offend anyone. And to be honest, the easiest solution is to take everyone from work off. But, there are people at work I genuinely consider friends, so it’s not really something I want to do.
Anyway, after I made my statement, I get an email from a friend/coworker who I’ve only recently developed a friendly relationship with. He correctly assumed that I was speaking about a situation that took place at work, but rather then clarifying that it was in fact about work, he simply jumped in and admonished me for calling out a coworker in a public forum where they had no opportunity to defend themselves.
It caused a disagreement between us because I disagreed with his reasoning. I did not go into details about the situation, I did not name anyone, I did not mention coworkers, and I did not mention work in any way. Now, because he knows a little of some of the challenges I’ve had in the past and works in the same department as the bearer of my frustration, he pretty much knew what I was talking about. So, in that regard, I see his point. But, like I mentioned, there’s only a small handful of people from work who are friends, so it’s unlikely that they would have known what I was talking about.
I refuse to censor my personal page further. As I did not say anything blatantly against anyone in particular, rather expressed a general frustration, I don’t feel I was in the wrong. But, despite the fact that I don’t agree with him in my case, my friend does make a valid point. Facebook may not be the best place to vent your specific frustrations about coworkers.
While Facebook is rather private in that most people can’t view your status unless they’re a friend, there is a small loophole where you can see some status updates via a mutual friend’s page. If you click on all friend’s, it does show names and statuses, in most cases. Now, you may think that you’re safe commenting on what a jerk your boss is, but you better be careful if you have coworkers on your page.
I’m inclined to think that the majority of my friend’s point towards me is that people talk. So, if someone else on my page saw the comment and discerned that it was work related, they may mention it to others and thus rumors are started. But, overall, if you wouldn’t call your boss a jerk to their face, it may not be wise to say so on Facebook as it could very well get back to him/her.
Additionally, I’ve heard tale of companies and schools doing Google searches for applicants to find their Facebook and other social media pages. These are personal pages, but they do reveal quite a bit about our character. One look at the types of statuses we leave can be the difference between having a job or not, getting accepted to that college or not. So, on some level, when it comes to computers and the world wide web, it’s best if we use a degree of censorship.
How do you feel about social media? It’s great for promoting your business or blog, but do you agree that it can hurt you financially, as well? Do you censor some of the things you say?
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You know, it’s always an interesting question with the social media. I mean where does you the worker end and you the person begin? Not so clear.
I had a blogger that I think was taking a shot at me for writing about my personal life last week but my thoughts about it were if all my blog readers could access my Facebook, they’d have the same information anyway so I didn’t see it as odd or didn’t think it would make people ‘see my differently’.
So my stance is I put nothing on Facebook or the blog or anywhere else that I don’t want everyone to see and accept that I live large parts of my life (though not nearly all of it) are public domain. I think a lot of us forget just how public the internet is but I think making everyone more aware of it will only be helpful in the end.
Sorry to hear about your issue with your co-worker regarding the vent on Facebook. I used to spend way too much time on friendster and myspace, but gave it up after a couple of years. I was young and dumb, so I posted whatever came to mind. Even if I had the time now, I wouldn’t create an account because I’d feel the need to censor everything.
-1MansMoney
I haven’t gotten involved with any of the social media sites, despite the fact that my friends have encouraged me to. My blog is quite enough for me. I could see how these sites could actually help someone get a job, if you had the right kind of Facebook page, or do the exact opposite if you didn’t. I think your friend is right about keeping in mind that people talk and could draw the wrong conclusions. That is probably worth keeping in mind, but it is your page and you should censor it only as you feel fit.
I’m very circumspect about Facebook updates – generally nothing re: work nor anything potentially negative regarding my personal life…I’ve even de-friended friends whose updates or applications are questionable.
Companies definitely Google potential employees. I am occassionally involved in the hiring process for new people on my team. As the team coordinator, I want to ensure that we’re adding quality people to the team, for the sake of the other employees and the customers.
I’ve Googled upon some interesting stuff. It’s interesting that some people choose to talk pretty openly about work incidents that portray them in a bad light.
I definitely censor on my blog and facebook. People should take the same discretion they would use in real life and apply it to the internet. Is the method of communication completely secure? Then say what you like. Is your conversation only semi-private or not blatantly public, like facebook? Then go ahead and talk, but use discretion. For instance, I won’t list my political views on facebook. If it’s completely public, like a blog, use a healthy sense of paranoia. I don’t say anything that could identify the company I work for and try not to mention things they wouldn’t want made public like my salary.
I think the lady with the facebook shouldn’t have been fired. There are a lot of differences between being on a computer at home when sick and being on a computer at work. For one thing, you work for 8 hours, how long was the lady on? Was she upright in a chair, or curled up in a papasan or lying down with a laptop in bed, or as she said on her blackberry? And even then, given the ability to sit in a chair for 8 hours, how well do you think (which is what most computer work is) when you have a headache or fever or upset stomach? Unless she was seen to me writing witty banter back and forth all day, I don’t see the issue. I check my email when I’m sick. My fiance will often write and see how I’m doing and whether I need anything.
It sounds like your coworker on facebook is just being overly sensitive. There are lots of ways to say stuff about people that isn’t indicative of what’s going on.
Facebook+work often equals bad idea, I imagine. I am currently dealing with a huge drama involving half my staff at work that got completely out of hand due to people talking on Facebook. Long story short, one person (A) started a rumor that hurt someone else’s (B’s) feelings; B posted about it on Facebook, her friends (some of whom are coworkers), read about the situation and started treating A and another person, C, like crap. Half my staff was backbiting and fighting, refusing to help each other with tasks, etc. I do not have anyone from work on my own Facebook page, so it took a little prodding to figure out exactly what was going on. I had to get HR involved, write up the people who started the problem, etc. It didn’t stop, so there were suspensions. Next step is termination.
The whole drama sucked up so much time and reduced productivity. Most of my staff is in their early to mid-twenties, so maybe that had something to do with it).
I only use Facebook for family and keeping up with friends from college who have moved far away. I don’t update often, and I make it a personal rule to never say anything about someone on there that I wouldn’t say to their face.
If you’re going to have friends from both personal life and work, make sure it’s people you trust not to stir up issues at work.
@ Nicole – I try to censor to some degree what I say anywhere on the internet, including FB. But, if they make inferences by what I say, I can’t really help that either. I think some people will always be a little sensitive and I’d rather be myself then to post stuff about the weather or something equally mundane. You’re absolutely correct that remembering the internet is very public is important. I keep a couple of rules in mind. I don’t say anything about anyone specifically, ever. I keep it vague. And two, I don’t say anything that I wouldn’t (or haven’t) say to someone’s face. But, I did remove a couple of people from work from my FB page because it turned into a stupid issue. When the managers got involved and told me what I said was absolutely nothing and they don’t understand why there was a big fuss, I decided there are always people in the workplace looking to make trouble. Those people are no longer on my page.
@ 1Mans – Yes, I already feel a great need to censor as it is. This is partially my fault because I haven’t found a tactful way to tell some coworkers that I don’t want them as friends on FB, when others I have no problem adding. The couple that instigated a big issue over one of my posts I took down and don’t really care one way or the other what they think, but in general, I try to be courteous to people I work with and telling them I don’t want them on my FB page can create hurt feelings – a situation I just don’t want to deal with. But, I like FB because I can connect with friends and family that don’t live here. So I keep it and just limit what I say.
@ Dawn – You’re right. While I feel as it’s my page and I should be able to write anything I want, doing so could lead to trouble. Which is the reason I do censor. But, I’ve decided to limit myself even further. No need to cause even more problems and drama for myself for something that was supposed to be fun in the first place.
@ Michelle – Yikes, hard core! lol. But you’re right to be so cautious. You never know who could see the page and take offense.
@ Kosmo – I regularly Google myself because I know this to be true. However, I’m overshadowed by an actress who shares my name, so companies would have to dig in about 20-30 deep before you even see my name. Actually, that’s not true. I’m on the second page briefly with my LinkedIn page that I never use. But, I try to keep the negative stuff to a minimum anyway for that reason there.
@ Slinky – I’m with you on the healthy does of paranoia. I don’t use my last name on this blog – come to think of it, I don’t even think Jonathan knows it. I don’t share where I work. And, with the few interviews I’ve done, I’ve been very circumspect about information that I’ve given out. For instance, I did that interview with Money Magazine several months ago and the editor wanted my full name and where I worked. I was like, no. So, I am careful in that sense.
@ Nicole – wow, that’s ridiculous. My situation wasn’t even close to that. I made a vague comment about computers and one guy in IT thought I was talking about him. The guy who thought I was talking about him wasn’t even on my page, so it was another of the IT guys on the page that said something and blew it out of proportion. Like I said, when the managers got involved, they were a little annoyed that it had been blown so out of proportion – I was happy to show them what I wrote. The guy that started the issue was reprimanded and I deleted him off my page. I don’t use specific names at all anyway, but starting rumors is childish in and of itself. Sorry you have to deal with that!