During my undergrad I was a member of a sorority. By joining a sorority we were giving up some of our freedoms and had limitations on what we were allowed to post to our social networking pages and how we were to act in public while wearing sorority apparel. We had an overall image to uphold to the public and gave up some of our freedoms to be a part of that organization. I personally feel that some jobs are the same way. Every company has a public image and wants their employees to uphold it.
While companies can't limit what employees are doing in their own personal time, they can persecute for actions done during work time. However, since a large part of social networking that employees partake in will be done out of work hours their isn't much companies can do legally. I think the author sum it up perfectly with her final sentence: “It’s going to take the law a very long time to catch up to where young people are with their lives,”
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1241136.html
Hello,
ReplyDeleteYou posted a very important and interesting article. More and more companies are really concerned about employees who engage in social networking sites. I personally have a friend who is a librarian in Ohio and she informed me that when she conducts a interview she makes sure to check to see if the interviewee is on any social network sites such as Facebook & Myspace. After she informed me of her process I was somewhat alarmed and surprised about this matter. I personally feel someone being a memeber of a social network group has nothing to do with his/her work performance or anything else of that matter. I really feel this goes against one's privacy regarding what he/she may do in their spare time.
I agree that this an "important and interesting article." I agree that being a member of a social network group in and of itself has nothing to do with work performance However, what someone chooses to put out there might indeed say a lot about his judgement and decision-making skills or even her integrity--and if nothing else, his lack of foresight in not limiting who can see what she has said. And in the case mentioned in the article in which the business and its employees were being "trashed"--were the comments libelous in
ReplyDeletenature? I would draw the line there, but if employees are not engaging in social networking on the job or have limited who sees their comments, employers have no right to coerce another worker to access the site, or demand that the employee in question release the information.
Tammy
Well, I think this is an interesting topic. I admit to hesitating to put my own job on Facebook. I'm not sure why, did I not want people to know where I worked, or in the back of my head, was something saying, this is dangerous. I don't know. While I don't think there is anything objectionable on my page, I always needs to be careful what I post. I have great relationships with many of my former and present students, and I think that is nicely represented on my page. However, often, I need to remind these students to pg up their pages a bit. I can see it, and I'm pretty liberal, but sometimes they go to far.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a story. My mom just reconnected with an old friend. This friend is not on Facebook but her daughter is and my mom is friend's with her. Well, my mom couldn't take it anymore and finally told her friend that her daughter's FB page was really, really bad. Like vulgar, and, hey everybody, I'm a slut. Of course, her mother was mortified, especially since she'd had specific conversation aboout FB etiquette with her daughter. She also came to found out that her daughter was planning a party that 18 people has RSVP to at her house, that her mother knew nothing about. Her daughter needs to realize this image she is sending out to people. She's only 19 years sold.
This is also a good example of the older generation, her mother, not having an inkling about this other identity her daughter had on FB. My mom feels bad for telling but thought she should know about her daughter. What do you think?
I agree with Tammy's first point. If you are going to put inappropriate pictures of yourself online (either being extremely drunk or in scandalous poses or whatever), any smart potential or current employer is going to ask-- "what kind of judgment does this person have?" I think we all have the right to have social networking profiles, but with that right comes the consequences of posting too much information.
ReplyDeleteAlso employers do have a right to get angry over social networking sites when they are being updated at work. I cannot tell you how many of my facebook "friends" are online updating and writing message during work hours--- and it is not just the 20-something year olds.
I am starting to think that it is not just teenagers who need some lessons about the dangers and consequences of such sites.
The social networking can become a problem for employees even when they are chatting at home. Employer and future employers are checking sites not to find out about hiring...It is that "Little Brother" all over again. They can find out about the friends you keep, what you do after hours and how you converse with others.
ReplyDelete