Blogging about your workplace is an issue that is certainly arising. If there is one thing that I have read over and over again and something that I have been told by my current employer it is; THINK BEFORE YOU POST!
Whether it be talking about an employee, employer, your workplace or posting certain things that could get you in trouble, social media can be seen by anyone and can be spread in a matter of seconds. Even if you delete it after you post it, it could have been copied/saved and screen captured by someone.
For example, a former colleague of mine once got a written warning for lying to our workplace that she was sick on a friday night, and was “checked in” on Facebook at a club and “tagged” in photos. It is important to always be aware of who you have on Facebook.
It is important to note that many organizations now have social media guidelines in place(Waddington, S, 2012). They basically outline how to engage with social media on behalf of an organisation and more importantly to aid employees in understanding the boundaries and do’s and don’ts when engaging with social media. (Waddington, S, 2012)
There is an increasing use for guidelines as there is research showing that employees/potential employees require guidance and understanding in the area of social media and what is appropriate. According to Steven Waddington, In July 2011, Econsultancy Blog posted that 8% of companies in the USA fired an employee and 20% disciplined an employee for social media misbehaviour. This research shows that social media guidelines need to be in place so that employee termination and/or consequences do not need to occur.
Here is an example of some guidelines by Coca Cola, who touch base on all aspects of social media.
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/online-social-media-principles
On a more personal note, Someone I know was fired for posting a photo of himself “Planking” in his uniform at his workplace. He had some fellow employees as a Facebook friend. He was dismissed on the grounds that he was promoting dangerous conduct not only at the workplace but also in his work uniform where the name and the companies reputation could be easily identified and negatively impacted. Another lesson repeated; think before you post! This is another reason why I believe all organisations and workplaces should have social media guidelines. Can you believe that only 24% of workplaces have policies for how employees should use social media. (ICM Survey, 2011)
Workplace blogging also entails topics such as maintaining the company reputation, maintaining it’s privacy and financial and company objectives/goals. For example “checking in” at your workplace and being weary of the caption and ensuring it doesn’t have any negative or rude words, or any information that should not be disclosed to the public.
From the Richards and Kosmala (2013) reading, I discovered different theories and explanations that I believe are quite interesting regarding reasons for work blogs and expression of work issues. The following are the few that stood out to me.
1. Schoneboom (2007), argued that work blogs can constitute a counter- hegemonic force to that of the employer’s ideology by creating parodies of work combined with the anonymity afforded by such communication technologies.
2. Ellis and Richards (2009), found employees to be attracted to blogging about work because these online forums offers a form of voice other than that provided by trade unions.
3. Schoneboom (2007) believes work blogging forums have moved on from being sites for explicit cynical attacks on employers to more settled and organised vocal movements.
4. Ellis and Richards (2009) found evidence of support networks being formed between work bloggers and the use of such forums to reflect on their work experiences over time.
5. Richards (2008) also alludes to possible positive outcomes for employees initially attracted to work blogging as a means of ‘venting’ practice, including connecting with their occupational-related community, going beyond network formation through more conventional means.
References:
Richards, J., and Kosmala, K., 2013 ‘In the end, you can only slag people off for so long’: employee cynicism through work blogging’, New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 68 – 77.
Waddington, S, 2012, “Share this: the social media handbook for PR professionals”, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex.
Coca Cola, 2013, “Social media principles”, date retrieved: 1st September 2013, http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/online-social-media-principles
Hi Elise, you have given a thorough and detailed explanation of the dangers associated with work blogging and demonstrated personal engagement with the topic by providing examples from your own working environment. I liked how you have focused on the introduction of social media guidelines in the work place. This definitely highlights one of the effects of globalisation in the way that social media and our online identity is impacting multiple facets of our lives, including our employer’s business reputation. You have used multiple resources and examples which is also great to see. I agree with you that in this day and age it is essential that you ‘think before you post’. However, I have never thought about having workplace guidelines surrounding the topic and therefore found your post very engaging. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Elise,
ReplyDeleteI found your personal investment in this blog post to be a refreshing change from the normal static posting we have to read.Your comments on globalisation and blogging in general are appropriate and accurate, as well as providing an interesting and personal viewpoint on blogging. The use of statistics on the use of blogging in a work environment illuminates the situations where blogging is appropriate and inappropriate. The fine line we tread across personal and professional was a nice touch to this post as well. Overall I have no criticisms of this post, it was an interesting read.
Hi Elise,
ReplyDeleteThroughout this blog post your personal experiences regarding workplace blogging ensured the discussion was kept fresh and interesting. The inclusion of statistics outlining workplace penalties/policies associated with social media use was a refreshing change to the majority of blog posts which strongly focus on scholarly sources. I was also surprised that only 24% of workplaces have policies surrounding social media usage and would be interested to see the statistics in another five years time. I would imagine that the majority of workplaces will make social media policies a priority as Facebook and Twitter use continues to escalate worldwide. As a whole I found this an informative and interesting post which adequately addressed the issue of workplace blogging.
I found this blog was really easy to read due to your own personal examples being some that we could all relate to. I found your introduction to the dangers of social media, such as posting inappropriate content as well as assuming our 'real life' is seperate from our 'cyber life' shown through your example of calling in to work sick and then posting content on social media that demonstrates otherwise to be good topics to incite further thought and research. You also accurately reference the readings which demonstrates your understanding of the topic. My only criticism is that you lack images and provide only one link to other material throughout your piece and your references are not in alphabetical order, these are easily fixed however and in doing so your post will become even more appealing.
ReplyDelete