Blog Entry 2: Social Media in the Workplace
Determining whether or not a company’s use of social media in the work place is ethical or not is hard. Social media brings so many benefits to the corporate world, but is also a very challenging topic because it crosses over so many ethics and compliance issues. A company has to manage social media diligently because it can open the door to numerous risks like breach of confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and misuse of company resources.
I think that employees should be allowed to use company time on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms if it is for the benefit of the company. If it is personal usage I think it should only be done during a lunch break of after work hours. It is a way to network and communicate with people if used effectively. I do think that it is a companies job to allow, but monitor social media use in the workplace. I think they should be able to monitor blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other personal sites. I think this because once an employee carries the name of their employer they must maintain a good reputation for their company. Once a persons name is tied with their company their boss should be able to monitor what they post because it positively or negatively impacts their reputation.
Most social media policies encourage the use of social media since it is so important in communicating in todays society. The website https://www.thebalance.com/blogging-and-social-media-policy-sample-1918884 shares guidelines on how an employee can go about using social media in correct ways so that it does not negatively impact the reputation of their company. The website also explains the importance of keeping confidential information confidential.
The policies written online for social media in the workplace embrace the fact that people can still have a voice, but they just have to keep their companies reputation in mind since their name is tied with who they work for. I think the website does a great job outlining the way social media should be used when representing a company. It encourages expression, while limiting it to appropriate posts. The use of social media in the workplace can sometimes become addicting and take away too much work time. I think that a boss should also be able to monitor the amount of time spent on social media and encourage it to be done during break hours. The internet and email policies also explain that these must only be used for company related communication. I think these guidelines are reasonable because personal communication must be done outside of work.
After reading these guidelines and learning more about the potential risks in allowing social media in the work place, I still believe that social media should be allowed, but monitored. I think that in today’s society a company that does not embrace social media will be outdated and behind. I do understand the importance of monitoring what employees post because one slip up can really damage a companies reputation. Social media does allow a potential for danger, but when done correctly can really help a company communicate and allow their employees to express themselves in a nice way.
http://www.egroupengage.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-workplace