Facebook misuse: staying ahead

While the infographic might be aimed at avoiding misuse of Facebook, this section is handy on what employers ought to be doing to monitor employees and their (mis)use of social media websites, you can also read this as employee and what you ought to be doing to prevent backlash or trouble for your own social media activities:

“Alarming Facebook Misuse Stats”

 So, lets dispute discuss the figures here:

• 46% of company leaders think you’ll misuse social media and workplace technology: define misuse’? Do they mean posting silly photos or gaming, do they mean posting derogatory remarks about their employer or work colleagues, or do they mean that company leaders don’t understand what social media is and how it works? I’ve recently finished reading ‘Organisations don’t Tweet, people do’ and there are some important (and very simple) tips for managers and employers to consider … the main one for me is to understand what social media is and how it can be leveraged for the ‘greater good’. After all, a happy workforce is a productive one?
• 27% monitor employee use of social media: define monitor? Is this actively monitoring each cookie stored, keyboard type, URL visited, etc. Or is it monitoring by following and ‘friending ‘on each network. Either way it’s a little bit ‘Big Brother’ … whatever happened to trust? Perhaps this is also linked to the next statistic …
• 45% have no social media policy. With no policy or guideline then there is no line drawn for employees to know when they’ve crossed it or not. With one in place then both sides know where, when, how, and why networks can be used and leveraged for personal or professional gain, corporate or individual use. With no policy in place there is also a big empty hole where any misdemeanors cannot be fairly dealt with as there has been no precedence set.

On the whole I personally think my use of social media and social networks is a benefit to those I work with – I engage outside of my immediate ‘network’ (office) and role (‘job) and can bring those discussions, collaborations, conversations, etc. back in to my every-day role and activities and help those around me try new things and grow the role and projects we work on. This is also the case with my colleagues, I get to learn from their own individual networks as they bring their knowledge acquisitions in to our conversations.

My recommendation for employers … engage your staff, at all levels, on what you will and wont accept, make them aware of reasons for and against it, listen to them, and let them help create, monitor, and update the guidelines. And above all else, make sure you understand what it is your getting yourself involved in: if in doubt get professional guidance (your staff are also probably more informed on this point too!).

What about you, do you agree? Do you monitor, of have you been monitored?