Social media - from Facebook and MySpace to Twitter and YouTube - has become more and more prevalent in everyday life. People are making their lives more public during all times of the day. Which begs the question from an employer's perspective: are they Tweeting on my time? And if I don't want my employees MySpacing in my workspace, what can I do?
First, let's look at what social media is, then what action businesses can take.
Social media is an umbrella term for a new set of Internet tools that aid in the facilitation of interaction between people online. Companies may be using these tools for their own purposes but employees may be using them for theirs.
Examples of Social Media Tools
LinkedIn
Business-focused social media site that allows users to upload information about their work experience and current employer, and network with other professionals.
Business application:
- Showcase employees that work for the company
- Promote services
- Participate in or create a group related to an industry
Twitter
Micro-blogging site that allows users to read and send 140 character messages.
Business application:
- Send brief messages to promote a product, brand, cause or event
- Engage with current and potential customers and contribute content for followers
- Messages sent via Twitter are referred to as "tweets" and must be 140 characters or shorter.
Facebook
Social media site that allows users to upload information about themselves and connect with friends, colleagues, businesses and fan groups.
Business application:
- Company page
- Group page regarding a topic or event
- Fan Page to promote a brand
- Niche advertising
Delicious
Social bookmarking site that allows users to discover, store, share and use keywords to tag online content from any Web site and/or article on the Internet.
Business application:
- Create a page that acts as an online resource for news, information and updates
MySpace
A social networking site that allows users to create a personal profile to share information with a network of friends.
Employee usage of the site:
- MySpace is beginning to decline in use and popularity by many users.
- Employee interaction with this site should be minimal unless the company has identified a targeted audience that interacts on the site.
YouTube
A social networking video site that allows users to create a personal profile and share videos.
Business application:
- Upload and promote videos of a company, product, brand or event
- After viewing the video, employees can rate the video and share it by posting it to Twitter, Facebook and various other social media sites.
Company Policy
Social media in the workplace necessarily includes the use of electronic media such as computers, software applications, handheld devices, etc. Creating a policy about the use of electronic media prevents employees from misusing your electronic media - and employees' own devices - in the workplace. This in turn helps avoid claims that you committed an invasion of privacy by searching the files as well as potential discrimination and harassment issues.
There are two perspectives on social media in the workplace:
- Using company property or personal property to conduct personal business through social media
- Using company property or personal property to conduct company business through social media.
Both are controlled by your company policy.
Your company has more discretion regarding the restrictions of use of company and personal property during work hours for personal use. When employees are working or at work, it is reasonable to expect them to be focused on their job duties and not their college roommate's latest tweet. You can ban this altogether, including having your IT Department block access to these sites, or allow employees to engage in personal activities only during their break times. Either way, be specific as to when or what is acceptable use and remind employees that, even if they are using their own equipment, your company discrimination and harassment policies still apply. When or if a complaint is received, be sure management and HR are trained to follow your company's internal investigation and complaint procedures - just because it is called a "tweet" doesn't necessarily mean it is harmless. Invasion of privacy, violation of company policy, harassment and/or discrimination, trade secret issues all can be implicated in 140 characters or less or on a Facebook page.
The rules change a bit if your company is using social media for its own promotion or benefit. Employees must be able to access these sites, so you cannot have them blocked. You do still want to limit employee use of these different social media tools to work-related purposes. Start by defining what you want to accomplish through social media - public relations, improve product sales, customer awareness, etc. Then provide employees with clear explanations of how different social media tools work and how the company wants to use these tools to further its goals. Consider limiting the number of employees who use these tools to "test" out the process and have HR or some other trained manager monitor the use of the different tools. Remind employees that the same policies as noted above apply.
There is a third but related issue that can impact your workplace. When employees use social media tools to complain, disparage, or otherwise provide negative information about your company or its employees. Be clear in your policies what the company considers to be trade secrets or confidential information and remind employees that this applies to "virtual" communication. Consult with legal counsel regarding employee rights to discuss, or even complain about, terms and conditions of employment. There are protections under state and federal law that you do not want to violate.
An important note: always be aware of when information is maintained on your company server or on an outside party's server. You can review and monitor anything on your servers (be sure to let employees know this), but you cannot do the same when a third party's server holds the information. Indeed, even if an employee is using his or her own laptop but is linked into your servers, you can monitor that data. Consult with your IT department for further guidance on this issue.
Finally, have a policy addressing these issues. You may wish to consider having separate policies for use of company equipment versus use of personal equipment. Nonetheless, your policy should:
- List the electronic media that your company uses such as company computers, laptops, handheld devices, etc.
- State that the media belong to the company
- State that the media communications and files are subject to inspection by the company at any time, including Internet usage
- Inform employees that they must only be used for company business
- State that employees may not use these media in any manner that conflicts with your discrimination and harassment policies
- Provide employees who have access to the Internet during working hours with guidance as to what is considered appropriate use, including the use of their own personal devices at work
- Outline disciplinary actions for personal use of the Internet at work
- Define proper and improper use of your Web pages
- Be sure to include language in your policy telling employees that they should have no expectation of privacy regarding communications sent and received through the company's e-mail, intranet system or access to the Internet
Related Articles/Resources
"Examples of Social Media Tools" section of this article is courtesy of Merlot Marketing
Read more: Employers need to set rules on use of electronic social media (Sacramento Bee)