What we must remember is that even though we make our page private, NOTHING on the internet is really private. Therefore, be cautious of what is posted on your Facebook, Twitter or blog. “I hate my boss. John Doe is the dumbest supervisor to ever work at ABC company.” and “Man that was a wild party last night, check out these pictures.” all become public when posted on social media sites.
As the world becomes more and more electronic, digital and technical making our lives easier and communications faster than ever, it is also a permanent written record. Now companies, including American Airlines, only accept applications and resumes online. You can bet that the first thing the company does when looking at the application is a social media search on the applicant.
Along these same lines, employees have been terminated for what was posted on their blog or Facebook pages. American Airlines has a social media policy on Jetnet which ends with: “The Company reserves the right to remove, seek removal of post that violates this policy. Failure to comply with any of these policies or guidelines may subject an employee to corrective action up to and including termination of employment.” With that said, many employers put broad restrictions on the use of social media by their employees with respect to posting commentary about the workplace. The assumption is that the employers have the right to do so because the factual scenario serving as the basis for the speech is taking place on their private property, and is therefore not subject to the same free speech requirements of a public setting.
However, in a recent court case, the settlement agreement reached included the employer’s agreement that they could not “improperly restrict” employees from discussing their work on social networking websites, as doing so would constitute a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The NLRA protects the rights of employees to communicate with each other in order to better the working conditions of their collective employment. This will not stop the noisy, grudge seeking supervisor from looking at your blog or Facebook page if he/she suspects the use of alcohol or drugs, or other stuff that does not take place at work.
Here’s a quick guide to help you navigate through social networking.
Don’t: Accept anyone who you do not know as a friend. Do: Be aware that users can search for you by anything in your profile (your employer, university, etc).
Control who sees your page. Set your privacy settings so only “friends” can review your information. Stay away from sites that cannot be closed to the public. Don’t: Join groups that may be considered unprofessional or inappropriate, and leave any such group that you are already a member of.
Do: Monitor comments that are posted to your page. Delete any with inappropriate language or content. Monitor your friends’ Facebook photographs. If someone “tags” you in an inappropriate photograph, remove the tag and ask that the photo be taken down. On Facebook, disable the Google search function. Don’t post: Vulgar or obscene language, materials, photos or links that may be considered inappropriate or unprofessional.
Don’t post: Any negative information about your employer or others that you wouldn’t say to them in public Do: Use common sense when you’re using social media.