should companies hold their employees responsible for individual activity/activities on social media?

Should companies hold their employees responsible for individual activity/activities on social media?

When the social networking began, many companies dealt with it by not dealing with it; by this meaning they simply banned/blocked social networking sites on the company network. Social media, while still a growing trend, is fast becoming one of the most effective and important marketing channels available to any business.

I agree with the fact that companies should hold their employees responsible for individual activity/activities on social media. Social media has become a way which people communicate these days, verbal communication is being ignored lately because of social media. Many employees these days tend to use social media at their workplace for their own personal reasons and that is unacceptable. Yes, social media may be used at the workplace but it must be used for things which are work related and will benefit the company not only the employee.

Today’s young workers have grown up with internet access and come to the job with the expectation that they will have those resources at their disposal. If you deny them the ability to check their facebook pages during lunchtime or tweet when they are taking a coffee break, they will find a way around it or leave to work for a company that has fewer restrictions. There is probably a case to be made for restricting usage of social networks by employees while they are at work.

Companies that have a history of poor treatment of employees or those companies with bullying aggressive work environments are discovering that social networks are their worst enemies. On the other hand, companies should be able to forbid employees from sharing trade secrets, financial information, customer data and other important documents online.

With the majority of internet users now also engaging in social interaction through platforms such as facebook, twitter, google, blogs and you tube businesses can no longer afford to only market by means of websites. Social media marketing allows for the extension of your business online presence to where the users are.

The highly interactive and instaneous nature of social media presents great opportunities as well as challenges for businesses. Brand can now interact and engage with the target audience in ways never before possible, but the media requires careful planning and execution to ensure brand perception issues.

Social networking sites have become the modern-day water coolers, they provide employees with an unprecedented platform to interact and express their opinions about their co-workers, managers and jobs. Faced with now undeniable reality of pervasive social networking by employees, many employers have implemented various policies and practices to attempt to mitigate any negative consequences of disgranted employees using social media to post harmful remarks about work.

Organisations can’t let policy changes stop them from moving forward. Instead they need to remain complaint, educate employees and build the brand all at the same time.

It is important that we recognize the business value of social media in order to connect with clients, employees and the media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Debra Littlejohn Shinder, july 14, 2009 2:42 pm. Accessed on 9 march 2013

George F. Shell, February 9, 2011. Accessed on 9 march 2013

Waters, G.2012. ‘’social and media law enforcement’’. Accessed on 9 march 2013

www.roche.com

 

The possible environmental effects on fracking exploration of gas in South Africa.

The Possible environmental effects on fracking exploration of gas in South Africa’s Karoo region.

In 2009, petroleum agency South Africa granted permission to shell to conduct an assessment of shale resources in the karoo basin, the semi desert area known for its arid beauty and arching poverty. but deep beneath its sheep, an arid region spanning 800 miles between Johannesburg and Cape Town. In December 2010, shell submitted three separate exploration license applications for areas around 30,000 square kilometres each, in the Western cape, Eastern cape, and Northern provinces of South Africa.

In South Africa, hydraulic fracturing, also known as ‘’fracking” has been the subject of heated dabate, international oil companies, notably shell South Africa, bundu and oil, and falcon gas and oil, applied for shale gas exploration permits in the Karoo in 2010. Environmental groups such as treasure the Karoo action group (TKAG), which believe fracking will cause irreparable damage to the Karoo’s biodiversity and underground water reservoirs, contested this.

South Africa department of water affairs figures that  of the so odd towns, villages, and settlements falling within shell’s concession in Karoo, 37 rely entirely on groundwater, 10 use a combination of groundwater and 3 use the surface alone.

During the fracking millions of litres of water, sand and chemicals most of which are toxic, corciogic as well as teratogenic diesel fuel, naphthalene compounds etc are pumped into boreholes at a high pressure to release natural gas trapped in layers of the underground rock.

Large parts of South Africa’s beautiful, but water-poor and ecologically sensitive Karoo region are under threat of being devastated by mining operations to extract natural gas using controversial technique called hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

According to geologist Gerrit van Tonder, fracking in Karoo will eventually contaminate the groundwater supply, whether due to well casing failures or upward migration of fluids from faults and fractures.

Shell says the drilling will create needed employment and alternative to the country’s reliance on coal, but the remains concerns about benefits for local citizens.

The government will stop the exploration of shale gas in South Africa’s karoo region if it is found that hydraulic fracturing or fracking poses any risk to the water table or to the square kilometre array (ska) telescope project, says mineral resources Susan Shabanga.

The government insists that if it becomes apparent that exploration is harming the Karoo, they will shut it down. The report presented to the capinet says careful regulation of disposal of the noxious water produced during fracking would be crucial, but some fear that the lure of energy independence and the prospect of creating jobs in a country where unemployment is currently running 25% will prove too tempting no matter how much damage is done in the process.

A critical evaluation is then carried out on the potential impact on fracking in the karoo. The lack of a conclusive scientific consensus on the environmental externalities and economic benefits of fracking is evident.

So it can also be viewed that  the exploration also had a positive impact in the country not only did it cause distractions and abit of depression. towards other provinces in the country.

 

References

De Wit, MJ, 2011. ‘’The great debate in the Karoo’’, accessed on 27 February 2013.

Rutendo Dhilwayo ’’fracking in the karoo:a step in the right direction’’, 16 November 2012.

SANews.gov.za, accessed on 27 February 2013.

Shell. ’the Karoo Basin’’, accessed on 28 February 2013.

South Africa imposes ‘fracking’ moratorium in Karoo. April 21,2011.