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

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