StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

A Potential Issue of the Facebook and Twitter Activities - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "A Potential Issue of the Facebook and Twitter Activities" tells that social media websites have become a necessary element of the contemporary lifestyle. There is a very insignificant population of people who know computers and the internet and yet don't' use social media websites…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.9% of users find it useful
A Potential Issue of the Facebook and Twitter Activities
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "A Potential Issue of the Facebook and Twitter Activities"

Social networking in the workplace Social media websites have become a necessary element of the contemporary lifestyle. There is a very insignificantpopulation of people that know the use of computer and internet and yet don’t use the social media websites. People see the social media websites as an efficient, full-time and cost effective means of interacting with family and friends irrespective of their distances, both physically and emotionally. Many people add others as friends that are not actually their friends, but still adding them as friends lets people know what is going on in their life. “Traditional social networks have expanded from a few dozen acquaintances to hundreds of friends, friends of friends, connections and followers” (Kelleher, 2009). Employees’ use of social media websites is a matter of huge concern for some employers, while others are indifferent to the employees’ Facebook and Twitter activities. In either case, employers have very little control over their employees’ social media activities. Employers cannot deny the employees’ right to use these websites. This paper explores this matter from numerous dimensions. Social media websites are places of casual chit chat. They are forums where juniors can interact with their seniors in a comparatively casual way. Sometimes, managers and leaders have a rosy view about letting their subordinates the freedom to ask them personal questions or interact with them on an equal level. When a manager gets a friend request from an employee, he/she may not want to accept that, yet he/she half-heartedly accepts the request just to keep his relationship with him/her good. Some employees tend to have separate work and social identities and yet there are others who don’t differentiate between the two. This lack of dual identity is not always appreciated by others. Many people are very particular about not discussing business issues outside the workplace. When a subordinate or manager does discuss them on Facebook or Twitter, this may be very irritating for the other person. Many employees have been fired in the past for discussing their job related issues on the Facebook and Twitter. “Five workers fired for complaining about their jobs on Facebook will go back to work after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in their favor, affirming workers can safely vent their frustrations about the workplace on social networks” (Forbes, 2011). This raises challenges for the governing bodies that have to take a lot of criticism both if they decide in favor of the employees or against them. Although an employee’s use of the social media websites has no direct concern with his/her job, yet there are many ways in which his/her Facebook or Twitter activities can indirectly affect his/her job. Social media websites are fundamentally about promotion of social relationships. However, these activities frequently become the cause of demotion of these relationships as well. One of the most fundamental ways in which the social media websites affect relationships is when an individual learns that he/she has been unfriended by another individual who was friends with him/her before. Although the social media websites do not inform an individual when he/she has been unfriended by someone, yet one can always find it out by reviewing his/her friends’ list. When an employee is unfriended by his/her colleague at the workplace, he/she is bound to think negative about this act of the colleague. A potential issue of the Facebook and Twitter activities that is of huge concern to the managers is that the activities are not halted while the employees are at work. A lot of employees seek refuge in the social media websites in an attempt to make the impression that they are working. A manager cannot make it from a distance whether the employee is making the schedule of the project on the computer or is chatting with the friends on Facebook. Use of these websites allows the employees to do nothing but look busy. This is the reason why many employers list the URLs of the social media websites in the blocked sites list. Still, many employees bring their personal laptops. The use thus cannot altogether be prevented especially when every second employee has the cellphone with the internet service. “Work-life balance is an important element of Good Work, the interconnection of quality of working life and productive workplace” (Squidoo, 2011). Use of social media websites in the workplace disrupts this balance. The groups employees join on the Facebook and Twitter may yield potential negative consequences for the brand image. When an employee of a company that has a good reputation in the market for corporate social responsibility and green activities joins such a group whose activities are suspected to have negative implications upon the environment, this encourages the public to review the company’s image. Employees represent the companies they from part of. “Employers have always had to grapple with how to respond to an employees questionable off-duty conduct” (Centomini, 2011). Thus, the involvement of any employee in a political campaign or such other activities and groups in the social media websites can be taken negatively by the stakeholders. Communication may not necessarily be textual or verbal. Many people make use of symbolic communication to offend others. Sometimes, something as simple as a subordinate’s picture with a manager or the leader can send negative message to other subordinates. They may think that their colleague is getting favors from the manager because of his/her friendship with him/her. People fail to realize that every individual is free to choose his/her friends outside the workplace. Thus, when such an employee gets a good amount of increment or other privileges in the annual performance review, his/her colleagues think that they are working in an unfair and biased system, wherein rewards are assigned not on the basis of talent or performance, but on the basis of an employee’s level of intimacy with the managers and/or the leaders. Such thinking alters employees’ relationships with their colleagues and peers on the job for the worse. They may enter into dysfunctional conflicts which not only lowers their overall motivation and productivity in the work, but also negatively affects the organizational culture. Employees’ social networking information can be of great use to the employers. People are mostly their real self in their social media profiles. So knowledge of an employee’s social networking activities can provide the employer with an accurate assessment of the employee’s off-duty live, work skills and competencies. This is the reason why 45 per cent employers screen the candidates for job with the help of the information of their social networks (Wortham, 2009). Employers should be allowed to ask a candidate’s/employee’s social networking information. Offering a work position to an undeserving candidate can be potentially devastating for an employer. Since he/she is concerned about the business and wants to make sure that he/she chooses the most eligible candidate for the position, he/she should be given this right. This may not always be necessary depending upon the scope of work and the nature of job, but this is not unfair. Concluding, social media websites do not have a direct link with the work, yet their huge potential to influence the relationships does generate many positive or negative implications for the organizational personnel. The quality of relationships among the organizational personnel is a strong driver of productivity in the workplace. Since the social medial websites control these relationships, they are of huge concern for the managers and leaders in the organizations. Therefore, employers should have the right to gain access to the employees’ social networking information. This may apparently seem a bit unfair, yet when compared with the uses of this practice for the employers, it becomes fair enough. References: Centomini, C. T. (2011, Oct. 6). United States: Social Networking And Its Impact On The Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/147852/Employee+Rights/Social+Networking+And+Its+Impact+On+The+Workplace. Forbes. (2011). Employees Cant Be Fired for Facebook Complaints, Judge Says. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/mobiledia/2011/09/08/employees-cant-be-fired-for-facebook-complaints-judge-says/. Kelleher, D. (2009, Oct. 6). 5 Problems with Social Networking in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.information-management.com/specialreports/2009_165/social_networking_media-10016208-1.html. Squidoo. (2011). The Business Benefits - Making the Case for Work-Life Balance. Retrieved from http://www.squidoo.com/cannotgetaway. Wortham, J. (2009, Aug. 20). More Employers Use Social Networks to Check Out Applicants. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-use-social-networks-to-check-out-applicants/. Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Should employers be allowed to ask for an employee's social networking Research Paper”, n.d.)
Should employers be allowed to ask for an employee's social networking Research Paper. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1586238-should-employers-be-allowed-to-ask-for-an-employees-social-networking-information-can-an-employees-facebook-or-twitter-activity-impact-their-job-is-this-fair-necessary
(Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for an employee'S Social Networking Research Paper)
Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for an employee'S Social Networking Research Paper. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1586238-should-employers-be-allowed-to-ask-for-an-employees-social-networking-information-can-an-employees-facebook-or-twitter-activity-impact-their-job-is-this-fair-necessary.
“Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for an employee'S Social Networking Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1586238-should-employers-be-allowed-to-ask-for-an-employees-social-networking-information-can-an-employees-facebook-or-twitter-activity-impact-their-job-is-this-fair-necessary.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF A Potential Issue of the Facebook and Twitter Activities

E-commerce. Social Networking Sites

Established by former Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004 as the facebook, the site changed its name to Facebook in August 2005 and soon established itself as a major player in a field that was being led by Orkut and MySpace (Mashable, n.... Established by former Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004 as the facebook, the site changed its name to Facebook in August 2005 and soon established itself as a major player in a field that was being led by Orkut and MySpace (Mashable, n....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Do Social Networks Encourage Sports Participation

They focus on the facilitation of building social relations or social networks among people sharing the same interests, backgrounds, real-life connections, or sporting activities.... Various internet sites have emerged like MySpace and facebook.... What is more, through social networking sites like facebook or Goolge+, organizations can create their own group, where interested people follow the company and see different news and promotions every day, when simply checking their social feeds....
38 Pages (9500 words) Dissertation

Facebook - The Question of Privacy

Users of the facebook website vary from individuals who post profiles with photographs and videos freely to the other end of the spectrum, those who post, but secure their profiles out of fear that their personal information is at risk (Sutherland).... For example, users are now prompted to accept the facebook terms and conditions when opening an application for the first time, granting the application developer access to personal contact information from the user's personal profile....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Facebook and Twitter

Two of the most leading social networking sites, facebook and twitter have been chosen for this study.... Two of the most leading social networking sites, facebook and twitter have been chosen for this study.... This paper will analyze various aspects of social networking sites facebook and twitter in detail.... The purpose of twitter is almost similar to that of Facebook.... The main purpose of twitter is simply to create and build relationships among people worldwide....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Facebook and Twitter Key to Arab Spring Uprisings

The paper "facebook and twitter Key to Arab Spring Uprisings" discuss that citizen journalism has emerged as a contemporary innovation in the spectrum of journalism.... The power of Twitter was evident through the organization and reporting of protest activities in Tunisia and Egypt (Srivastava, 2011).... This new trend comes against the backdrop of the revolutionary effects of the 'Arab Spring' via twitter in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya.... Saudi Arabia did not experience the Arab Spring, but twitter emerged as the new social media tool in voicing political, social, and economic crises....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Social Technology Deep Dive: Facebook

"Social Technology Deep Dive: facebook" paper gives a guide of facebook by reviewing its history, how it has penetrated the market since its inception, and its competitors in the market.... facebook was the brainchild of college student Mark Zuckerberg while attending Havard as a freshman.... With major investments coming its way, they dropped 'the' from its name after acquiring the domain facebook.... Initially, before facebook was created, Facemash had given Zuckergerg an indication of how popular such a platform would be....
10 Pages (2500 words) Case Study

The Impact Facebook Has on Productivity Levels within an Organization

The paper "The Impact facebook Has on Productivity Levels within an Organization" is an outstanding example of an information technology literature review.... The paper "The Impact facebook Has on Productivity Levels within an Organization" is an outstanding example of an information technology literature review.... The paper "The Impact facebook Has on Productivity Levels within an Organization" is an outstanding example of an information technology literature review....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

Social Media in a Business Context - Apple

This report evaluates the use of social media in marketing and how Apple business can use facebook and twitter to communicate with consumers.... Social media once used in business can have a significant impact on marketing activities (Fogel and Nehmad, 2009).... The two most important social media pages for marketers include twitter and Facebook....
6 Pages (1500 words) Case Study
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us