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

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