Have you ever heard of someone getting fired over something they posted on Facebook? Or an athlete getting a fee for a Twitter post? Well, it's not uncommon. In fact, I even have friends that have deactivated their Facebook accounts while they were in an interview process for a job or admission to a program. One friend even deactivated it while he was pledging a very strict fraternity at Dartmouth. Social networking sites provide people a way to communicate with others as well as post details about their daily lives. Some people post more frequently and more detail than they should. Where does the line between our personal lives and professional lives fade?
Several days ago Chrysler ended it's relationship with New Media Strategies, a social media agency, over a tweet one of it's employees posted from Chrysler's Twitter account. Although it was meant to be posted to the employee's personal Twitter account, it was accidentally posted onto Chrysler's. This negative and explicit tweet made the company look bad. Although it was an accident, the employee was still careless and was fired for a post he made while he was at work. If he had just kept his frustration to himself, he might still have a job.
We are all asked to be professional at work, if our personal lives are being tracked all over the internet when will we ever shed the overly professional exterior? Or will casual and relaxed become the new norm? How will Social Networking change professional relationships? I think the solution will be in leaving "something to the imagination" and knowing what's appropriate to post and what's not. After all, why do we NEED to let everyone know what we're doing, thinking, eating, feeling, buying, etc? Protect your own privacy and watch out what you post.
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