Sharing your thoughts and experiences with your
friends on social networking sites has become a customary way of communication.
But not all the personal two-pence you put out on the webscape is safe
with employers now keeping an eye on your online antics. In an age where
blogs, micro-blogs and social networking sites are blurring the line
between private and professional lives, you could do well to wise up and
work on your manners to 'block' yourself from risking your job.
Share smart
To share anything and everything on your
Facebook (FB),
Twitter
or blog is not as good an idea as being judicious is. Whatever enters
the web world seldom gets erased completely and software is designed to
fish out 'deleted' information even after years. If your luck is
star-crossed, an offensive 'comment' you made and 'deleted' can also be
retrieved and used against you.
Shishir Dave, a seasoned HR
(Human Resources) consultant, says, "In a flourishing metro,
Facebook-Twitter usage is very high among the working class. The trend
of online surveillance is catching up and there are agencies to do
background checks. We get many requests from employers to check up
online profiles of prospective
employees
to find out whether (s)he is a job-hopper, party animal, alcoholic, has
criminal antecedents, etc. You never know which post or remark may
boomerang on you. If you are already down and your
boss needs to hammer a final nail in, even an abusive
tweet or a post could be it."
Ask yourself : What impression does my online paraphernalia give to an employer?
Think before you upload
An
employer
discovering unflattering or inappropriate photos can be disastrous to
your image. Uploading intimate, obscene, wasted-looking or drunken party
pictures are obviously a strict nono. Un-tagging yourself from friends'
indecent pictures may also save blushes. Dave says, "We usually warn
out-of-hand employers to behave themselves. It is better to give them
the benefit of doubt once. If the employee persists with his loose-talks
or improper behaviour online, we issue him/her a notice and eventually
decide to sack them. But in most instances, a warning has always
sufficed."
Ask yourself: Do I want colleagues to see this?
Choose 'friends' wisely
In US and UK, tons of employees have been given the boot for wisecracks online. A
Massachusetts
teacher, Dr June Talvitie was shown the door for calling her students
'germ bags' and their parents 'snobby, arrogant' on Facebook. An IT
teacher in the UK was shown the door for posting a 'jesting' comment on
her rowdy teenage students. In both instances, a school staffer had
squealed on the professors.
So think twice before adding
someone who you haven't met or before posting an off-hand comment. "You
never know how and via which friend your post can land up in the
newsfeed of higherups," Dave adds.
HR assistant in a British
bank, Stephanie Bon, got fired for her post: "Our new CEO gets 4,000
pounds an hour. I get 7. That's fair." Again, it was Bon's colleague who
reported her. Dave explains, "The work ethics in America and Europe is
very strong and hence employees run into trouble if they make
inappropriate comments. Calling your boss an ass in the US may fetch you
a libel suit and pink slip, but in India, you get away saying a lot of
things online as a proper system is not in place to deal with these
instances."
Ask yourself: Will this get me fired?
Safe surfing
To keep your networking profile secure, up your privacy settings to the
hilt. But then, nothing actually is private as the internal security
walls are not too difficult to break open with the correct software. "HR
can easily crack open private information of an employee if it receives
a tip-off on his misbehaviour," says Dave. "But even if the top boss
wants, it is logistically impossible for the HR of big companies to
track employees' online lives. So unless a staffer complains against a
particular post, we don't keep a watch on him."
Ask yourself: Would I say this aloud at work?
Overdoing the updates
Status updates can get really immediate, with dense minute-byminute
account, especially with the on-the-move Tweeple sorts. But it may not
always be a grand idea to let the world know which mall you are shopping
in or which coffee shop you are chilling out at. This cautionary goes
especially for girls, who could be enlightening their potential stalker
with dangerous details. Let us not even get in to how your boss and
colleagues will think of you as somebody who does nothing except fool
around on FB or Twitter.
Ask yourself: Does anyone care if I'm buying toilet paper?
Being overcautious online spoils the sole purpose of its carefree
existence. Just go easy on excesses. The safest bet for cribbing and
ranting about your depressing job would be at that good old haunt - the
nearest bar!
10 Things that give you away
1 References to drug abuse
2 Extremist or intolerant views
3 Criminal record
4
Proof of excessive alcohol consumption
5 Indecent pictures
6 Foul language
7 Links to unsuitable websites
8 Lewd jokes
9 Silly e-mail addresses
10 Silly groups
