Social Networks and Employers; Is Facebook a Good Thing at Work??

We recently ran a podcast interview with Jim Harvey, partner at the law firm Hunton & Williams, who discussed what the average citizen should do to protect their privacy when dealing with social networks, as well as employer and employee rights in this uncharted territory. The bottom-line is be smart about your privacy settings and what you post – you never know who is checking out your Facebook profile.

Well, it seems that this topic of “Facebooking” at work continues to be a timely topic. IBM is known for embracing Facebook and urges all of its employees (even management) to have a Facebook page. While social networking sites can create a sense of community and camaraderie among employees, they can also create real headaches for employers. For example, what happens when an employer stumbles across photos of an employee having “too much fun” on a recent Cancun trip?

The most recent example of social networking and employers gone awry is the case involving the restaurant chain, Houston’s. An employee an created a workplace discussion group on his personal MySpace.com web page. The group was flagged “private” and was available by invitation only. Of course, it all went downhill when a manager saw that the MySpace.com page included sexual comments about employees and customers, disparaging jokes about the company and references to drugs and violence. The latest update in the case is that they jury sided with the employees.

What do you all think about this? There is certainly some muddy water here when it comes to employee privacy and social networks. In this day-and-age, people feel compelled to post photos of everything on their Facebook pages — even the pool-side tequila shots in Cancun. Bottom-line, is be smart…you never know who is checking out your profile and what could come from it.